Schengen visas for Russians most easily granted by Greece, Hungary, Italy — expert

Greece, Hungary and Italy are the three countries that make it the easiest for Russians to get Schengen visas, managing director of Aeroclub company Yulia Lipatova said.

"At the moment, the official timeframe for issuing a Schengen visa is between 15 and 45 calendar days. Greece, Hungary and Italy are at this time the countries that make it the easiest to get Schengen visas," Lipatova said, cited by the Aeroclub’s press service, TASS reports.

Significant difficulties still exist when registering for the Schengen visa, especially to Spain and France, she noted.

"However, we do not see that the number of refusals is growing. This is if we do not take Germany into account, which denies almost all males, actually leading to a lack of visa applications to this country," Lipatova stressed.

Visas to Mexico, the Republic of Korea and India are among the easiest for Russians to obtain, experts say. The United Kingdom still has the highest visa fees for Russian nationals - 361 pounds for a two-year visa or 655 pounds for the five-year one. Also among the most expensive visas are the United States ($185), Saudi Arabia ($160 per annual tourist visa), and Canada ($160).