This reported Association of Tour Operators of Russia (ATOR). Agents, couriers, proxies, notaries or lawyers will no longer be able to submit an application for a tourist. Now the applicant must personally come to the visa center at the appointed time with a passport and confirmed online entry. Submission by accreditation is retained only for individual companies and on condition that a full tour including hotel, air tickets, etc. is purchased.
According to RBC, in Italy arrested the former ambassador in Uzbekistan Piergabriele Papadia de Bottini di Sant’Agnese on the case of illegal issuance of Schengen visas to Russian citizens. According to the investigation, after his appointment as head of the diplomatic mission in Tashkent in December 2024, he took control of the visa department and secured the transfer there of his accomplice Tatiana Tarakanova, a Russian woman with Italian citizenship who had previously worked with him at the Italian consulate in Moscow.
Papadia de Bottini di Sant’Agnese and Tarakanova are on trial for aiding and abetting illegal immigration and corruption. The ex-ambassador is in custody and was dismissed in December 2025.
The investigation believes that they organized a scheme to issue long-term tourist visas to Russians for a period of one to three years, bypassing Schengen rules. The cost of such services ranged from 4 thousand euros to 16 thousand euros with standard fees of 45-60 euros. According to the investigation, about a hundred Russians received visas.
