Cyprus stops accepting visa applications at centers in Russia, moves to consulates

All visa applications from Russian citizens will temporarily be handled directly by Cypriot consulates in Moscow, St. Petersburg, Yekaterinburg, and Krasnodar

Cyprus has pulled visa application processing from its third-party centers across Russia and will temporarily handle all submissions directly through its own consular offices. The change comes after the country's contract with its external visa service provider lapsed, according to The Moscow Times, which reported the news on June 11, 2026.

Starting Monday, anyone applying for a Cypriot visa in Russia will need to go through the consular section at the embassy in Moscow or one of three consulates in St. Petersburg, Yekaterinburg, and Krasnodar.

What triggered the change

The Cypriot embassy in Moscow confirmed on Thursday that its agreement with BLS International, the private operator that had been running visa application offices in Russia, had come to an end. BLS International's Russian offices will stop taking new applications from Saturday, though anyone who submitted their paperwork through BLS before Thursday can still pick up their passports from those locations.

The embassy indicated that a replacement contract with a new external provider is in the works but offered no specifics on when that deal might be finalized. In a statement on its website, the embassy said only that "a new agreement with an external service provider is expected to be signed in the near future."

How the temporary system works

Until a new provider is in place, applicants will need to appear in person at one of the four consular locations with their original documents and copies. Submissions must be made at least 15 days before the planned travel date.

The bigger picture for Russian travelers to the EU

The operational change lands against a backdrop of steadily tightening EU visa policies toward Russian nationals. The bloc suspended its visa facilitation agreement with Russia in 2022, and last November it went further by blocking Russian citizens from obtaining multi-entry visas. Those collective moves have had a dramatic effect on travel volumes, with the number of EU visas granted to Russians falling from several million per year to just hundreds of thousands.

The pressure has continued to build in recent weeks. Earlier this month, a group of European countries called on the EU to adopt further binding visa restrictions targeting Russian nationals seeking to holiday in the Schengen area.

Not everyone agrees with that trajectory, however. Russian opposition figure Yulia Navalnaya pushed back against sweeping visa bans in September, arguing that blanket restrictions would be counterproductive because they play into the Kremlin's messaging that Europe is fundamentally hostile toward ordinary Russians.