Rich Russian nationals have discovered a loophole that allows them to continue visiting Switzerland, a popular destination among their compatriots before the pandemic and the war in Ukraine, despite the imposed sanctions.
This phenomenon came to light after the difference in Russian tourists to Switzerland more than halved in 2022, while at the same time, Switzerland was increasingly more visited by Maltese and Cypriot passport holders, SchengenVisaInfo.com reports.
The “Tagesanzeiger” and an expert interviewed assume that this could be related to the “Golden Passes” offered to third-country nationals who can make a certain investment in Malta and Cyprus.
Malta & Cyprus Golden Passes – Apple of Discord for Europeans Continually Sanctioning Russians
After the war in Ukraine, the number of Russians visiting Switzerland dropped significantly. In 2019, which marks the period before the COVID-19 pandemic and the war in Ukraine, Russians spent 350,000 overnight stays in Switzerland. In 2022, this number dropped to around 100,000, showing a 71 per cent decline.
However, the plummeting numbers in tourism statistics do not indicate that Russians are visiting Switzerland any less than they did pre-pandemic or before the war happened. According to statistics from the Federal Statistical Office BfS, the number of overnight stays spent by Maltese and Cypriot passport holders in Central Switzerland has soared in 2022.
In comparison, the number of overnight stays by people with a Russian passport has declined from 26,000 in 2019 to around 8,800.
As Nau.ch reports, the “golden passports” issued by Malta and Cyprus are extremely popular among wealthy Russian nationals, who can obtain dual citizenship in exchange for an investment in the two EU countries.
Research by the European Parliament reveals that the EU states received a total of €21.4 billion from this phenomenon between 2011 and 2019. Malta and Cyprus have since stopped this practice for Russian citizens.
Only Russian Riches Able to Take Advantage of Dual Citizenship
Although the Maltese passport can be easily obtained, it does cost a lot of money. An investment of almost €1.6 million in the country would have been required for Russian nationals to be eligible to gain dual citizenship back in 2021. This could result in a large discrepancy with the people who are sanctioned, as they often have a lot of money.
Travelling to Switzerland has become harder for Russian citizens who are not subjected to sanctions. Since September 2022, they have needed a visa and are no longer eligible for the previous visa exemption. In addition, direct flights are suspended, making it tougher to travel.
As shared by Steven Edginton from Telegraph, the preliminary data on Schengen visa applications for the first quarter of 2023 shows that Russians lodged 32,156 requests for visitor visas during this period, ranking 15th.
In 2022, Russians filed a total of 687,239 visa applications, second only to Turkish nationals, who had the highest number of requests for the year (779,000).
