Schengen visa insurance when applying from Russia
Applications from Russia continue under tightened rules: a Commission decision of November 6, 2025 limits most applicants to single-entry visas; Germany's visa centers state Russian-issued insurance is not accepted; Italian and Spanish centers offer Rosgosstrakh cover. Checked August 31, 2026.
Insurer lists published by consulates and visa centres in Russia
Some Schengen missions publish a list of insurers whose certificates they accept. These are the lists we found for applications lodged here, each with its own date.
| Destination | Issuing authority | List date | Named insurers |
|---|---|---|---|
| Germany | Authority:VisaMetric — only service provider authorized by the German representations in Russia | List date:Undated — read August 31, 2026 | Named insurers:None from Russia: the policy 'must be issued in the EU (health insurance issued in Russia is not accepted)' |
| Italy | Authority:Italy VMS visa application center (Moscow, St. Petersburg, Arkhangelsk); italy-vms.ru redirects there | List date:Undated — read August 31, 2026 | Named insurers:Rosgosstrakh — sold at the center, cover EUR 30,000 to EUR 100,000, payable in rubles |
| Spain | Authority:BLS International, Spain Visa Application Centre in Moscow | List date:Undated — read August 31, 2026 | Named insurers:Rosgosstrakh (RGS) linked as optional service; 'any authorized insurance company' accepted |
| Netherlands | Authority:Government of the Netherlands (NetherlandsWorldwide) | List date:Undated — read August 31, 2026 | Named insurers:None named — applications restricted to listed categories, lodged at VFS Global in Moscow, St. Petersburg, Vladivostok and Yekaterinburg |
| Czechia | Authority:Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Czech Republic | List date:Published August 28, 2023, updated February 9, 2026 | Named insurers:None named — visa services limited to four exception groups |
| All Schengen states | Authority:European Commission, Implementing Decision C(2025) 7552 final | List date:November 6, 2025 | Named insurers:None — multiple-entry visas limited to close relatives and transport workers |
These entries are not one uniform list. Two centers offer a Russian insurer on site (Italy, Spain) while Germany's center rejects Russian-issued policies outright — the sharpest split we have recorded in any application country. Gaps we could not close on August 31, 2026: France-Visas returned HTTP 403 to our fetcher, so France's channel is not tabulated; for Greece the first-ranking 'visa center' site declares itself unofficial and no official Greek list was found; and the Consulate General of Italy's own visa page names no service provider, so the VMS operator's mandate rests on its own site, reached via the italy-vms.ru redirect. Undated pages carry our read date.
What applies specifically in Russia
Local practice
All primary sources, all read August 31, 2026. Germany — VisaMetric, the 'only service provider authorized by the German Representations in Russia': the policy 'must be issued in the EU (health insurance issued in Russia is not accepted)', minimum 'medical expenses and repatriation expenses, including the risk of death - 30,000 euros'; from December 15, 2025 non-biometric five-year Russian passports are no longer accepted for visa applications, and from January 1, 2026 entering Germany requires a biometric passport. Italy — the VMS center sells medical insurance at its desks: cover EUR 30,000 to EUR 100,000, payable in rubles at the official Central Bank of the Russian Federation rate, available to age 90, with a Rosgosstrakh online option. Spain — BLS Moscow: 'Travel Insurance certificate must be submitted at the visa application center as it is a mandatory requirement', obtainable 'from any authorized insurance company'; BLS's own optional service links Rosgosstrakh (old.rgs.ru). Netherlands — applications in Russia only for listed categories (first- or second-degree family visits, employees of companies with a branch in both countries and ten or more staff, seafarers, guests of Dutch organizations, EU-facilitation family members): 'If you do not meet these conditions you cannot apply for a Schengen visa.' From October 1, 2026 the Netherlands no longer recognizes Russian non-biometric passports. Czechia — visa services remain limited to four exception groups (certain family members of EU citizens, certain family members of third-country nationals, certain Belarusian students, regime opponents and dissidents); the ministry's page was updated February 9, 2026, and tourist applications are not among the exceptions.
Where travellers buy
None of the ten verified policy rows on this site documents a purchase path from Russia that we could confirm end to end; we read documents and buy nothing. What the documents state, read August 31, 2026: the three AXA Schengen products exclude applicants whose country of residence is 'a sanctioned country' — no country list is printed (General Terms & Conditions July 2026, p. 10, §3.3) — and AXA's FAQ names only 'countries (such as those at war)' without naming Russia, while listing card and wallet payment methods only. Since March 5, 2022, Visa states that 'all transactions initiated with Visa cards issued in Russia will no longer work outside the country', and Mastercard no longer supports cards issued by Russian banks — which blocks the ordinary way to pay any foreign insurer in our matrix. schengen.care's terms contain no residence-country bar (sold to 'Foreigners', anyone who is not a Polish citizen — GTC Article 5 section 3) and its cover page offers 'credit/debit card or bank transfer', the only stated bank-transfer route among our verified rows; whether a transfer from a Russian bank arrives was not tested. EKTA's wording excludes the Russian Federation from the insurance territory itself (§ 4.10, p. 11) — not a purchase bar, but no cover for events in Russia. Europ Assistance, MondialCare, Chapka and DR-WALTER state no Russia-related restriction in the documents we read. For a German application the question is moot either way: the policy must be issued in the EU, which also rules out the Rosgosstrakh cover sold at the Italian and Spanish centers.
Most-applied destinations
In 2025, applicants in Russia lodged 679,000 short-stay applications — the fifth-largest applicant country worldwide — and the refusal rate fell to 6.4% from 7.5% in 2024 (European Commission news item, May 28, 2026). The Commission's summary gives no per-state split for Russia; the application channels we verified operating on August 31, 2026 are Italy (VMS), Spain (BLS), Germany (VisaMetric), the Netherlands (VFS Global, restricted categories) and Czechia (exception groups only).
Sources
- — 2026-08-31 — Commission Implementing Decision C(2025) 7552 final of November 6, 2025, read in full: multiple-entry visas only for close relatives (one year, after three lawfully used visas in two years) and transport workers (nine months, after two)
- — 2026-08-31 — Commission landing page confirming title and adoption on November 7, 2025
- — 2026-08-31 — Council Decision (EU) 2022/1500 of September 9, 2022, suspension in whole of the EU-Russia visa facilitation agreement (title and date read in footnote 2 of C(2025) 7552)
- — 2026-08-31 — 2025 statistics: Russia fifth with 679,000 applications; refusals 6.4%, down from 7.5%
- — 2026-08-31 — German centers: EUR 30,000 minimum; policy 'must be issued in the EU (health insurance issued in Russia is not accepted)'
- — 2026-08-31 — VisaMetric sole authorized provider; category list; passport rules of December 15, 2025 and January 1, 2026
- — 2026-08-31 — VMS insurance page: Rosgosstrakh, EUR 30,000 to 100,000, rubles at the Central Bank rate, to age 90; reached via 301 from italy-vms.ru
- — 2026-08-31 — BLS Moscow: insurance certificate mandatory, 'from any authorized insurance company'
- — 2026-08-31 — BLS optional insurance service links RGS (old.rgs.ru)
- — 2026-08-31 — Netherlands: eligible categories, VFS Global cities, biometric-passport rule of October 1, 2026
- — 2026-08-31 — Czech MFA: limited visa services, four exception groups; published August 28, 2023, updated February 9, 2026
- — 2026-08-31 — Visa, March 5, 2022: Russian-issued cards 'will no longer work outside the country'
- — 2026-08-31 — Mastercard, March 5, 2022: cards issued by Russian banks no longer supported
- — 2026-08-31 — AXA FAQ: war-affected countries not eligible, Russia not named; card and wallet payments 'from any country'
- — 2026-08-31 — negative finding: self-declared unofficial broker site for Greece; no official Greek list found
- — 2026-08-31 — attempt logged: HTTP 403 Forbidden; France channel not primary-verified
- — 2026-08-31 — negative finding: consulate page names no provider and no insurance list
Checked on
Where a Schengen application from Russia is still possible depends on the destination state — and so do the insurance instructions, which now point in opposite directions. Read August 31, 2026: VisaMetric, the only service provider authorized by the German representations in Russia, states the policy 'must be issued in the EU (health insurance issued in Russia is not accepted)'. The Italian VMS center sells cover of the Russian insurer Rosgosstrakh at its desks (EUR 30,000 to EUR 100,000, payable in rubles at the Central Bank rate), and the BLS center for Spain in Moscow links the same insurer while accepting 'any authorized insurance company'. A Russian policy that satisfies the Italian center therefore fails the German instruction as written.
The EU level tightened on November 6, 2025: Commission Implementing Decision C(2025) 7552 restricts multiple-entry visas for Russian nationals residing and applying in Russia to close relatives of Russians or EU citizens living in the Union (one year, after three lawfully used visas in two years) and transport workers (nine months, after two). The EU-Russia visa facilitation agreement has been suspended in whole since Council Decision (EU) 2022/1500 of September 9, 2022.
Paying a foreign insurer is its own hurdle: Visa stated on March 5, 2022 that cards issued in Russia 'will no longer work outside the country'; Mastercard stopped supporting Russian-issued cards the same day. None of the ten policy documents verified on this site names Russia as a barred residence country; AXA's July 2026 terms exclude residents of 'a sanctioned country' without naming any. The per-policy detail sits on each check page.
Questions from applicants in Russia
Can Russian citizens still get a multiple-entry Schengen visa?
Only in narrow cases. Commission Implementing Decision C(2025) 7552 of November 6, 2025 limits multiple-entry visas for Russian nationals residing and applying in Russia to close relatives of Russians or EU citizens living in the Union (one-year validity, after three lawfully used visas in the previous two years) and transport workers (nine months, after two). Member states keep the Article 24(2c) route for applicants of proven integrity and reliability, such as independent journalists and human-rights defenders.
Do German visa centers in Russia accept Russian travel insurance?
No. The insurance instruction of VisaMetric — the only service provider authorized by the German representations in Russia — states the policy 'must be issued in the EU (health insurance issued in Russia is not accepted)' and sets the minimum at EUR 30,000 for medical and repatriation costs including the risk of death (read August 31, 2026).
Can you pay a foreign Schengen insurer with a Russian bank card?
Not with Visa or Mastercard cards issued in Russia: Visa announced on March 5, 2022 that such cards 'will no longer work outside the country', and Mastercard stopped supporting cards issued by Russian banks the same day. Among the policies verified on this site, schengen.care is the only one whose pages also offer payment by bank transfer (read August 31, 2026); we have not tested whether a transfer from a Russian bank arrives.
Which visa centers in Russia offer insurance on site?
Two of the centers we checked on August 31, 2026: the Italian VMS center sells medical insurance at its desks — EUR 30,000 to EUR 100,000 of cover, payable in rubles at the official Central Bank rate, available to age 90, with a Rosgosstrakh online option — and the BLS center for Spain in Moscow links Rosgosstrakh (RGS) as an optional service while accepting 'any authorized insurance company'. Cover bought this way does not satisfy Germany's issued-in-the-EU instruction.