Alleviation of Visa Issuing Procedures for Russian, Ukrainian Tourists

Sofia, February 6 (BTA) - Tourism Minister Nikolina Angelkova
and Foreign Minister Daniel Mitov reached an agreement on easing
 visa issuing procedures for citizens of Russia, Ukraine,
Belarus, Kazakhstan, Armenia and Georgia, the press centre of
the Tourism Ministry said on Friday. 

The decision comes as a response to the upcoming active tourist
season and the wish of the Tourism Ministry to encourage visits
by citizens of Russia and Ukraine, which traditionally spend
their holidays in Bulgaria. It is also a part of the efforts to
reverse the negative tendency of a decrease of early bookings
for the summer of 2015. According to statistical figures, the
drop of bookings by Russian tourists is by around 3 per cent and
 of Ukrainian tourists - by some 8 per cent compared to
January-November 2014.

The introduced alleviations envisage issuing of short-term
double or multiple-entry visas for returning organized tourists
with a validity of up to one year. The owners of real estates
from these countries will also be able to avail themselves of
the eased requirements. These persons, applying for a visa for
the first time, will be granted short-term double or
multiple-entry visas with a term of validity of up to one year.
Owners, who have already visited the country, will be granted
visas with a validity of up to three years.

Minors from these countries will also be able to avail
themselves of the eased visa requirements. Young people, who
wish to visit Bulgaria for tourist purposes or to stay in youth
camps, will be granted short-term multiple-entry visas with a
validity of up to five years. The term of validity of these
visas will not exceed the statutory-set age limit, by which
these persons are entitled to free visas.  Disabled persons will
 be entitled to one-year double- or multiple-entry tourist
visas.

The term of validity of all issued visas will be complied with
the validity of the travel documents. The Foreign Ministry has
already sent instructions to the diplomatic and consular
representations for easing the visa procedure.