Starting February 1, 2007, the rules regarding a German visa application grew stricter. The evidence of employment must be provided in German, the number of passports to be considered has been limited to 600 items a week, and the wait time has been extended from five to ten working days.

As the representative of Deutsche Botschaft Moskau (the Moscow-based consulate) Cordula Steinke said to UrBC representative, some of the visa-getting procedures will be improved within the month of February; this pertains to tourist visas accredited by the embassy; people applying for such visas will be able to fill in their application forms using a special software program.