«Germany does not recognize the annexation of Crimea to Russia, therefore, your only option is to submit documents in Kyiv. Submitting documents in Kyiv with a Russian passport is impossible, only with a Ukrainian one, if you still have it,» the German Embassy in Moscow said in response to a query about the possibility for a Crimean citizen with Russian citizenship to obtain a visa.
Since the issuance of Russian international passports began in Crimea, the media reported that in the documents issued on the peninsula, the place of issue is listed as Krasnodar Krai and the 23rd region of Russia, not Crimea. But even despite this, Crimeans can still only get a Schengen visa at visa centers and consulates on the territory of mainland Ukraine, since the European Union does not recognize the annexation of Crimea, and information about registration is known already at the stage of submitting documents. This means that residents of Crimea can travel to many European countries only with Ukrainian international passports.
«For submitting visa applications of residents of Crimea, the German Embassy in Kyiv is competent. This applies to applicants whose place of residence is Crimea, regardless of whether they have a Ukrainian passport or a passport issued legally by a third country,» the website of the German Embassy in Kyiv says.
Recall that since June 23, 2015, Ukraine and other Eastern Partnership countries have introduced the Visa Information System for Schengen zone countries. Now all applicants must personally appear at the consulate in Kyiv or at a visa center (in Odessa, Dnepropetrovsk, Kharkov, Lviv, Kyiv) to provide their biometric data and undergo an interview.