How to Come to Germany for Treatment During Sanctions

Questions and answers

Attention! Be critical of offers from some treatment organisers who guarantee you with 100% certainty that you will be able to enter Germany for treatment while the sanctions are in force with, allegedly, any diagnosis at all. Such tempting offers lie on the wrong side of the law. Without an original confirmation from the clinic that treatment in Germany is urgent, your trip is a gamble, pure and simple.

Russian citizens living outside the Russian Federation — for example in Georgia, Turkey, Italy, Spain, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Armenia or Azerbaijan — may enter for treatment without restrictions.

Russian-speaking citizens of the former Soviet republics enter Germany as before, in the normal way.

If you are not an EU citizen and do not hold a German residence permit, you may enter Germany for treatment on urgent medical grounds. "Urgent medical grounds" means the following:

• the treatment can be carried out only in Germany and not in the patient's home country; declining the treatment would be life-threatening or would cause significant long-term damage to the person's health;
• the treatment has already begun in Germany and must be continued there.

Contact us to find out whether your condition can be treated here!

We guarantee to help you obtain the package of documents for an unimpeded and lawful entry into Germany for treatment and the confirmation of entry on urgent medical grounds.

Changes to the procedure for obtaining a treatment visa

As of 13 October 2023, Germany has tightened the procedure for issuing entry visas to Russian citizens. The issue of long-term (multi-year) multiple-entry visas to Russian citizens has been discontinued entirely, according to the official information sheet.

Medical insurance

As stated in the list published by VisaMetric, the official service partner of Germany's diplomatic mission in the Russian Federation, Russian citizens applying for a treatment visa or a tourist visa must now provide travel medical insurance taken out within the European Union. A policy issued in Russia is not accepted. The insurance must be issued in the applicant's name, be valid throughout the Schengen area and cover the entire intended period of stay in the EU; the sum insured must be no less than 30,000 euros.

The medical insurance must be issued showing the following information:

• the surname and first name of the insured person (as transliterated in their international passport);
• the insurance period (the minimum period is the period of the trip);
• the number of insured days during the trip (the minimum is the number of days of the trip according to the tickets provided);
• the territory of cover (worldwide or the Schengen Agreement countries);
• the sum insured (no less than 30,000 euros or the equivalent in dollars, pounds sterling or Swiss francs at the current exchange rate).

You can take out travel medical insurance yourself, your relatives can take it out on your behalf, or we can arrange it at your request, subject to the relevant conditions

Financial guarantee

As a financial guarantee, citizens of Russia must provide statements issued by a "verifiable bank operating in EU member states".
A foreign national intending to enter Germany or another country party to the Schengen Agreement must have sufficient funds to support their stay in the EU.

Unfortunately, the VisaMetric website gives no detailed information on this point. The Italian visa centre website, however, provides detailed explanations: https://italy-vms.ru/finansovaya-garantiya-2/

We believe that the requirements for proof of financial guarantees for applicants for a German treatment visa are identical to those for an Italian Schengen visa. In any case, we recommend checking the information with the German visa centre.

What is accepted as a financial guarantee is the original PERSONAL statement of the applicant's account showing the transactions of the last 3 months, certified with the bank's stamp and the signature of the person who issued the document. An account statement is valid for no more than 1 month.

The following documents are not suitable as a financial guarantee: a 2-NDFL income certificate, a currency exchange certificate, cash, and electronic statements not certified with the bank's stamp and the signature of the person who issued the document. We would expect that account statements from banks that have not been disconnected from the SWIFT system — for example Tinkoff, Raiffeisenbank, Intesa or OTP — as well as statements from the applicant's personal account with a foreign bank, would be acceptable.

Financial guarantees may be provided in roubles, dollars or pounds sterling, measured against the euro. If the currency stated in the certificate is not one of those listed above, the bank must show the currency conversion rate in the certificate as at the date it was issued.

Tickets and the invitation for treatment

You must provide confirmation of paid return tickets stating the applicant's name and travel dates, together with confirmation of paid accommodation (also stating the applicant's name and travel dates for the entire period of stay). These requirements are also part of the list of documents needed to apply for a medical visa for the patient and an accompanying-person visa for the companion.

The invitation from the clinic, certified by the treating physician, must be submitted in the original or sent by direct letter (from the clinic or the treating physician) to the official e-mail address of the medical visa department of the German Embassy in Moscow: medic@mosk.diplo.de

In addition, you must confirm that the treatment has been paid for in full (100% prepayment).

Holders of Schengen tourist visas may enter Germany for treatment provided that the clinic confirms the urgency of the treatment in Germany.

You can learn more about the possibility of entering Germany for treatment from the answers to the questions in the section below.