Quote Originally Posted by Hanna
I have no idea how Russians are treated when they apply for EU visas, but if the process is half as ridiculous as that for Russian visas, then I am really ashamed.
Different states of EU have different rules for Russians to get EU visa. For an example, a couple years ago French embassy started to take your application only if you present it to them personally. Not a big deal for those who live in Moscow, but for those who live in Novosibirsk it is a great problem: there are 3500 km from Novosibirsk to Moscow. An applicant has to take a plane at early morning spend USD 500 and 4 houes to flight to Moscow, put his face in to the French embassy window just for the girl to check that it is his face on the documents and spend USD 500 and 4 hours again to flight back to Novosibirsk. Needless to say that occasionally all the appropriate flights back to Novosibirsk are scheduled at a night time, so to add to applicant's impressions a two-day's non sleeping non-stop. if you think that the guys from Novosibirsk are complaining then think of the guys from Vladivistok which is twice as distant from Moscow as Novosibirsk. Thanks God there are other states in EU which embassies accept the documents sent with an express courier service.

This is why it is a good idea to fully plan your trip in advance.