Visa policy of Russia
Encyclopedia
The Government of the Russian Federation allows citizens of specific countries/territories to visit Russia for tourism or business purposes without having to obtain a visa, often based on bilateral agreements. Citizens of other countries have to obtain a visa from the embassy of their residence country.
is a machine-readable document
, which is placed in the passport
. It contains a transcription
of the name in the Cyrillic script and all fields are indicated in Russian and English. The indication of nationality and entry requirements however is only written in Russian. The machine-readable strip contains the name based on romanization of the Cyrillic name, and does not necessarily reflect the name as it was written in the Roman script (example in the figure: Christoph --> (Cyrillic) Kpиcтoф --> (transcription; roman) Kristof). Contrary to guidelines for machine-readable documents
, the issuing country abbreviation (RUS) not is shown at the positions 2-4 (e.g. starting V>RUS), and the last name starts immediately in the second field: VLASTNAME>>FIRSTNAME.
Russian Tourist Visa requirements:
The Russian Consulate requires the visa application form to be printed on A4 paper with right and bottom margins of 5mm. A failure to meet these requirements will invalidate your form.
That said, most Russian airports do not have an international transit area. The most important exceptions are:
Flights to or from Belarus
or Kazakhstan
are considered domestic, so transit without visa does not apply.
Visa
The Russian visaVisa (document)
A visa is a document showing that a person is authorized to enter the territory for which it was issued, subject to permission of an immigration official at the time of actual entry. The authorization may be a document, but more commonly it is a stamp endorsed in the applicant's passport...
is a machine-readable document
Machine-readable passport
A Machine Readable Passport is a travel document where the data on the identity page is encoded in optical character recognition format. Many countries began to issue machine readable travel documents in the 1980s....
, which is placed in the passport
Passport
A passport is a document, issued by a national government, which certifies, for the purpose of international travel, the identity and nationality of its holder. The elements of identity are name, date of birth, sex, and place of birth....
. It contains a transcription
Transcription (linguistics)
Transcription in the linguistic sense is the systematic representation of language in written form. The source can either be utterances or preexisting text in another writing system, although some linguists only consider the former as transcription.Transcription should not be confused with...
of the name in the Cyrillic script and all fields are indicated in Russian and English. The indication of nationality and entry requirements however is only written in Russian. The machine-readable strip contains the name based on romanization of the Cyrillic name, and does not necessarily reflect the name as it was written in the Roman script (example in the figure: Christoph --> (Cyrillic) Kpиcтoф --> (transcription; roman) Kristof). Contrary to guidelines for machine-readable documents
Machine-readable passport
A Machine Readable Passport is a travel document where the data on the identity page is encoded in optical character recognition format. Many countries began to issue machine readable travel documents in the 1980s....
, the issuing country abbreviation (RUS) not is shown at the positions 2-4 (e.g. starting V>RUS), and the last name starts immediately in the second field: VLASTNAME>>FIRSTNAME.
Types of visa
There are several types of Russian visas - travel visa that usually lasts for 30 days, business visa and homestay visa that applies when a person is staying at their friends or relatives home.Applying for visa
All types of Russian visa are received through the Russian embassy. Provided all the documents are ready, the process usually takes no more than 3-10 workdays for Russian travel visa.Russian Tourist Visa requirements:
- Original passport
- One photo (colour, passport size photo)
- Tourist invitation
- Russian Consulate Application Form
The Russian Consulate requires the visa application form to be printed on A4 paper with right and bottom margins of 5mm. A failure to meet these requirements will invalidate your form.
Eligible countries for visa-free entry
Holders of passports issued by the following nations are not required to obtain a visa prior to travel:90 days
(a maximum of 90 days in a 180 day period for ordinary passport holders and provided the purpose of visit is not for work or commercial reasons) (a maximum of 90 days in a 180 day period for ordinary passport holders and provided the purpose of visit is not for work, study, charity, scientific research, religious or commercial reasons) (a maximum of 90 days in a 180 day period for ordinary passport holders and provided the purpose of visit is not for work or commercial reasons) (a maximum of 90 days in a 180 day period for ordinary passport holders and provided the purpose of visit is not for work or commercial reasons) (a maximum of 90 days in a 180 day period for ordinary passport holders and provided the purpose of visit is not for commercial reasons) "Tourist documents or the original invitation accordingly are required to be presented to the Russian Immigration authorities. Visa free regime does not apply for Diplomatic and Service passports holders." (a maximum of 90 days in a 180 day period for ordinary passport holders and provided the purpose of visit is not for commercial reasons) (signed; entering into force on December 27, 2011 )30 days
(for tourists with appropriate documents proving purpose of visit) (entering into force later in 2011) (Diplomatic and Service passports holders only) (with biometric passports issued after 9 April 2008)14 days
(Only Diplomatic and Service passports holders) (Only Hong Kong Special Administrative Region passport holders)Visa-free regime for cruise ship passengers
Since May 2009 international tourists have been able to stay in Russia visa-free up to 72 hours when entering Russia through the ports of Sochi, Novorossiysk, Vladivostok, Korsakov, Kaliningrad, Vyborg or St.Petersburg by ferry. This exception applies, however, only to persons who travel within an organised group and do not intend to explore the cities on their own.Transit without a visa
Passengers travelling through international airports do not need a visa for a transit of less than 24 hours, provided a confirmed onward ticket is held, the traveller remains in the international transit area (without clearing passport control).That said, most Russian airports do not have an international transit area. The most important exceptions are:
- Moscow's Sheremetyevo International AirportSheremetyevo International AirportSheremetyevo International Airport , is an international airport located in the Moscow Oblast, Russia, north-west of central Moscow. It is a hub for the passenger operations of the Russian international airline Aeroflot, and one of the three major airports serving Moscow along with Domodedovo...
(SVO) which has an international transit area common for terminals D, E and F; - Moscow's Domodedovo International AirportDomodedovo International AirportMoscow Domodedovo Airport or Domodedovo International Airport is an international airport located in Domodedovsky District, Moscow Oblast, Russia, south-southeast of the centre of Moscow...
(DME) which has an international transit area in its only terminal; - Yekaterinburg's Koltsovo International AirportKoltsovo International AirportKoltsovo Airport is an international airport located 16 km southeast of Yekaterinburg, Russia. The airport is a hub for Ural Airlines and Aviacon Zitotrans....
(SVX) which has an international transit area in its international terminal.
Flights to or from Belarus
Belarus
Belarus , officially the Republic of Belarus, is a landlocked country in Eastern Europe, bordered clockwise by Russia to the northeast, Ukraine to the south, Poland to the west, and Lithuania and Latvia to the northwest. Its capital is Minsk; other major cities include Brest, Grodno , Gomel ,...
or Kazakhstan
Kazakhstan
Kazakhstan , officially the Republic of Kazakhstan, is a transcontinental country in Central Asia and Eastern Europe. Ranked as the ninth largest country in the world, it is also the world's largest landlocked country; its territory of is greater than Western Europe...
are considered domestic, so transit without visa does not apply.