To venture around the Altai mountains, the Siberian taiga or the forests of Adygea most of us need to get a Russian visa. Putin won’t open his great Russia to Europe or the West anytime soon …
The following informations are mostly for European and Swiss passport holders about tourism related visas. If you are looking to gain informations about private and student visas you will have to look somewhere else.
Disclaimer : I do not work for any travel agency, embassy, nor the tourism industry. This page has only informative purpose to help you a bit in the messy and confusing Russian bureaucracy.
Last updated : 01/05/2023
I got a 3 months tourist visa double entry (even used the 90 days travel insurance of my Visa card) early june 2022 through a visa center in Strasburg, France.
So yes, foreigners/westerners (depending on the nationality probably) can obtain a tourist visa even these days. I did.
Sanctions travel facts
For further informations & the list of allowed countries see directly the Federal agency for tourism’s website.
I highly recommend you to double check with the Russian embassy/consulate in your home country. Rules change quite quickly these days.
The tourist visa
The regular tourist visa is valid for maximum 30 days or 90 days (3 months), single or multiple entry and the dates are fixed, meaning you cannot enter before or leave after your visa dates, but you can still enter after and leave before the expiry date.
You cannot apply more than 3 months prior your trip, and at last 2 weeks before it. I don’t recommend you to apply last minute because of the deadline, national holidays (yours and theirs) and other unexpected events.
The required documents for your application :
The business visa
I really recommend you the business visa if you have time and you wish to visit Russia beyond Moscow or get stuck seven days in a row in the Trans-Siberian and see Russia through a window at 50 kms per hour without a single stop … You can easily apply for a business visa even though you have no business to do there, no one will ask you anything at the border or elsewhere.
I have myself applied for one year visa, 6 months allowed to stay on Russian soil and never had any troubles or questions regarding it : Neither by immigration officers (6 entrances and exists), by the FSB (twice but for something else) or by regular police checks on the road (if so, the policeman wants a bribe … Don’t give him anything).
A business visa can last 3 months, 6 months or one year, but the maximum allowed on the Russian territory is 90 days in a row. So if your visa is valid for 3 months, you can stay there 90 days (3 months) without needing to leave; if your visa is valid 6 months you can only spend 3 months there, spread on the 6 months period of time. And if you have a one year visa validity, you will be able to stay twice 90 days (3 months). It’s quite confusing, I admit it.
I have heard of some travelers not leaving after 90 days and never got in troubles. At your own risks! I personnally wouldn”t try.
The required documents for your application :
The “working holiday” visa
So what is exacty a “working holiday visa” ? It’s a sort of resident visa allowing you to work in the country to fund your travels.
Don’t get too excited about it. You will have to battle to obtain this visa, and in the end it is not worth it as no one will really offer you a working contract in Russia unless it is a big compagny that doesn’t avoid declaring its employees and paying its taxes …
And Russia isn’t really the best country to make money unless you are willing to deal with mafia & illegal stuffs …
I have applied for this visa on my first long trip to Russia, back in 2016. It was valid for four months only ! Not all nationalities have this agreement. You may have heard of working holiday visas to Australia, New Zealand, or Canada, which are much better because you can work for real for a year or more in the country.
You must check if your country signed an agreement with Russia. So far I have only heard of my country, France, but they might be others in the futur.
If you find out your country made a deal with Russia for a Working Holiday visa, here are the documents they will probably ask you for :
The E-visa
The e-visa is suspended for now. And honeslty, with the current “situation”, it might be for a while. I won’t delete the following infos because never know, it might be back some days.
This e-visa isn’t as good as it looks like.
It is only available for 8 days maximum for European passport holders and 20 more countries (Qatar, UAE, Bahrain, Kuwait, Iran, the Philippines, Malaysia, China, Japan, South Korea, Turkey etc) to visit Kaliningrad (the city & its region), and Saint Petersburg (the city & the whole Leningrad Oblast). Watch out, Moscow and the Red Square are not included.
Algerians, Moroccans and Tunisians can also visit the Far Eastern District. Up for an 8 days road trip from Yakutsk to Vladivostok ?
You are disappointed ? Me too!
You can only apply for this visa 20 days before your trip. It can be obtained within 4 days and it is free. Apply here on the official website.
I have heard and read about many travellers who have been denied on arrival on the Russian territory because of their e-visa. There were mistakes between the informations on their passports and the ones shown on the e-visa. When you receive your e-visa, always verify each of your names, none has to be missing and the dates of travels are correct.
This also applies on any visa application, in Russia or elsewhere.
The border crossings to Leningrad Oblast (Saint Peterburg) :
The border crossings to Kaliningrad Oblast :
If anybody could confirm the sea port of Kaliningrad ? Thanks !
The Russian authority planned to extend the e-visa to the whole Federation. Unfortunately, it got delayed by the pandemic and the SMO. [update : forget about it for this year again]
The letter of invitation
The letter of invitation, also called LOI or Voucher is the major dilemma in the visa application process. I have listed here a few agencies to get your LOI for either a tourist or a business visa. They are all verified and registered on the official Federal website of the travel agencies.
You can check out by yourself if you find offers of too cheap to be true LOI online : enter the PTO + the number of the agency you can find on the travel agency’s website.
Watch out for Francophones and probably others agencies affiliated to Russian ones with different names. Their registration number might not appear on their website because they belong to a Russian agency, but it doesn’t mean it’s a scam. Just email them and ask about it.
If you know any good travel agencies making LOI in your home country, feel free to message me about it so I can add it to the list!
*Prices may change, check on their websites directly.
My tips
Here are a few extra useful tips :
You are struggling or still have questions you can’t find answers online to ? Any help to fill up the application form ? Send me a message and I will try to help you as much as I can.
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