# Visa policy of Russia

The visa policy of Russia deals with the requirements which a foreign national wishing to enter the Russian Federation must meet to obtain a visa, which is a permit to travel to, enter, and remain in the country. Visa exemptions are based on bilateral or multilateral agreements.
Russia has agreements with scores of countries whose citizens are either exempt from visas or can apply for an electronic visa (e-Visa).
Citizens of countries without such an agreement with Russia must obtain a visa in advance from a Russian diplomatic mission or visa center.
Foreign citizens, while in the territory of Russia, must comply with the legislation of Russia, including requirements of customs, border and immigration regimes, rules of travel finance, registration, internal movement within the territory of Russia and extensions of stay.
Nothing limits the right of competent authorities of Russia to deny entry or to shorten the period of stay in the territory of Russia for foreign citizens.
Russia's visa and other migration policies are also implemented in accordance with the mobility rights arrangements within the Commonwealth of Independent States and the rules of the single market of the Eurasian Economic Union.

## Overview
### Border-crossing points

Foreign citizens may enter into the territory of Russia through the border-crossing points open to international passenger traffic.
As of December 2023, Russia has 380 checkpoints across the state border of Russia.

### Land border with Belarus

Citizens of third countries were not allowed to cross the Belarus–Russia land border prior to Jan 11, 2025 due to a lack of international border crossing points, because passports must be stamped. Since Jan 11, 2025, Belarus-Russia mutual visa recognition agreement comes into force and crossing by railway and selected land border crossing are allowed.
Entry are allowed through the road checkpoints on the border between Russia and Belarus as of 2025:
* Vitebsk Region Yukhovichi (P46) - Dolostsy (A117) Pskov Oblast
* Vitebsk Region Yezerishche (M8) - Nevel (P23) Pskov Oblast; Part of European route E95
* Vitebsk Region Liozno (P21) - Kruglovka (P120) Smolensk Oblast
* Vitebsk Region Redki (M1) - Krasnaya Gorka (M1) Smolensk Oblast; Part of European route E30
* Mogilev Region Zvenchatka (P43) - Dubovicka (A130) Smolensk Oblast
* Gomel Region Selishe (M10) - Novozybkov (A240) Bryansk Oblast
Other road crossings remain illegal for third country citizens.

### Land border with Kazakhstan

Residents of the border areas of Kazakhstan who visit the territory of the border areas of Russia up to three days can enter Russia through checkpoints, which are specially installed for residents of border areas.

## Visa exemption
### Economic integration and international treaties

Special travel conditions and exceptions to the usual Russian rules, including special migration rules for foreign citizens, their family members and conditions for the provision of medical care are provided through international agreements and treaties to the following foreign citizens. The conditions for citizens of a specific country should be clarified in advance because not all countries are parties to all agreements.
* Union State of Russia and Belarus (Belarus)
* The rules of the Single Economic Space of the Eurasian Economic Union (Armenia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan)
* Mobility rights arrangements of the Commonwealth of Independent States (present and former countries of the Commonwealth of Independent States, including Ukraine and Georgia, but not Turkmenistan)

### Electronic Travel Authorization

The Electronic Travel Authorization is a mandatory requirement for travelers from visa exemption countries visiting Russia, which will come into effect on 30 June 2025. Travelers holding ordinary passports from eligible countries and territories must obtain a ETA before their departure to Russia.

### Ordinary passports

Holders of ordinary passports of the following countries and territories may enter Russia without a visa if the duration of their visit does not exceed the visa-free limit specified below (except for citizens of Belarus, South Ossetia and Ukraine, who have the right to unlimited visa-free entry to Russia).
From 2014, resetting the allowed period by leaving and re-entering the country is no longer allowed.
From 1 January 2025, the period of temporary stay of a foreign citizen who arrived in the Russian Federation without a visa may not exceed for a maximum total stay of 90 days within any 1 calendar year period (unless otherwise stipulated by an international agreement or Russian legislation.)
| Belarus$^{IDA}$ | South Ossetia$^{IP}$ | Ukraine$^{ID}$ |
| Abkhazia$^{IP}$  Andorra$^2$  Antigua and Barbuda$^1$  Argentina$^1$  Armenia$^3$  Azerbaijan$^3$  Belize$^1$  Bolivia$^1$  Brazil$^1$  Chile$^1$  Colombia$^1$ | Costa Rica$^1$  Cuba$^1$  Dominica$^1$  Ecuador$^1$  El Salvador$^1$  Fiji$^3$  Georgia$^3$  Grenada$^1$  Guatemala$^1$  Guyana$^1$  Honduras$^1$ | Israel$^1$  Jamaica$^4$  Kazakhstan$^{3IDA}$  Kyrgyzstan$^{3IDA}$  Maldives$^3$  Moldova$^3$  Namibia$^1$  Nicaragua$^1$  Panama$^1$  Paraguay$^1$  Peru$^1$ | Qatar$^1$  Saint Kitts and Nevis$^1$  Saint Vincent and the Grenadines$^1$  South Africa$^3$  Suriname$^1$  Tajikistan$^3$  United Arab Emirates$^1$  Uruguay$^1$  Uzbekistan$^3$  Vanuatu$^3$  Venezuela$^1$ |
| Cape Verde$^3$  Dominican Republic$^5$ | Mauritius$^1$  Samoa$^3$ | South Korea$^1$ |
| Bosnia and Herzegovina$^6$  Botswana$^1$  Laos$^1$ | Macao$^3$  Mongolia$^1$  Montenegro | North Macedonia  Palau$^3$  Serbia | Seychelles$^3$  Thailand |
| Brunei | Hong Kong | Nauru |
$_{ID-MayenterwithanationalIDcardinlieuofapassport.}$ $_{IDA-MayenterwithanationalIDcardinlieuofapassportifarrivingdirectlyfromcountriesofEurasianEconomicUnion.}$ $_{IP-Mayenterwithaninternalpassport.}$ $_{1-90dayswithinany180-dayperiod.}$ $_{2-90dayswithinany365-dayperiod.}$ $_{3-90dayswithinany1calendaryearperiod.}$ $_{4-90dayswithinany1yearperiod.}$ $_{5-60dayswithinany180-dayperiod.}$ $_{6-30dayswithinany60-dayperiod.}$
* Date of visa changes
* Citizens of Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Moldova, Tajikistan, Ukraine and Uzbekistan have never required a visa to enter the Russian Federation.
* 29 July 1994: Cuba
* 24 March 2007: Thailand
* 17 June 2008: Estonia and Latvia (holders of an alien passport and a non-citizen passport) (resumed)
* 20 September 2008: Israel
* 31 October 2008: North Macedonia
* 21 November 2008: Montenegro
* 6 March 2009: Venezuela
* 10 June 2009: Serbia
* 29 June 2009: Argentina
* 1 July 2009: Hong Kong
* 7 June 2010: Brazil
* 3 July 2010: Nicaragua
* 18 January 2011: Chile
* 13 March 2011: Colombia
* 25 April 2011: South Ossetia
* 26 April 2011: Abkhazia
* 21 June 2011: Peru
* 27 December 2011: Uruguay
* 29 February 2012: Guatemala
* 30 September 2012: Macao
* 24 November 2012: Ecuador
* 1 May 2013: Bosnia and Herzegovina
* 29 July 2013: Fiji
* 1 January 2014: South Korea
* 20 October 2014: Paraguay
* 14 November 2014: Mongolia (resumed under different terms)
* 8 February 2015: Panama
* 14 May 2015: Nauru
* 11 July 2015: Honduras
* 27 November 2015: Guyana
* 14 December 2015: Seychelles
* 10 April 2016: Mauritius
* 27 August 2016: El Salvador
* 3 October 2016: Bolivia
* 21 October 2016: Vanuatu
* 30 March 2017: South Africa
* 9 July 2017: Samoa
* 21 November 2017: Saint Kitts and Nevis
* 2 December 2017: Laos
* 24 December 2017: Grenada
* 8 January 2018: Brunei
* 27 November 2018: Jamaica
* 27 December 2018: Palau
* 7 January 2019: Saint Vincent and the Grenadines
* 14 January 2019: Dominica
* 17 February 2019: United Arab Emirates
* 13 May 2019: Suriname
* 25 May 2019: Costa Rica
* 25 July 2019: Maldives
* 8 October 2019: Botswana
* 22 October 2019: Antigua and Barbuda
* 23 February 2020: Qatar
* 4 July 2020: Cape Verde
* 25 November 2020: Andorra
* 15 December 2020: Dominican Republic
* 2 August 2021: Namibia
* 12 January 2022: Belize
* 10 May 2023: Georgia (resumed)
* 10 October 2024: Georgia (unlimited for the duration of study or work)
* Cancelled:
* As the Soviet Union:
* East Germany: 1990
* As the Russian Federation:
* Estonia and Latvia: 12 May 1993
* Vietnam: 20 February 1994
* Lithuania: 19 April 1994
* Mongolia: 5 May 1995 (resumed under different terms in 2014)
* North Korea: 22 May 1997
* Turkmenistan: 17 July 1999
* Slovenia: 1 December 1999
* Czech Republic: 29 May 2000
* Georgia: 3 December 2000 (was resumed in 2023)
* Estonia and Latvia (holders of an alien passport and a non-citizen passport): 1 January 2001 (was resumed in 2008)
* Slovakia: 1 January 2001
* Hungary: 14 June 2001
* Bulgaria: 7 May 2002
* Poland: 1 October 2003
* Cyprus: 1 January 2004
* Romania: 1 March 2004
* Croatia: 31 March 2013
* Turkey: 1 January 2016

### Other visa exemption
#### Tour groups

| China  Iran | Citizens of China may visit Russia without a visa for up to 15 days and citizens of Iran may visit Russia without a visa for up to 15 days during one trip, but no more than 90 days within any 180-day period if traveling as part of a tour group from 5 to 50 persons that is accompanied by a representative of a tour operator registered in both countries (Russia-China, Russia-Iran). |

##### Common visa with Belarus

From 11 January 2025, visa-free entry is available for holders of a valid visa or residence permit of Belarus.
* Common Visa rules
* Foreign nationals and stateless persons entering, staying, or transiting through Belarus and Russia on a visa basis, holding a visa from one of the two countries, and a mutually recognized identification document, have the right to enter, leave, stay, and transit both countries within the visa's validity.
* If Russia and Belarus offer a visa-free regime for these individuals under international agreements, the recognized ID document is sufficient for entry and stay.
* In cases where one country has a visa-free regime and the other requires a visa, the person must hold both the ID document and a visa for the latter.
* Foreign nationals with a temporary residence permit or a document for attending an international event have the right to enter, exit, stay, and transit without a visa within the validity of their documents.
* Stay duration is calculated from entry into one country from a third state.
* Common visa with does not apply to individuals restricted from entering either country.
* Russian and Belarus officials retains the right to deny entry or reduce the duration of stay for any foreign national or stateless person, as well as to check compliance with entry, exit, transit, or stay regulations.
* Entry into Belarus and Russia is possible through international border crossing points as well as directly via international railway and air routes, as well as listed automotive routes specified in the Agreement’s Appendix. See Main article: Visa policy of Russia § Overview Land border with Belarus

##### Visa-free visits for up to 72 hours for cruise ship and ferry passengers

Since May 2009, international tourists entering by regular ferry via several ports have been able to stay in Russia visa-free for up to 72 hours, provided that they spend the night on-board or in accommodation specifically approved by the travel agency.
In addition, tourists entering by tourist cruise ships can leave the ship visa-free on tours organized by any authorized local tour company, when entering Russia through the ports of Anadyr, Kaliningrad, Korsakov, Novorossiysk, Murmansk, Sevastopol, Sochi, Saint Petersburg (Big port Saint Petersburg and Passenger Port of St. Petersburg), Vladivostok, Vyborg, Zarubino.
Entry to the port of St. Petersburg by regular ferry can be done only from the ports of Tallinn (Estonia) or Helsinki (Finland). It is also possible to travel visa-free for 72 hours from the port of Stockholm with the stop in Helsinki.

#### Visa-free zones

* United States - Residents of Alaska who are members of the indigenous population do not require a visa to visit Chukotka Autonomous Okrug if they have relatives (blood relatives, members of the same tribe, native people who have similar language and cultural heritage) in Chukotka. Individuals must be invited by a relative in Chukotka and must leave Chukotka within 90 days. Entry points are in Anadyr, Provideniya, Lavrentiya and Uelen. The agreement was signed between USSR and United States on 23 September 1989 but came into force on 17 July 2015 after ratification by the United States.
Until September 2022, agreements on 1991 were in force between Russia and Japan, group travel to central and southern Kuril Islands were visa-free according for pre-approved lists of the Foreign Ministry. The visits were carried out on the basis of identity cards and inserts. A visa-free regime was also introduced for citizens of Japan who visit the burial place of relatives located in the Kuril Islands and Sakhalin Island, by pre-authorized list in the regional Russian-Japanese consultations.
Local border traffic
* Latvia - 90 days for holders of border traffic permit
From 6 June 2013, residents of the border areas of Latvia who have a permit for local border traffic can visit the border areas of Russia without a visa. From 16 December 2018, amendments to the current agreement entered into force. The procedure for obtaining a permit was simplified, total period of stay (within 180 days) was canceled, and the stamping of travel documents at the border crossing was canceled.
The territory covered by the agreement with Latvia :
| Latvia | Alūksne Municipality | Alsviķi parish, Alūksne town, Anna parish, Jaunalūksne parish, Jaunanna parish, Jaunlaicene parish, Liepna parish, Maliena parish, Mālupe parish, Mārkalne parish, Pededze parish, Veclaicene parish, Ziemeri parish |
| Latvia | Baltinava Municipality | |
| Latvia | Balvi Municipality | Balvi parish, Balvi town, Bērzkalne parish, Bērzpils parish, Briežuciems parish, Krišjāņi parish, Kubuli parish, Lazduleja parish, Tilža parish, Vectilža parish, Vīksna parish. |
| Latvia | Cibla Municipality | Blonti parish, Cibla parish, Līdumnieki parish, Pušmucova parish, Zvirgzdene parish. |
| Latvia | Dagda Municipality | Bērziņi parish, Ezernieki parish, Ķepova parish, Svariņi parish, Šķaune parish |
| Latvia | Kārsava Municipality | Goliševa parish, Kārsava town, Malnava parish, Mērdzene parish, Mežvidi parish, Salnava parish. |
| Latvia | Ludza Municipality | Briģi parish, Cirma parish, Isnauda parish, Istra parish, Ludza town, Nirza parish, Ņukši parish, Pilda parish, Pureņi parish, Rundēni parish. |
| Latvia | Rēzekne Municipality | Bērzgale parish, Dricāni parish, Gaigalava parish, Ilzeskalns parish, Lendži parish, Nautrēni parish, Strūžāni parish. |
| Latvia | Rugāji Municipality | Lazdukalns parish, Rugāji parish. |
| Latvia | Viļaka Municipality | Kuprava parish, Medņeva parish, Susāji parish, Šķilbēni parish, Vecumi parish, Viļaka town, Žīguri parish. |
| Latvia | Zilupe Municipality | Lauderi parish, Pasiene parish, Zaļesje Parish, Zilupe town. |
| Russia | Pskov Oblast | Krasnogorodsky District: Krasnogorodsk, Pogranichnaya Volost, Krasnogorodskaya Volost, Partizanskaya Volost. Opochetsky District: Varyginskaya Volost, Makushinskaya Volost, Prigorodnaya Volost. Ostrovsky District: Ostrov, Berezhanskaya Volost, Gorayskaya Volost. Palkinsky District: Palkino, Kachanovskaya Volost, Rodonskaya Volost, Palkinskaya Volost, Novousitovskaya Volost, Vasilyevskaya Volost, Cherskaya Volost. Pechorsky District: Pechory, Lavrovskaya Volost, Kruppskaya Volost, Novoizborskaya Volost, Izborskaya Volost, Panikovskaya Volost. Pytalovsky District: Pytalovo, Gavrovskaya Volost, Linovskaya Volost, Nosovskaya Volost, Skalinskaya Volost, Vyshgorodskaya Volost, Tulinskaya Volost, Utroinskaya Volost. Sebezhsky District: Sebezh, Sosnovy Bor, Sebezhskaya Volost, Mostischenskaya Volost. |
* Norway - 15 days for holders of border traffic permit
From 29 May 2012, residents of the border areas of Norway who have a permit for local border traffic can visit the border areas of Russia without a visa. From 4 March 2017, the Protocol on amendments to the current agreement entered into force – residents of area of Neiden received the right to receive a permit for local border traffic.
The territory covered by the agreement with Norway :
| Norway | Finnmark county: Sør-Varanger Municipality, within a zone of 30 kilometres (19 mi) from the border + the Neiden village area. |
| Russia | Pechengsky District: Korzunovo municipality, Zapolyarny municipality and the territory of Pechenga municipality and Nickel municipality within a zone of 30 kilometres (19 mi) from the border. |
* Poland - 30 days, for a maximum total stay of 90 days within a 180-day period for holders of border traffic permit
From 27 July 2012, residents of the border areas of Poland who have a permit for local border traffic can visit Kaliningrad Oblast without a visa. The agreement has been suspended for an indefinite period by Poland from 4 July 2016.
The territory covered by the agreement with Poland :
| Poland | Pomeranian Voivodeship | Towns: Gdańsk, Gdynia, Sopot. Gdańsk County, Malbork County, Nowy Dwór Gdański County, Puck County. |
| Poland | Warmian-Masurian Voivodeship | Towns: Elbląg, Olsztyn. Bartoszyce County, Braniewo County, Elbląg County, Giżycko County, Gołdap County, Kętrzyn County, Lidzbark County, Mrągowo County, Olecko County, Olsztyn County, Węgorzewo County. |
| Russia | Kaliningrad Oblast | |

#### Crew members

Visa is not required for crew members of airlines, sea crew, river crew, rail crew that have a bilateral agreement with the Russian government exempting crew members from visa requirements.
Citizens of following countries may visit Russia without a visa if they are travelling as part of the airline crew: Afghanistan, Algeria, Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Canada, China, Croatia, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Egypt, Ethiopia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Iceland, India, Iraq, Italy, Japan, Jordan, Latvia, Lebanon, Libya, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Netherlands, North Korea, North Macedonia, Norway, Oman, Poland, Portugal, Qatar, Romania, Singapore, Spain, Sri Lanka, Sweden, Switzerland, Turkmenistan, United Arab Emirates, United Kingdom, Vietnam.
Russian Government has instructed the Foreign Ministry to sign an agreement with Georgia, and Tunisia.
Citizens of following countries may visit Russia without a visa if they are travelling as part of the sea crew: Bulgaria, China,$^1$ Croatia, Cyprus, DR Congo, Egypt, France, Iran, Iraq, Lithuania, North Korea, Poland, Tunisia, Turkey Turkmenistan, Vietnam.
Citizens of following countries may visit Russia without a visa if they are travelling as part of the railway crew: China, North Korea, Turkmenistan.

### Visa-free transit
#### Direct airside transit

Passengers travelling through international airports do not need a visa for a transit of less than 24 hours in most circumstances, provided a confirmed onward ticket is held and the traveller remains in the international transit area (without clearing regular passport control). A transit visa is needed when transiting Russia to/from Belarus.
The following international Russian airports do not have international transit areas, meaning a transit visa is required to connect there:
| Irkutsk Airport (IKT) Khabarovsk Airport (KHV) Krasnodar Airport (KRR) Mineralnye Vody Airport (MRV) | Rostov Airport (ROV) Sochi Airport (AER) Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk Airport (UUS) Zhukovsky Airport (ZIA) |

#### Saimaa canal

In accordance with a treaty between Russia and Finland, though there are passport controls at borders, a visa is not required for just passing through the Russian part of the Saimaa canal without leaving the vessel.

#### Värska–Ulitina road

The road from Värska to Ulitina in Estonia, traditionally the only road to the Ulitina area, goes through Russian territory for one kilometre (0.6 mi) of its length, an area called Saatse Boot. This road has no border control, but there is no connection to any other road in Russia. It is not permitted to stop or walk along the road. This area is a part of Russia but is also a de facto part of the Schengen area.

### Non-ordinary passports

Under reciprocal agreements, holders of diplomatic or various categories of service passports (consular, official, service, special) of the following countries and territories may enter and remain in Russia without a visa for the following period:
| Belarus$^{DS}$ | South Ossetia$^{DS}$ |
| Argentina$^{DOS}$ | Bolivia$^{DOS}$ | Costa Rica$^{DS}$ |
| Abkhazia$^{DS}$  Albania$^{DS}$  Algeria$^{2DS}$  Andorra$^{1D}$  Angola$^{DS}$  Antigua and Barbuda$^{2DO}$  Armenia$^{2D}$  Azerbaijan$^{2DS}$  Bahrain$^{2DOSp}$  Belize$^{2DO}$  Benin$^{DS}$  Bosnia and Herzegovina$^{DS}$  Botswana$^{DS}$  Brazil$^{DS}$  Bulgaria$^{2O}$  Burkina Faso$^{DS}$  Burundi$^{2DS}$  Cabo Verde$^{DS}$  Cambodia$^{2DS}$  Cameroon$^{2DS}$  Central African Republic$^{2DS}$ (from 25 Apr 2025)  Chile$^{DO}$  Colombia$^{DOS}$  DR Congo$^{2DS}$ (from 19 Mar 2025)  Republic of Congo$^{DS}$  Croatia$^{2O}$ | Cuba$^{2DOS}$  Djibouti$^{2DS}$  Dominica$^{2DS}$  Dominican Republic$^{DS}$  Ecuador$^{DOSp}$  Egypt$^{DSSp}$  El Salvador$^{DO}$  Equatorial Guinea$^{2DOS}$  Eswatini$^{2DS}$  Ethiopia$^{DS}$  Fiji$^D$  Gabon$^{DS}$  Gambia$^{DS}$  Georgia$^{2DS}$  Grenada$^{2DS}$  Guatemala$^{CDO}$  Guinea$^{DS}$  Guinea-Bissau$^{DS}$  Guyana$^D$  Honduras$^{DO}$  Hungary$^{2O}$  India$^{DOS}$  Iraq$^{2DSSp}$  Jamaica$^{DS}$  Jordan$^{2DSSp}$  Kazakhstan$^{2DS}$ | Kuwait$^{2DSSp}$  Kyrgyzstan$^{2DS}$  Maldives$^{DS}$  Mali$^{DS}$  Mexico$^{DOS}$  Moldova$^{2DS}$  Montenegro$^{DS}$  Morocco$^{DS}$  Myanmar$^{3DOS}$  Namibia$^{2DO}$  Nepal$^{3DSO}$  Nicaragua$^{DOS}$  Niger$^{2DS}$  North Korea$^{DS}$  North Macedonia$^{DS}$  Oman$^{DSSp}$  Pakistan$^{DS}$  Palau$^{DS}$  Palestine$^{2D}$  Panama$^{CDOSSp}$  Paraguay$^{DS}$  Peru$^{DSSp}$  Philippines$^{DOS}$  Qatar$^{2DSp}$  Rwanda$^{2DS}$  Saint Kitts and Nevis$^{2DO}$ | Saint Vincent and the Grenadines$^{2DO}$  Senegal$^{DS}$  Serbia$^{DS}$  Sierra Leone$^{2DS}$  Singapore$^{DOS}$  South Africa$^{DOS}$  South Korea$^{DOS}$  Sudan$^{2D}$  Suriname$^{2DS}$  Syria$^{DSSp}$  Tajikistan$^{2DS}$  Thailand$^{DS}$  Togo$^{2DS}$  Tunisia$^{2DSSp}$  Turkey$^D$  Ukraine$^{2DS}$  United Arab Emirates$^{2DSp}$  Uruguay$^{DOS}$  Uzbekistan$^{2DS}$  Vanuatu$^{DS}$  Venezuela$^{DS}$  Vietnam$^{DS}$  Zambia$^{2D}$  Zimbabwe$^{24DS}$ |
| Mauritius$^{2DS}$ | Samoa$^{DO}$ |
| Bangladesh$^{DOS}$  China$^{DS}$  Iran$^{DS}$  Laos$^{DS}$  Mongolia$^{2DS}$ | Mozambique$^{DS}$  Seychelles$^{DO}$  Sri Lanka$^{DOS}$  Turkey$^{2SSp}$  Turkmenistan$^{DS}$ |
| Brunei$^{DOS}$ | Indonesia$^{DS}$ | Nauru$^{DO}$ |
$_{C-Consularpassports}$ $_{D-Diplomaticpassports}$ $_{O-Officialpassports}$ $_{S-Servicepassports}$ $_{Sp-Specialpassports}$
$_{1–90dayswithinany365-dayperiod.}$ $_{2–90dayswithinany180-dayperiod.}$ $_{3-Withtherightofmultipleentryandexit.}$ $_{4-Appliesonlytoemployeesofofficialinstitutionsoperatingintheterritoryofacontractingpartiesandtheirfamilies.}$
Currently, visa exemption for holders of diplomatic passports of European Union member states, Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway and Switzerland have been suspended.
Among citizens of countries whose citizens do not normally require a visa, holders of diplomatic or service passports of Israel require a visa.

### Future changes

Russia has signed visa exemption agreements with the following countries, but they have not yet entered into force:
| Country | Passports | Days |
| Central African Republic Effective date: 25 April 2025 | Diplomatic, service | 90 days within any 180-day period |
| Democratic Republic of Congo Effective date: 19 March 2025 | Diplomatic, service | 90 days within any 180-day period |
| Micronesia | All | 30 days |
| San Marino | All | 90 days within any 180-day period |
Russia is considering visa exemption agreements or visa policy improvements for the following countries:
* China - 21 days for tourist groups from 3 to 50 persons
* Côte d'Ivoire - 90 days for diplomatic and service passports
* Eritrea - 90 days within any 180 day-period for diplomatic and service passports
* Ghana - 90 days within any 180 day-period for diplomatic and service passports
* Lebanon - 90 days within any 180 day-period for diplomatic, service and special passports
* Mauritania - 90 days within any 180 day-period for diplomatic and service passports
* Saint Lucia - 90 days within any 180 day-period for all passports
In addition, Russia is currently in talks with Gulf countries as well as other countries to establish visa exemption agreements.
| Bahamas  Bahrain  Barbados  Haiti  Hong Kong - 30 days for all passports | India - For tourist groups  Kuwait  Malaysia  Mexico  Oman | Saudi Arabia  Trinidad and Tobago  Zambia  Zimbabwe |

## Electronic visa (e-Visa)

Citizens of the following countries and territories may obtain an e-Visa for 16 days:
| Bahrain  Barbados  Bhutan  Cambodia  China  Eswatini  Iceland  India  Indonesia  Iran | Japan  Jordan  Kenya  Kuwait  Liechtenstein  Malaysia  Mexico  Monaco  Myanmar  North Korea | North Macedonia  Norway  Oman  Papua New Guinea  Philippines  Saint Lucia  San Marino  Saudi Arabia  Singapore  Switzerland | Taiwan  Tonga  Trinidad and Tobago  Turkey  Turkmenistan  Vatican City  Vietnam  Zimbabwe |
Border crossing points for eVisa holders :
| Abakan Anadyr Arkhangelsk Astrakhan Barnaul Belgorod Bryansk Vladivostok Vladikavkaz (Beslan) Volgograd Grozny | Yekaterinburg Irkutsk Kazan Kaliningrad Kaluga Kemerovo Krasnodar Krasnoyarsk Lipetsk Makhachkala | Mineralnye Vody Moscow – Domodedovo Moscow – Sheremetyevo Moscow – Vnukovo Moscow – Zhukovsky Murmansk Nalchik Nizhny Novgorod Novosibirsk Omsk | Orenburg Perm Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky Rostov-on-Don Samara Saint Petersburg Saratov Sochi (Adler) Syktyvkar Tomsk | Tyumen Ulan-Ude Ulyanovsk Ufa Khabarovsk Cheboksary Chelyabinsk Chita Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk Yaroslavl |
| Kaliningrad Kandalaksha Korsakov Magadan Murmansk Nikolayevsk-on-Amur Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky | Posyet Saint Petersburg – Big Port (Marine Station) Saint Petersburg – Passenger Port Sochi Vladivostok – Sea passenger terminal Vladivostok – Zarubino Vysotsk |
From 8 August 2017, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Russia started to implement the e-Visa Program.
Citizens of the 18 countries could apply an e-Visa to visit to regions in the Far Eastern Federal District.
From 8 June 2019, citizens of Taiwan were added to the list for Far East.
From 1 July 2019, citizens of the 54 countries could apply for single-entry business, humanitarian and tourist visas to visit the Kaliningrad region.
From 1 October 2019, electronic visa have become valid for Saint Petersburg and Leningrad Oblast.
On 24 January 2020, the new list for the Far Eastern e-Visa was approved.
Thus, the list of countries has become uniform for all regions where an electronic visa is applied.
On 6 October 2020, in accordance with the Decree of the Government of the Russian Federation No. 2571/2020, the list of States was approved. These are all the countries whose citizens were allowed to enter Russia with an electronic visa as part of the pilot project. The e-Visa is a single entry visa, which is valid for a period of 60 days from the date of issue, and which allows a period of stay in the Russian Federation of up to 16 days from the date of entry.
Unified e-Visa was scheduled to be introduced in Russia on 1 January 2021 but the program was temporarily suspended because of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Russia started issuing e-Visas on 1 August 2023.
From 5 December 2024, electronic visas became available to citizens of the following 11 countries: Barbados, Bhutan, Eswatini, Jordan, Kenya, Papua New Guinea, Saint Lucia, Tonga, Trinidad and Tobago, Turkmenistan, Zimbabwe. In addition, Andorra and Serbia were excluded from the list, as there are existing bilateral agreements on mutual visa-free travel of citizens.

## APEC Business Travel Card

The APEC Business Travel Card (ABTC) is a travel document issued to business travellers who are citizens of APEC participating economies. Valid for five years, the card eliminates the need for its holder to possess a visa when visiting other APEC participating economies.
From 1 June 2013, holders of passports issued by the following countries who possess an APEC Business Travel Card (ABTC) containing the "RUS" code on the reverse that it is valid for travel may enter Russia without a visa for business trips for up to 90 days within any 180-day period.
ABTCs are issued to citizens of:
| Australia  Brunei  Chile  China  Hong Kong  Indonesia  Japan  South Korea  Malaysia | Mexico  New Zealand  Papua New Guinea  Peru  Philippines  Singapore  Taiwan  Thailand  Vietnam |

## Closed cities

Several closed cities in Russia require special authorization.

## Areas requiring special permits

In accordance with the Government Decree of 1992, 19 areas of the Russian Federation are closed to foreigners without special permits. This restriction does not apply to Russian citizens.
A full list of such areas:
* 1. Part of Kamchatka Krai.
* 2. abolished
* 3. Part of Primorsky Krai.
* 4. Part of Krasnoyarsk Krai.
* 5. Part of Orenburg Oblast.
* 6. Part of Nizhny Novgorod Oblast.
* 7. Part of The Republic of Mordovia.
* 8. Parts of Murmansk Oblast and the Republic of Karelia. Transit to/from Norway is possible by main road.
* 9. Parts of Arkhangelsk Oblast (include South part of Novaya Zemlya island) and the Komi Republic.
* 10. Parts of Sverdlovsk Oblast.
* 11. Parts of Chelyabinsk Oblast.
* 12. In Leningrad Oblast – all Russian islands of Gulf of Finland, except Gogland, and 20 kilometres (12 mi) strip along south coast of the Gulf of Finland.
* 13. Parts of Moscow Oblast.
* 14. Part of Kaliningrad Oblast, approx. 15%.
* 15. Part of Volgograd Oblast.
* 16. Part of Astrakhan Oblast.
* 17. Chukotka Autonomous Okrug, all except Bilibino region.
* 18. Part of Yamalo-Nenets Autonomous Okrug.
* 19. The Republic of North Ossetia-Alania, 45% of territory. Transit to border with Georgia and to border with South Ossetia are possible along the main roads. Tsey Gorge is opened for foreigners from 2012.

## Conflict area

As of 2024, Crimea and parts of Donetsk, Kharkiv, Kherson, Luhansk, and Zaporizhzhia regions are under Russian control and Russia enforces its visa policy there.
The Government of Ukraine strictly prohibits the entry and transit of foreign citizens to the occupied territories. Foreign citizens who entered the occupied territories without permission will be denied entry and transit to Ukraine.

## Agreements

The Russian Federation has visa waiver agreements with 152 jurisdictions. In the table, red indicates agreements signed but not ratified or temporarily not applied, fully or partially suspended agreements are indicated in yellow.
Valid bilateral and multilateral visa waiver agreements :
| Country or territory | Duration of stay by type of passport | Duration of stay by type of passport | Duration of stay by type of passport | Date of signing | Effective date | Citation |
| Country or territory | Diplomatic | Service Official Special Consular | Ordinary | Date of signing | Effective date | Citation |
| Abkhazia | 90 days | 90 days | 90 days | 2 Oct 2009 | 26 Apr 2011 | |
| Albania | 90 days | 90 days | | 7 Apr 1993 | 6 Aug 1993 | |
| Algeria | 90 days within any 180-day period | 90 days within any 180-day period | | 19 Feb 2018 | 6 Feb 2019 | |
| Andorra | 90 days within any 365-day period | 90 days within any 365-day period | 90 days within any 365-day period | 5 Dec 2019 | 25 Nov 2020 | |
| Angola | 90 days | 90 days | | 26 Feb 1999 | 16 Jun 2006 | |
| Antigua and Barbuda | 90 days within any 180-day period | 90 days within any 180-day period | 90 days within any 180-day period | 7 Jun 2019 | 22 Oct 2019 | |
| Argentina | 3 months | 3 months | | 16 May 1994 | 29 Sep 1994 | |
| Argentina | | | 90 days within any 180-day period | 11 Mar 2009 18 Mar 2009 | 29 Jun 2009 | |
| Armenia | Unspecified period | Unspecified period | Unspecified period | 25 Sep 2000 | 25 Sep 2000 | |
| Azerbaijan | Unspecified period | Unspecified period | Unspecified period | 3 Jul 1997 | 4 May 1998 | |
| Bahrain | 90 days within any 180 day-period | 90 days within any 180 day-period | | 16 Dec 2015 | 26 Jun 2016 | |
| Bangladesh | 30 days | 30 days | | 22 Sep 2016 | 12 Feb 2017 | |
| Belarus | Unspecified period | Unspecified period | Unspecified period | 30 Nov 2000 | 30 Nov 2000 | |
| Belize | 90 days within any 180-day period | 90 days within any 180-day period | 90 days within any 180-day period | 23 Sep 2021 | 12 Jan 2022 | |
| Benin | 90 days | 90 days | | 21 Jun 2001 | 20 Aug 2001 | |
| Bolivia | 3 month | 3 month | | 11 Apr 1995 | 24 Apr 1997 | |
| Bolivia | | | 90 days within any 180-day period | 12 Apr 2016 | 3 Oct 2016 | |
| Bosnia and Herzegovina | 90 days | 90 days | 30 days within any 60-day period | 31 May 2013 | 20 Oct 2013 | |
| Botswana | 90 days | 90 days | | 10 Feb 2005 | 11 Apr 2005 | |
| Botswana | | | 30 days, for a maximum total stay of 90 days within any 180-day period | 6 Jun 2019 | 8 Oct 2019 | |
| Brazil | 90 days | 90 days | | 16 Apr 1991 | 16 May 1991 | |
| Brazil | | | 90 days within any 180-day period | 26 Nov 2008 | 7 Jun 2010 | |
| Brunei | 14 days | 14 days | | 7 Oct 2009 12 Oct 2009 | 11 Nov 2009 | |
| Brunei | | | 14 days, for a maximum total stay of 90 days within any 180-day period | 8 Nov 2017 | 8 Jan 2018 | |
| Bulgaria | 90 days within any 180-day period | 90 days within any 180-day period | | 5 Mar 2002 | 7 May 2002 | |
| Burkina Faso | 90 days | 90 days | | 2 Mar 2000 | 2 Mar 2000 | |
| Burundi | 90 days within any 180-day period | 90 days within any 180-day period | | 6 Feb 2018 | 30 Jun 2018 | |
| Cabo Verde | 90 days | 90 days | | 14 Jul 1995 | 12 Sep 1995 | |
| Cabo Verde | | | 60 days | 30 Apr 2019 | 4 Jul 2020 | |
| Cambodia | 90 days | 90 days | | 17 Mar 1988 | 28 May 1988 | |
| Cameroon | 90 days within any 180-day period | 90 days within any 180-day period | | 27 Jul 2023 | 9 May 2024 | |
| Central African Republic | 90 days within any 180-day period | 90 days within any 180-day period | | 9 Nov 2024 | 25 Apr 2025 | |
| Chile | 3 months | | | 14 Feb 1995 | 1 Oct 1996 | |
| Chile | | 3 months | | 4 Oct 2002 | 12 Feb 2004 | |
| Chile | | | 90 days within any 180-day period | 24 Sep 2010 | 18 Jan 2011 | |
| China | 30 days | 30 days | | 22 Mar 2013 | 26 Apr 2014 | |
| China | | | 15 days for tourist groups | 29 Feb 2000 | 9 Nov 2000 | |
| Colombia | 90 days | 90 days | | 26 Nov 1997 | 28 Mar 1998 | |
| Colombia | | | 90 days within any 180-day period | 24 Sep 2010 | 13 Mar 2011 | |
| Democratic Republic of the Congo | 90 days within any 180-day period | 90 days within any 180-day period | | 27 Jul 2023 | 19 Mar 2025 | |
| Congo | 90 days | 90 days | | 18 Dec 2014 | 1 Jan 2016 | |
| Costa Rica | 3 month | 3 month | | 16 Oct 1997 | 1 May 1998 | |
| Costa Rica | | | 90 days within any 180-day period | 3 May 2018 28 May 2018 | 25 May 2019 | |
| Croatia | | 90 days within any 180-day period | | 2 Mar 2010 | 31 Mar 2013 | |
| Cuba | 90 days within any 180 day period | 90 days within any 180 day period | 90 days within any 180 day period | 22 May 2018 | 21 Dec 2018 | |
| Cyprus | 90 days within any half-year period | 90 days within any half-year period | | 8 Jun 2005 | 20 Jan 2006 | |
| Denmark | 90 days within any 180-day period | | | 27 May 2008 | 1 Oct 2009 | |
| Djibouti | 90 days within any 180-day period | 90 days within any 180-day period | | 6 Feb 2022 | 1 May 2022 | |
| Dominica | 90 days within any 180-day period | 90 days within any 180-day period | 90 days within any 180-day period | 28 Sep 2018 | 14 Jan 2019 | |
| Dominican Republic | 90 days | 90 days | | 9 Sep 2009 | 9 Apr 2010 | |
| Dominican Republic | | | 60 days within any 180-day period | 26 Nov 2018 | 15 Dec 2020 | |
| Ecuador | 90 days within any year period | 90 days within any year period | | 18 Feb 1999 | 15 May 1999 | |
| Ecuador | | | 90 days within any 180-day period | 24 Sep 2010 | 24 Nov 2012 | |
| Egypt | 90 days | 90 days | | 17 Jul 2003 | 17 Jul 2003 | |
| El Salvador | 90 days | 90 days | | 25 Jan 1999 29 Jan 1999 | 30 Mar 1999 | |
| El Salvador | | | 90 days within any 180-day period | 26 Mar 2015 | 27 Aug 2016 | |
| Eswatini | 90 days within any 180-day period | 90 days within any 180-day period | | 24 Jan 2023 | 12 Jun 2023 | |
| Equatorial Guinea | 90 days within any 180-day period | 90 days within any 180-day period | | 7 Apr 2017 | 8 Nov 2019 | |
| Ethiopia | 90 days | 90 days | | 11 Dec 2002 | 11 Jan 2003 | |
| European Union countries (excluding Denmark and Ireland) 25 states  Austria Belgium Bulgaria Croatia Cyprus Czech Republic Estonia Finland France Germany Greece Hungary Italy Latvia Lithuania Luxembourg Malta Netherlands Poland Portugal Romania Slovakia Slovenia Spain Sweden | 90 days within any 180-day period | | | 25 May 2006 | 1 Jun 2007; for Croatia from 1 Jul 2013 | |
| Fiji | 90 days | 90 days | 90 days | 28 Jun 2013 | 29 Jul 2013 | |
| Gabon | 90 days | 90 days | | 5 Apr 2011 | 25 Sep 2011 | |
| Gambia | 90 days | 90 days | | 4 May 2017 | 15 Aug 2018 | |
| Grenada | 90 days within any 180-day period | 90 days within any 180-day period | 90 days within any 180-day period | 20 Sep 2017 | 24 Dec 2017 | |
| Guatemala | 3 months | 3 months | | 24 May 1999 | 24 Jul 1999 | |
| Guatemala | | | 90 days within any 180-day period | 22 Sep 2011 | 29 Feb 2012 | |
| Guinea | 90 days | 90 days | | 7 Jan 1998 | 8 Mar 1998 | |
| Guinea-Bissau | 90 days | 90 days | | 23 Oct 2019 | 9 Feb 2022 | |
| Guyana | 90 days | | | 3 Nov 2005 | 12 Feb 2006 | |
| Guyana | | 90 days | | 7 Jun 2017 24 Jul 2017 | 17 Nov 2017 | |
| Guyana | | | 90 days within any 180-day period | 27 Sep 2015 | 27 Nov 2015 | |
| Honduras | 90 days | 90 days | | 21 Sep 1999 | 20 Nov 1999 | |
| Honduras | | | 90 days within any 180-day period | 26 Sep 2014 | 11 Jul 2015 | |
| Hong Kong | 14 days | 14 days | 14 days | 23 Apr 2009 | 1 Jul 2009 | |
| Hungary | 90 days within any 180-day period | 90 days within any 180-day period | | 14 Jun 2001 | 14 Jun 2001 | |
| Iceland | 90 days within any 180-day period | | | 24 Sep 2008 | 1 Mar 2010 | |
| India | 90 days | 90 days | | 3 Dec 2004 | 28 Mar 2006 | |
| Indonesia | 14 days | 14 days | | 1 Dec 2006 | 22 Mar 2008 | |
| Iran | 30 days | 30 days | | 29 Mar 1993 | 29 Apr 1993 | |
| Iran | | | 15 days for tourist groups | 28 Mar 2017 | 1 Jul 2021 | |
| Iraq | 90 days within any 180-day period | 90 days within any 180-day period | | 2 Apr 2023 | 23 Jan 2024 | |
| Israel | | | 90 days within any 180-day period | 20 Mar 2008 | 20 Sep 2008 | |
| Jamaica | 90 days | 90 days | | 23 Jun 2000 | 1 Sep 2000 | |
| Jamaica | | | 90 days within any year period | 27 Sep 2018 | 27 Nov 2018 | |
| Jordan | 90 days within any 180-day period | 90 days within any 180-day period | | 11 Sep 2017 | 25 Jan 2018 | |
| Kazakhstan | Unspecified period | Unspecified period | Unspecified period | 30 Nov 2000 | 30 Nov 2000 | |
| Kuwait | 90 days within any 180-day period | 90 days within any 180-day period | | 10 Nov 2015 | 10 Apr 2016 | |
| Kyrgyzstan | Unspecified period | Unspecified period | Unspecified period | 30 Nov 2000 | 30 Nov 2000 | |
| Laos | 30 days | 30 days | | 29 Nov 2004 | 30 Dec 2004 | |
| Laos | | | 30 days, for a maximum total stay of 90 days within any 180-day period | 8 Sep 2016 | 2 Dec 2017 | |
| Liechtenstein | 90 days within any 180-day period | | | 12 Nov 2013 | 1 Apr 2015 | |
| Macao | 30 days | 30 days | 30 days | 19 Jun 2012 | 30 Sep 2012 | |
| Maldives | 90 days | 90 days | 90 days | 25 Jun 2019 | 25 Jul 2019 | |
| Mali | 90 days | 90 days | | 27 May 2009 | 27 May 2009 | |
| Mauritius | 60 days, for a maximum total stay of 90 days within any 180-day period | 60 days, for a maximum total stay of 90 days within any 180-day period | 60 days, for a maximum total stay of 90 days within any 180-day period | 23 Dec 2015 | 10 Apr 2016 | |
| Mexico | 90 days | 90 days | | 28 Jan 1997 | 5 Jul 1997 | |
| Micronesia | 30 days | 30 days | 30 days | 21 Sep 2017 | | |
| Moldova | Unspecified period | Unspecified period | Unspecified period | 30 Nov 2000 | 30 Nov 2000 | |
| Mongolia | 30 days, for a maximum total stay of 90 days within any 180-day period | 30 days, for a maximum total stay of 90 days within any 180-day period | 30 days, for a maximum total stay of 90 days within any 180-day period | 3 Sep 2014 | 14 Nov 2014 | |
| Montenegro | 90 days | 90 days | 30 days | 24 Sep 2008 | 21 Nov 2008 | |
| Morocco | 90 days | 90 days | | 15 Oct 2002 | 15 Oct 2002 | |
| Mozambique | 30 days | 30 days | | 30 Dec 2009 | 30 May 2010 | |
| Myanmar | 90 days | 90 days | | 3 Jul 2000 | 3 Aug 2000 | |
| Namibia | 90 days within any 180-day period | 90 days within any 180-day period | 90 days within any 180-day period | 14 Apr 2021 | 2 Aug 2021 | |
| Nauru | 14 days | 14 days | 14 days | 24 Sep 2014 | 14 May 2015 | |
| Nepal | 90 days | 90 days | | 16 Apr 2002 | 16 May 2002 | |
| Nepal | | 90 days | | 27 Apr 2022 13 Jun 2022 | 15 Aug 2022 | |
| Nicaragua | 90 days | 90 days | | 28 Nov 1997 | 13 Jan 1998 | |
| Nicaragua | | | 90 days within any 180-day period | 28 Jul 2009 | 3 Jul 2010 | |
| Niger | 90 days within any 180-day period | 90 days within any 180-day period | | 15 Feb 2022 | 22 Feb 2023 | |
| North Korea | 90 days | 90 days | | 24 Jan 1997 | 23 May 1997 | |
| North Macedonia | 90 days | 90 days | 30 days | 19 Jun 2008 | 31 Oct 2008 | |
| Norway | 90 days within any 180-day period | | | 8 Jun 2007 | 1 Dec 2008 | |
| Oman | 90 days | 90 days | | 3 Feb 2016 | 27 Oct 2016 | |
| Pakistan | 90 days | 90 days | | 4 Jul 1994 | 3 Aug 1994 | |
| Palau | 30 days | 30 days | 30 days | 28 Sep 2018 | 27 Dec 2018 | |
| Palestine | 90 days within any 180-day period | | | 23 Jan 2020 | 21 May 2020 | |
| Panama | 90 days | 90 days | | 16 Jun 1995 22 Jun 1995 | 20 Aug 1995 | |
| Panama | | | 90 days within any 180-day period | 3 Dec 2014 9 Dec 2014 | 8 Feb 2015 | |
| Paraguay | 3 months | 3 months | | 20 Nov 1995 | 2 Feb 1997 | |
| Paraguay | | | 90 days within any 180-day period | 25 Sep 2013 | 20 Oct 2014 | |
| Peru | 90 days | 90 days | | 14 Jul 1999 | 26 Nov 1999 | |
| Peru | | | 90 days within any 180-day period | 13 Nov 2010 | 21 Jun 2011 | |
| Philippines | 90 days | 90 days | | 3 Aug 2007 | 22 Dec 2008 | |
| Poland | 90 days | | | 18 Sep 2003 | 1 Oct 2003 | |
| Qatar | 90 days within any 180-day period | 90 days within any 180-day period | 90 days within any 180-day period | 27 Dec 2019 | 23 Feb 2020 | |
| Romania | 90 days | 90 days | | 26 Aug 2002 | 1 Mar 2004 | |
| Rwanda | 90 days within any 180-day period | 90 days within any 180-day period | | 9 Nov 2024 | 5 Feb 2025 | |
| Saint Kitts and Nevis | 90 days within any 180-day period | 90 days within any 180-day period | 90 days within any 180-day period | 21 Sep 2017 | 21 Nov 2017 | |
| Saint Vincent and the Grenadines | 90 days within any 180-day period | 90 days within any 180-day period | 90 days within any 180-day period | 27 Sep 2018 | 7 Jan 2019 | |
| Samoa | 60 days | 60 days | 60 days | 4 Apr 2017 | 9 July 2017 | |
| San Marino | 90 days within any 180-day period | 90 days within any 180-day period | 90 days within any 180-day period | 2 Dec 2021 | | |
| Senegal | 90 days | 90 days | | 2 Jul 2015 | 6 Feb 2017 | |
| Serbia | 90 days | 90 days | 30 days | 20 Feb 2009 | 10 Jun 2009 | |
| Seychelles | 30 days | 30 days | 30 days | 2 Sep 2015 | 14 Dec 2015 | |
| Sierra Leone | 90 days within any 180-day period | 90 days within any 180-day period | | 17 May 2021 | 14 Mar 2022 | |
| Singapore | 90 days | 90 days | | 17 Nov 2015 | 2 Jan 2016 | |
| Slovakia | 90 days | 90 days | | 29 Dec 2000 | 29 Dec 2000 | |
| South Africa | 90 days | 90 days | | 5 Aug 2010 | 15 Dec 2010 | |
| South Africa | | | 90 days | 24 Jan 2017 27 Feb 2017 | 30 Mar 2017 | |
| South Korea | 90 days | | | 21 Sep 2004 | 21 Nov 2004 | |
| South Korea | | 90 days | | 17 Oct 2006 | 31 Dec 2006 | |
| South Korea | | | 60 days, for a maximum total stay of 90 days within any 180-day period | 13 Nov 2013 | 1 Jan 2014 | |
| South Ossetia | Unspecified period | Unspecified period | Unspecified period | 1 Feb 2010 | 25 Apr 2011 | |
| Sri Lanka | 30 days | 30 days | | 13 Aug 2015 | 24 Oct 2015 | |
| Sudan | 90 days within any 180-day period | | | 24 Nov 2017 | 4 Sep 2022 | |
| Suriname | 90 days within any 180 day-period | 90 days within any 180 day-period | 90 days within any 180 day-period | 26 Sep 2018 | 13 May 2019 | |
| Syria | 90 days | 90 days | | 19 Mar 2008 | 2 Jul 2008 | |
| Switzerland | 90 days within any 180-day period | | | 21 Sep 2009 | 1 Feb 2011 | |
| Tajikistan | Unspecified period | Unspecified period | Unspecified period | 30 Nov 2000 | 30 Nov 2000 | |
| Thailand | 90 days | 90 days | | 17 Oct 2002 | 6 Mar 2003 | |
| Thailand | | | 30 days | 13 Dec 2005 | 24 Mar 2007 | |
| Togo | 90 days within any 180-day period | 90 days within any 180-day period | | 16 Feb 2021 | 19 Aug 2021 | |
| Tunisia | 90 days within any 180-day period | 90 days within any 180-day period | | 28 Jun 2012 | 13 Feb 2013 | |
| Turkey | 90 days | | | 5 Nov 1999 | 6 Jan 2000 | |
| Turkey | | 30 days, for a maximum total stay of 90 days within any 180-day period | 30 days, for a maximum total stay of 90 days within any 180-day period | 12 May 2010 | 16 Apr 2011 | |
| Turkmenistan | 30 days | 30 days | | 17 Jul 1999 | 17 Jul 1999 | |
| United Arab Emirates | 90 days within any 180-day period | 90 days within any 180-day period | 90 days within any 180-day period | 6 Jul 2018 | 17 Feb 2019 | |
| Uruguay | 3 months | 3 months | | 13 Jul 1999 | 3 Oct 1999 | |
| Uruguay | | | 90 days within any 180-day period | 26 Sep 2011 | 27 Dec 2011 | |
| Uzbekistan | Unspecified period | Unspecified period | Unspecified period | 30 Nov 2000 | 30 Nov 2000 | |
| Vanuatu | 90 days | 90 days | 90 days | 20 Sep 2016 | 21 Oct 2016 | |
| Vatican City | 90 days within any 180-day period | | | 22 Aug 2017 | 29 Dec 2017 | |
| Venezuela | 90 days | 90 days | | 28 Jun 1993 1 Nov 1993 | 1 Nov 1993 | |
| Venezuela | | | 90 days within any 180-day period | 26 Nov 2008 | 6 Mar 2009 | |
| Vietnam | 90 days | 90 days | | 28 Oct 1993 | 20 Feb 1994 | |
| Zambia | 90 days within any 180-day period | | | 23 Oct 2019 | 1 Jul 2020 | |
| Zimbabwe | 90 days | 90 days | | 23 Jan 1991 31 Jan 1991 | 31 Jan 1991 | |
| Notes: ^ Agreement include the item "Total period of permitted stay in the territory of the state for a certain period of time is set in accordance with the laws of the state." From 1 January 2025, it is 90 days within one calendar year period. ^ Agreement concluded through an exchange of diplomatic notes. ^ Agreement between Russia and EU. Article 14 " ...the provisions <of the agreement> shall prevail over the provisions of any bilateral or multilateral agreements or arrangements between the Russian Federation and the Member States..." ^ Only for group tourism (from 5 to 50 persons) organized by accredited travel agencies in both countries. |||||||
Unilateral visa waiver concessions :
| Country | Type of passport | Duration of stay | Date of signing/ Effective date |
| Estonia | Alien's passport | 90 days within any 180-day period | 17 Jun 2008 |
| Georgia | All | 90 days | 15 May 2023 |
| Latvia | Non-citizen passport | 90 days within any 180-day period | 17 Jun 2008 |
| Monaco | Diplomatic | 90 days within any 180-day period | 3 Sep 2017 |
| Ukraine | All | Unspecified period | 29 Sep 2023 |
Russia has concluded agreements that facilitate procedures for issuing visas to both Russian citizens and citizens of the partner jurisdiction on a reciprocal basis. Such agreements are in force with the following countries or political associations:
Visa facilitation agreements :
| Country | Entry into force |
| Albania | 1993 |
| Bulgaria | 2002 |
| China | 2014 |
| Croatia | 2013, 2019 |
| Cyprus | 2006 |
| Denmark | 2009 |
| Egypt | 2011 |
| European Union (excluding Denmark and Ireland) | 2007 |
| France | 2005 |
| Germany | 2004 |
| Iceland | 2010 |
| India | 2011, 2015, 2016 |
| Indonesia | 1990 |
| Iran | 1997, 2016, 2019 |
| Israel | 2002 and 2016 (for holders of dip/ser passports) |
| Italy | 1990, 2005 |
| Japan | 2013, 2017 |
| Latvia | 1995, 2013, 2018 |
| Liechtenstein | 2015 |
| Lithuania | 2003 |
| Norway | 2012, 2017 |
| Poland | 2003, 2012 |
| Romania | 2004 |
| Saudi Arabia | 2020 |
| South Africa | 1996 |
| South Korea | 1992, 2002, 2010 |
| Spain | 1990, 2015 |
| Switzerland | 2011 |
| Turkmenistan | 1999 |
| United Kingdom | 1989 |
| United States | 2012, 2013 |
| Vietnam | 1994, 2005 |
| Yemen | 1988 |
Russia has agreements on cancellation of consular fees with the following countries: Algeria (1965), Angola (15 Apr 1985), Iran (15 Feb 1966), Japan (1 Apr 1965), and Mauritania (1967).
Agreements were denounced with Bangladesh, Cambodia, India, Pakistan and New Zealand.
Canceled agreements :
| Country or territory | Duration of stay by type of passport | Duration of stay by type of passport | Duration of stay by type of passport | Date of signing | Effective date | Cancellation date | Citation |
| Country or territory | Diplomatic | Service category | Ordinary | Date of signing | Effective date | Cancellation date | Citation |
| Bosnia and Herzegovina | 90 days | 90 days | 90 days with an invitation 30 days with a voucher | 24 Sep 2007 | 1 May 2008 | 20 Oct 2013 | |
| Bulgaria | During a term of official trips For tourism trips with tourist documents For a private trips with an invitation Transit without a visa | During a term of official trips For tourism trips with tourist documents For a private trips with an invitation Transit without a visa | During a term of official trips For tourism trips with tourist documents For a private trips with an invitation Transit without a visa | 2 Nov 1978 | 6 Jul 1979 | 1 Oct 2001 | |
| Bulgaria | During a term of official trips For tourism trips with tourist documents For a private trip with an invitation up to 90 days | During a term of official trips For tourism trips with tourist documents For a private trip with an invitation up to 90 days | During a term of official trips For tourism trips with tourist documents For a private trip with an invitation up to 90 days | 3 Nov 1969 | 24 Jan 1970 | 6 Jul 1979 | |
| Bulgaria | About private trips | About private trips | About private trips | 20 May 1965 | 1 Jun 1965 | 24 Jan 1970 | |
| CIS countries 9 states  Armenia Belarus Georgia Kazakhstan Kyrgyzstan Moldova Tajikistan Turkmenistan Uzbekistan (excluding Azerbaijan and Ukraine) | Unspecified period | Unspecified period | Unspecified period | 9 Oct 1992 | 9 Oct 1992; for Georgia 1 Aug 1995 | 3 Dec 2000; for Turkmenistan 19 Jun 1999 | |
| China | 30 days | | | 29 Feb 2000 | 25 May 2001 | 26 Apr 2014 | |
| China | Yes Including passport for public affairs | Yes Including passport for public affairs | | 29 Dec 1993 | 29 Jan 1994 | 25 May 2001 | |
| China | Yes (on duty) Including passport for public affairs | Yes (on duty) Including passport for public affairs | | 15 Jul 1988 | 14 Aug 1988 | 29 Jan 1994 | |
| China | Yes | | | 13 Jun 1985 | 13 Jul 1985 | 14 Aug 1988 | |
| Cuba | 30 days | 30 days | 30 days | 3 Dec 1993 | 29 Jul 1994 | 21 Dec 2018 | |
| Cuba | During a term of official trips For tourism trips with tourist documents For a private trip with an invitation | During a term of official trips For tourism trips with tourist documents For a private trip with an invitation | During a term of official trips For tourism trips with tourist documents For a private trip with an invitation | 10 Jan 1985 | | 29 Jul 1994 | |
| Cuba | For tourism trips | For tourism trips | For tourism trips | 7 Jul 1981 24 Sep 1981 | 24 Sep 1981 | 1985 | |
| Cyprus | 3 months | | | 5 Jun 1989 | 5 Jun 1989 | 20 Jan 2006 | |
| Cyprus | During a term of official trips | During a term of official trips | 90 days | 27 Dec 1994 | 15 Jun 1995 | 1 Jan 2004 | |
| Czech Republic | During a term of official trips 30 days for all passports | During a term of official trips 30 days for all passports | During a term of official trips 30 days for all passports | 7 Dec 1994 | 3 Sep 1995 | 29 May 2000 | |
| Czechoslovakia | During a term of official trips For tourism trips with tourist documents For private trips with an invitation Transit without a visa | During a term of official trips For tourism trips with tourist documents For private trips with an invitation Transit without a visa | During a term of official trips For tourism trips with tourist documents For private trips with an invitation Transit without a visa | 17 Dec 1981 | 30 May 1982 | for Czech Republic 3 Sep 1995; for Slovakia 7 Aug 1994 | |
| Czechoslovakia | During a term of official trips For tourism trips with tourist documents For private trips with an invitation up to 90 days Transit without a visa | During a term of official trips For tourism trips with tourist documents For private trips with an invitation up to 90 days Transit without a visa | During a term of official trips For tourism trips with tourist documents For private trips with an invitation up to 90 days Transit without a visa | 16 Sep 1969 | 16 Sep 1969 | 30 May 1982 | |
| Czechoslovakia | 90 days with an invitation | 90 days with an invitation | 90 days with an invitation | 17 Sep 1965 | 17 Sep 1965 | 15 Sep 1969 | |
| Czechoslovakia | | | | 18 Dec 1962 | | 17 Sep 1965 | |
| East Germany | During a term of official trips For tourism trips with tourist documents For private trips with an invitation Transit without a visa | During a term of official trips For tourism trips with tourist documents For private trips with an invitation Transit without a visa | During a term of official trips For tourism trips with tourist documents For private trips with an invitation Transit without a visa | 6 Apr 1979 | 30 Aug 1979 | 3 Oct 1990 | |
| East Germany | During a term of official trips For tourism trips with tourist documents For private trips with an invitation up to 90 days Transit without a visa | During a term of official trips For tourism trips with tourist documents For private trips with an invitation up to 90 days Transit without a visa | During a term of official trips For tourism trips with tourist documents For private trips with an invitation up to 90 days Transit without a visa | 28 Nov 1969 | 12 Jan 1970 | 30 Aug 1979 | |
| Hungary | During a term of official trips For tourism trips with tourist documents For a private trips with an invitation Transit without a visa | During a term of official trips For tourism trips with tourist documents For a private trips with an invitation Transit without a visa | During a term of official trips For tourism trips with tourist documents For a private trips with an invitation Transit without a visa | 24 Nov 1978 | | 14 Jun 2001 | |
| Hungary | During a term of official trips For tourism trips with tourist documents For private trips with an invitation up to 90 days | During a term of official trips For tourism trips with tourist documents For private trips with an invitation up to 90 days | During a term of official trips For tourism trips with tourist documents For private trips with an invitation up to 90 days | 4 Mar 1969 | 11 Jun 1969 | | |
| North Korea | During a term of official trips For tourism trips with tourist documents For private trips with an invitation | During a term of official trips For tourism trips with tourist documents For private trips with an invitation | During a term of official trips For tourism trips with tourist documents For private trips with an invitation | 22 Jan 1986 | 17 Sep 1986 | 23 May 1997 | |
| Laos | Yes | Yes | | 20 Dec 1984 | | 30 Dec 2004 | |
| Lithuania | | | 30 days for Kaliningrad region | 24 Feb 1995 | 25 Jun 1995 | 1 Jan 2003 | |
| Mongolia | During a term of official trips For tourism trips with tourist documents For private trips with an invitation | During a term of official trips For tourism trips with tourist documents For private trips with an invitation | During a term of official trips For tourism trips with tourist documents For private trips with an invitation | 20 December 1979 | | 5 May 1995 | |
| Mongolia | During a term of official trips For tourism trips with tourist documents For private trips with an invitation up to 90 days | During a term of official trips For tourism trips with tourist documents For private trips with an invitation up to 90 days | During a term of official trips For tourism trips with tourist documents For private trips with an invitation up to 90 days | 26 Jan 1971 | 23 May 1971 | | |
| Poland | During a term of official trips For tourism trips with tourist documents For private trips with an invitation Transit without a visa | During a term of official trips For tourism trips with tourist documents For private trips with an invitation Transit without a visa | During a term of official trips For tourism trips with tourist documents For private trips with an invitation Transit without a visa | 13 Dec 1979 | 22 May 1980 | 1 Oct 2003 | |
| Poland | During a term of official trips For tourism trips with tourist documents For private trips with an invitation up to 90 days | During a term of official trips For tourism trips with tourist documents For private trips with an invitation up to 90 days | During a term of official trips For tourism trips with tourist documents For private trips with an invitation up to 90 days | 5 Feb 1970 | 12 May 1970 | 22 May 1980 | |
| Qatar | 90 days | | | 18 Jan 2016 | 14 Aug 2016 | 23 Feb 2020 | |
| Romania | Yes | Yes | Yes | 11 Mar 1991 | 24 Oct 1991 | 1 Mar 2004 | |
| Romania | During an office mission For tourism trips with tourist documents For private trips with an invitation up to 45 days | During an office mission For tourism trips with tourist documents For private trips with an invitation up to 45 days | During an office mission For tourism trips with tourist documents For private trips with an invitation up to 45 days | 9 Sep 1983 | 11 Apr 1984 | 24 Oct 1991 | |
| Romania | During an office mission For tourism trips with tourist documents For private trips with an invitation up to 45 days | During an office mission For tourism trips with tourist documents For private trips with an invitation up to 45 days | During an office mission For tourism trips with tourist documents For private trips with an invitation up to 45 days | 30 Jun 1969 | 1 Jan 1970 | 11 Apr 1984 | |
| Romania | Without visas on office affairs For a private trips with an invitation up to 45 days within year Transit on private affairs without visa | Without visas on office affairs For a private trips with an invitation up to 45 days within year Transit on private affairs without visa | Without visas on office affairs For a private trips with an invitation up to 45 days within year Transit on private affairs without visa | 4 Mar 1966 | 23 Jun 1966 | 1 Jan 1970 | |
| Romania | About trips for a visit to close relatives | About trips for a visit to close relatives | About trips for a visit to close relatives | 1963 | | 23 Jun 1966 | no text |
| Romania | About visa-free trips of citizens on diplomatic, service, all-civil passports and collective certificates | About visa-free trips of citizens on diplomatic, service, all-civil passports and collective certificates | About visa-free trips of citizens on diplomatic, service, all-civil passports and collective certificates | 1956 | | 23 Jun 1966 | no text |
| Slovakia | 30 days for all passports During a term of official trips | 30 days for all passports During a term of official trips | 30 days for all passports During a term of official trips | 13 Feb 1995 | 25 Aug 1995 | 1 Jan 2001 | |
| Slovakia | | | | 1 Jun 1994 | 7 Aug 1994 | 25 Aug 1995 | |
| Ukraine | Unspecified period | Unspecified period | Unspecified period | 16 Jan 1997 | 10 Mar 1997 | 1 Jan 2023 | |
| United Arab Emirates | 90 days | | | 27 Jun 2010 | 31 Mar 2013 | 17 Feb 2019 | |
| Vietnam | During a term of official trips For tourism trips with tourist documents Visa free transit for tourism and official purposes | During a term of official trips For tourism trips with tourist documents Visa free transit for tourism and official purposes | During a term of official trips For tourism trips with tourist documents Visa free transit for tourism and official purposes | 15 Jul 1981 | 14 Aug 1982 | 20 Feb 1994 | no text |
| Yugoslavia | During a term of official trips For tourism trips with a voucher For private trips with an invitation up to 90 days | During a term of official trips For tourism trips with a voucher For private trips with an invitation up to 90 days | During a term of official trips For tourism trips with a voucher For private trips with an invitation up to 90 days | 31 Oct 1989 | 26 Apr 1990 | for Croatia 31 Mar 2013; for Bosnia and Herzegovina 1 May 2008; for Montenegro 21 Nov 2008; for North Macedonia 31 Oct 2008; for Slovenia 1 Dec 1999; for Serbia 10 Jun 2009 | |
| Yugoslavia | | | For tourism trips with a voucher | 3 June 1967 27 Nov 1967 | 27 Dec 1967 | 26 Apr 1990 | |
| Yugoslavia | Yes | Yes | Yes On duty | 26 Oct 1965 | 25 Jan 1966 | 26 Apr 1990 | |

### Entry and stay conditions for EAEU and CIS citizens

Russia's visa and other migration policies (incl. healthcare and conditions of family members) are also implemented in accordance with the mobility rights arrangements within the Commonwealth of Independent States and the rules of the single market of the Eurasian Economic Union.
Changes and tightening of Russian legislation in the sphere of migration do not apply to those who have Russian citizenship through international agreements on dual citizenship, and to citizens of the EAEU countries. For citizens of the EAEU, the rules of the EAEU apply.
On 29 November 2024, the Commonwealth of Independent States finally adopted an updated Concept for the phased formation of a common labor market (Armenia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Russia, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan) and migration regulation.

## Visa

The Russian visa is a machine-readable document, which is placed in the holder's passport. All fields are indicated in both Russian and English, but are filled out only in Russian.
The holder's name appears in both the Roman and Cyrillic alphabets.
The name that appears in the machine-readable zone at the bottom of the visa represents the holder's Cyrillic name mapped into the Roman alphabet. This allows Russian computer systems to read the Cyrillic name, despite the machine readers only being able to read Roman alphabet letters. As a result, the spelling of a name in the machine-readable zone does not necessarily reflect its spelling in the visa's name field. For example, the name "Christoph" would appear in the field as "Kpиcтoф/Christoph", but the MRZ would contain the name "Kristof".
Contrary to guidelines for machine-readable documents, the issuing country's ISO code (RUS) is not shown at positions 3–5 (i.e. V<RUS). Instead, the first line is formatted as: VSURNAME<<GIVEN<NAMES.
While not necessarily printed on the visa (depending on the embassy), a photo is required in the visa application. The visa application form may be filled online and submitted to the diplomatic mission.

### Types of visa

Depending on the purpose of entry into the Russian Federation and the purposes of stay, visas are categorized as:
* Private
* Business
* Tourist
* Educational
* Working
* Humanitarian
* Entry (for receiving shelter or to obtain citizenship in Russia)

#### Diplomatic visa

A diplomatic visa shall be issued to a foreign citizen holding a diplomatic passport. A diplomatic visa is issued:
* to foreign heads of state, foreign heads of government, members of the foreign official delegations, family members of such persons traveling with them or accompanying them – for a period of up to 1 year.
* to diplomatic agents of diplomatic missions and consular officials of consular establishments, the staff of representations of the international organizations in the Russian Federation which have the diplomatic status in the Russian Federation, to family members of specified persons for a period of up to 1 year.
* to foreign diplomatic and consular couriers for the term of business trip.
* to officials of the foreign states who have the official status in the Russian Federation have the right to a diplomatic visa and who come for a working visit to diplomatic missions or consular establishments of the foreign states in the Russian Federation or to the international organizations or their representations in the Russian Federation, for a period of up to 1 year.

#### Service visa

A service visa is issued to the foreign citizen having service (consular, official, special) passport. A service visa is issued:
* to members of foreign official delegations, family members of such persons traveling with them or accompanying them - for a period of up to 1 year.
* to administrative and technical and service personnel of diplomatic missions, consular employees and service personnel of consular establishments of the foreign states in the Russian Federation, representations of the international organizations in the Russian Federation and to family members of such persons for a period of up to 1 year.
* to military personnel of armed forces of the foreign states and family members of such persons for a period of up to 1 year. Extension of term of stay in the Russian Federation by issuance of the multiple entry visa for a period of validity of the foreign trade contract registered in accordance with the established procedure, but no more than for 5 years is allowed to the military personnel of armed forces of the foreign states driving to the Russian Federation for implementation of international treaties of the Russian Federation and (or) decisions of public authorities of the Russian Federation in the field of military and technical cooperation, and family members of such persons.
* to foreign state officials who have the official status in the Russian Federation have the right to be issued a service visa and those who travel for a working visit to diplomatic missions or consular establishments of the foreign states in the Russian Federation or in the international organizations or their representations in the Russian Federation, for a period of up to 1 year.

#### Ordinary visa

Depending on the purpose of entry of the foreign citizen into the Russian Federation and the purpose of his stay in the Russian Federation ordinary visas are subdivided on private, business, tourist, educational, working, humanitarian and entry visas to the Russian Federation for temporary residence or citizenship ceremony:
* An ordinary private visa is issued for a period of up to 3 months to foreign citizens traveling to Russia for a short visit on the basis of an invitation letter. Citizens from certain countries (based on the principle of reciprocity) can receive a visa for a period of up to 1 year.
* An ordinary business visa is issued for a period of up to 1 year to foreign citizens traveling to Russia for a business trip.
* An ordinary tourist visa is issued for a period of up to 1 month (or on the basis of the principle of reciprocity for a period of up to 6 months) to foreign citizens traveling to Russia as tourists, if holding an invitation letter by a Russian tour operator. Invitations can be issued by many hotels on request (sometimes for a fee) or through various online services associated with Russian tour operators. An ordinary tourist group visa is issued for a period of up to 1 month to foreign citizens traveling to Russia as a tourist in an organized tourist group (not less than 5 people), of holding a confirmation by an organization in the unified federal register of tour operators.
* An ordinary student visa is issued for a period of up to 1 year to foreign citizens traveling to Russia for training in the educational institution.
* An ordinary work visa is issued to foreign citizens visiting Russia for work purposes for a period of validity of the employment contract or civil contract for performance of work (rendering services), but no more than for 1 year.
* An ordinary humanitarian visa is issued for a period of up to 1 year (or on the basis of the principle of reciprocity for a period of up to 5 years) to foreign citizens visiting Russia for a scientific, cultural, political or a sport visit, religious communication and contacts, pilgrimage, charity, delivery of humanitarian aid.
* An ordinary entry visa to Russia for receiving a shelter is issued to foreign citizens for a period of up to 3 months if holding a decision of the federal executive authority authorized on implementation of functions on control and supervision in the sphere of migration on recognition of this foreign citizen as a refugee on the territory of Russia.
* An ordinary entry visa to Russia to obtain citizenship of the Russian Federation is issued to foreign citizens for a period of up to 1 year if holding a decision on recognition of such foreign citizen as a native speaker of Russian.
* An ordinary entry visa to Russia to obtain permission for temporary resident is issued to foreign citizens for a period of up to 4 months.

#### Transit visa

A Transit visa is issued for a period of up to 10 days to the foreign citizen for transit through the territory of Russia.

#### Visa of temporary living person

A visa of temporarily living person is issued for 4 months to the foreign citizen to whom entry into Russia is allowed for temporary residence, within a quota of delivery of permissions to temporary residence.

### Applying for visa

All types of Russian entry visas are received through Russian embassies and consulates. 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 invalidates the form.

### Exit

Russia requires that an alien who needs a visa on entry be in possession of a valid visa upon exit.
To satisfy this formal requirement, exit visas sometimes need to be issued. Russia requires an exit visa if a visitor stays well past the expiration date of their visa. They must then extend their visa or apply for an exit visa and are not allowed to leave the country until they show a valid visa or have a permissible excuse for overstaying their visa (e.g., a note from a doctor or a hospital explaining an illness, missed flight, lost or stolen visa). In some cases, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs can issue a Return-Home certificate that is valid for 10 days from the embassy of the visitor's native country, thus eliminating the need for an exit visa.
A foreign citizen granted a temporary residence permit in Russia needs a temporary resident visa to take a trip abroad (valid for both exit and return). It is also colloquially called an exit visa.

### Costs for visa

Almost all Russian embassies and consulates, require visa applications to be submitted to semi-private visa processing centers instead of directly to the consular section of the embassy. Costs differ.

### Fingerprinting

From January 2015, visa applicants from the United Kingdom, Denmark, Myanmar and Namibia will be obliged to provide fingerprint scans. After a trial period it will be decided whether to expand this to other countries as well.
Russia plans to require, from 1 July 2019, fingerprinting and photographing of all foreign citizens entering the Russian Federation without a visa and staying for more than 30 days.
From 1 December 2024, foreign citizens staying in Russia through the airports of Moscow and the Moscow region and the Mashtakovo automobile checkpoint in the Orenburg Region must submit fingerprinting and photographing.
From 30 June 2025, this requirement will be applied at all border checkpoints.

## Visitor and visa statistics
### Visitor statistics

According to the Border Service of the Federal Security Service and the Federal State Statistics Service, most visitors arriving to Russia were from the following countries of nationality:
Total visitors by year :
| 2019 | 32,866,265 |
| 2018 | 32,550,677 |
| 2017 | 32,035,443 |
| 2016 | 31,466,538 |
| 2015 | 33,729,187 |
| 2014 | 32,421,490 |
| 2013 | 30,792,091 |
| 2012 | 28,176,502 |
| 2011 | 24,932,061 |
| 2010 | 22,281,217 |
| 2009 | 21,338,650 |
| 2008 | 23,676,140 |
| 2007 | 22,908,625 |
Visitor statistics 2024-2021
| Country | 2024 | 2023 |
| Kazakhstan | 3,407,706 | 3,163,214 |
| Uzbekistan | 3,360,423 | 3,109,445 |
| Tajikistan | 1,701,543 | 2,153,956 |
| China | 1,695,873 | 794,387 |
| Kyrgyzstan | 1,195,392 | 1,140,239 |
| Abkhazia | 718,101 | 764,766 |
| Armenia | 621,015 | 616,659 |
| Azerbaijan | 533,020 | 476,743 |
| Belarus | 519,591 | 414,677 |
| Mongolia | 367,451 | 311,479 |
Visitor statistics 2020-2016 :
| Nationality | Total (includes all types of purposes of visits) | Total (includes all types of purposes of visits) | Total (includes all types of purposes of visits) | Total (includes all types of purposes of visits) | Total (includes all types of purposes of visits) |
| Nationality | 2020 | 2019 | 2018 | 2017 | 2016 |
| Ukraine | 3,648,972 | 8,646,295 | 9,177,272 | 9,817,008 | 9,737,405 |
| Kazakhstan | 1,426,727 | 4,324,856 | 4,241,244 | 4,137,613 | 4,686,059 |
| Uzbekistan | 720,041 | 2,588,922 | 2,354,642 | 2,350,007 | 2,116,480 |
| Abkhazia | 414,927 | 600,399 | 492,310 | 436,368 | 415,606 |
| Tajikistan | 401,888 | 1,557,148 | 1,340,975 | 1,350,356 | 1,293,270 |
| Kyrgyzstan | 299,611 | 959,130 | 859,735 | 836,946 | 792,042 |
| Azerbaijan | 269,807 | 1,175,045 | 1,145,327 | 1,143,243 | 1,156,703 |
| Armenia | 209,812 | 816,454 | 825,200 | 857,212 | 833,577 |
| Finland | 180,110 | 938,693 | 994,098 | 1,063,348 | 1,376,646 |
| Belarus | 176,601 | 440,438 | 403,597 | 382,022 | 320,372 |
| China | 155,594 | 2,257,039 | 2,030,319 | 1,780,200 | 1,565,524 |
| Moldova | 154,766 | 614,043 | 698,027 | 803,916 | 699,112 |
| Philippines | 133,414 | 193,031 | 179,672 | 172,278 | 160,734 |
| Poland | 133,014 | 680,382 | 728,546 | 765,544 | 1,056,013 |
| Turkey | 132,372 | 187,612 | 196,061 | 181,285 | 120,035 |
| Estonia | 105,584 | 540,062 | 496,582 | 432,803 | 433,926 |
| Latvia | 93,865 | 365,783 | 355,641 | 330,266 | 360,603 |
| Stateless persons | 74,215 | 303,851 | 327,613 | 318,393 | 321,383 |
| South Ossetia | 70,470 | 147,355 | 143,501 | 137,427 | 115,382 |
| Germany | 69,456 | 744,473 | 701,576 | 629,082 | 613,370 |
| Lithuania | 57,883 | 253,950 | 243,190 | 256,009 | 281,168 |
| Mongolia | 56,625 | 394,994 | 401,485 | 416,293 | 542,196 |
| Georgia | 56,266 | 120,086 | 123,732 | 117,204 | 65,378 |
| India | 46,025 | 180,567 | 159,865 | 130,400 | 108,498 |
| South Korea | 42,297 | 453,796 | 386,413 | 276,560 | 181,024 |
| France | 38,391 | 249,410 | 236,583 | 211,673 | 201,260 |
| Israel | 32,402 | 260,472 | 228,530 | 185,426 | 182,438 |
| Italy | 28,432 | 251,751 | 225,776 | 206,860 | 208,689 |
| Serbia | 26,731 | 84,852 | 96,730 | 87,899 | 79,575 |
| United Kingdom | 22,471 | 194,956 | 216,029 | 193,522 | 190,278 |
| Turkmenistan | 21,680 | 92,616 | 82,675 | 65,749 | 56,258 |
| Vietnam | 19,477 | 90,565 | 84,612 | 77,391 | 66,939 |
| United States | 19,306 | 300,933 | 337,395 | 293,011 | 248,990 |
| Japan | 16,048 | 127,696 | 119,240 | 114,207 | 95,675 |
| Netherlands | 14,663 | 84,651 | 80,540 | 73,729 | 68,017 |
| Egypt | 13,481 | 28,039 | 39,402 | | |
| Iran | 12,725 | 54,469 | 61,007 | 91,862 | 75,203 |
| Thailand | 12,183 | 72,031 | 64,898 | 52,697 | 32,222 |
| Greece | 11,732 | 44,784 | 42,967 | 41,205 | 46,730 |
| Bulgaria | 10,255 | 41,083 | 40,836 | 39,191 | 41,290 |
| Austria | 9,977 | 67,429 | 64,500 | 59,501 | 56,663 |
| Czech Republic | 9,874 | 57,835 | 53,739 | 49,232 | 47,288 |
| Indonesia | 9,671 | 40,284 | 31,695 | 25,425 | 20,211 |
| Spain | 9,565 | 140,181 | 123,652 | 118,642 | 116,032 |
| Romania | 9,335 | 32,779 | 29,920 | 26,330 | 23,684 |
| Norway | 8,506 | 52,022 | 51,003 | 53,197 | 46,631 |
| Sweden | 8,308 | 43,198 | 55,329 | 32,095 | 39,153 |
| Belgium | 7,534 | 42,473 | 48,270 | 38,868 | 37,492 |
| Croatia | 7,480 | 19,243 | 36,045 | | |
| Switzerland | 7,407 | 55,747 | 59,828 | 53,167 | 52,656 |
| Cuba | 6,631 | 29,169 | 27,882 | 30,711 | 26,667 |
| Hungary | 5,680 | 35,541 | 32,998 | 25,659 | 25,313 |
| Denmark | 5,016 | 24,662 | 31,308 | | |
| Total | n/a | 32,866,265 | 32,550,677 | 32,035,443 | 31,466,538 |
Visitor statistics 2015-2010 :
| Nationality | Total (includes all types of purposes of visits) | Total (includes all types of purposes of visits) | Total (includes all types of purposes of visits) | Total (includes all types of purposes of visits) | Total (includes all types of purposes of visits) | Total (includes all types of purposes of visits) |
| Nationality | 2015 | 2014 | 2013 | 2012 | 2011 | 2010 |
| Ukraine | 10,314,757 | 9,842,990 | 7,080,991 | 6,502,543 | 6,072,775 | 4,198,030 |
| Kazakhstan | 5,180,246 | 4,215,161 | 3,848,899 | 3,630,342 | 3,049,406 | 2,747,358 |
| Uzbekistan | 2,163,256 | 2,353,140 | 2,967444 | 2,677,322 | 2,086,359 | 1,584,086 |
| Poland | 1,766,612 | 1,823,143 | 1,644,657 | 1,190,003 | 704,610 | 394,872 |
| Finland | 1,476,412 | 1,446,169 | 1,388,036 | 1,375,614 | 1,211,520 | 1,012,621 |
| China | 1,353,051 | 1,125,098 | 1,071,515 | 978,988 | 845,588 | 747,640 |
| Tajikistan | 1,200,972 | 1,202,260 | 1,348,868 | 1,134,150 | 955,455 | 830,160 |
| Azerbaijan | 1,071,324 | 1,021,204 | 1,196,759 | 1,116,238 | 1,045,525 | 979,778 |
| Armenia | 850,137 | 794,098 | 882,864 | 700,332 | 550,349 | 459,040 |
| Kyrgyzstan | 842,396 | 725,664 | 763,418 | 623,970 | 592,960 | 552,909 |
| Moldova | 770,965 | 923,625 | 1,374,690 | 1,194,291 | 1,073,637 | 988,084 |
| Germany | 595,200 | 635,153 | 686,557 | 671,676 | 629,391 | 611,367 |
| Mongolia | 505,429 | 225,972 | 226,673 | 365,236 | 212,117 | 157,367 |
| Belarus | 424,531 | 495,999 | 418,207 | 372,942 | 267,233 | 259,191 |
| Abkhazia | 422,130 | 362,811 | 293,429 | 273,964 | 202,440 | 52,289 |
| Estonia | 382,031 | 363,942 | 430,164 | 494,282 | 519,402 | 474,949 |
| Latvia | 348,338 | 374,701 | 391,304 | 461,162 | 571,374 | 569,300 |
| Stateless persons | 326,841 | 349,400 | 463,640 | 523,333 | 618,705 | 679,757 |
| Turkey | 323,039 | 361,416 | 385,147 | 305,429 | 249,109 | 196,704 |
| Lithuania | 270,600 | 487,206 | 539,308 | 553,896 | 622,740 | 760,728 |
| United States | 242,104 | 257,070 | 305,954 | 286,551 | 275,239 | 262,060 |
| Italy | 204,710 | 219,976 | 225,933 | 212,411 | 207,476 | 198,002 |
| France | 191,643 | 219,210 | 225,860 | 225,343 | 213,473 | 194,248 |
| United Kingdom | 190,775 | 228,346 | 259,676 | 231,670 | 221,418 | 212,847 |
| Israel | 165,003 | 152,853 | 136,827 | 123,974 | 114,380 | 100,291 |
| Philippines | 163,010 | 162,990 | 149,213 | 130,541 | 99,405 | 81,385 |
| South Korea | 153,189 | 135,676 | 107,942 | 94,922 | 91,335 | 90,622 |
| South Ossetia | 125,444 | 117,283 | 94,159 | 73,863 | 47,739 | 33,409 |
| Spain | 110,247 | 100,206 | 109,089 | 101,536 | 129,730 | 110,601 |
| India | 95,527 | 94,259 | 95,542 | 80,127 | 60,191 | 53,364 |
| Japan | 93,550 | 105,220 | 102,408 | 86,806 | 76,204 | 78,188 |
| Serbia | 79,406 | 87,048 | 107,601 | 70,371 | 57,177 | 47,939 |
| Georgia | 69,095 | 58,264 | 48,440 | 35,511 | 30,415 | 24,568 |
| Netherlands | 63,469 | 80,543 | 86,402 | 81,212 | 87,549 | 80,720 |
| Vietnam | 60,882 | 75,840 | 81,073 | 62,961 | 53,529 | 50,823 |
| Austria | 57,242 | 67,392 | 74,277 | 71,863 | 70,388 | 67,606 |
| Turkmenistan | 51,170 | 47,002 | 40,238 | 43,720 | 39,579 | 35,017 |
| Norway | 49,535 | 57,423 | 54,433 | 50,115 | 48,614 | 45,340 |
| Iran. | 46,760 | 29,743 | 20,657 | 23,085 | 21,575 | 20,576 |
| Czech Republic | 46,432 | 68,875 | 76,530 | 62,980 | 46,776 | 40,565 |
| Switzerland | 46,200 | 50,838 | 54,898 | 52,852 | 47,978 | 44,964 |
| Canada | 43,663 | 53,370 | 61,234 | 54,730 | 52,238 | 48,559 |
| Greece | 41,210 | 46,450 | 48,280 | 36,474 | 33,569 | 33,396 |
| Sweden | 40,424 | 49,908 | 53,340 | 58,900 | 60,840 | 54,253 |
| Australia | 39,613 | 46,072 | 46,861 | 43,105 | 34,868 | 30,583 |
| Bulgaria | 37,035 | 42,230 | 47,154 | 45,312 | 42,031 | 38,446 |
| Brazil | 35,531 | 33,301 | 37,386 | 33,647 | 29,840 | 21,950 |
| Belgium | 33,714 | 37,441 | 40,316 | 37,025 | 36,430 | 33,571 |
| Thailand | 29,482 | 25,585 | 23,919 | 19,375 | 17,023 | 15,192 |
| Romania | 25,970 | 28,391 | 30,886 | 24,792 | 21,993 | 17,884 |
| Hungary | 24,849 | 28,421 | 27,155 | 23,047 | 23,241 | 20,736 |
| Mexico | 22,922 | 18,223 | 21,527 | 16,431 | 16,759 | 13,767 |
| North Korea | 20,893 | 23,902 | 23,604 | 22,071 | 18,901 | 21,167 |
| Slovakia | 19,876 | 24,962 | 27,554 | 24,161 | 20,445 | 18,512 |
| Indonesia | 18,100 | 20,330 | 21,088 | 18,572 | 18,313 | 14,448 |
| Argentina | 17,322 | 13,614 | 15,944 | 13,976 | 12,316 | 9,044 |
| Portugal | 15,475 | 15,181 | 14,952 | 15,398 | 15,814 | 18,434 |
| Cuba | 12,349 | 11,609 | 9,625 | 5,293 | 4,099 | 4,053 |
| Total | 33,729,187 | 32,421,490 | 30,792,091 | 28,176,502 | 24,932,016 | 22,281,217 |

### Visa statistics

Most electronic visas were issued for citizens of the following countries (top-10):
| Country | 2024 | 2023 |
| China | 311,839 | 86,619 |
| Saudi Arabia | 63,218 | 8,915 |
| Germany | 52,425 | 11,335 |
| Turkey | 42,202 | 9,865 |
| India | 32,145 | 9,456 |
| Estonia | 25,404 | 13,318 |
| Latvia | 19,410 | 5,137 |
| Kuwait | 16,982 | 3,924 |
| Iran | 16,973 | 3,276 |
| Lithuania | 10,121 | 3,107 |
| Total | 670,947 | 170,104 |
Most visas were issued in the following countries:
| Country | Number of visas issued in | Number of visas issued in | Number of visas issued in | Number of visas issued in | Number of visas issued in | Number of visas issued in |
| Country | 2020 | 2019 | 2018 | 2017 | 2016 | 2015 |
| Germany | 58,953 | 410,780 | 360,582 | 336,423 | 324,959 | 299,791 |
| China | 41,280 | 453,338 | 406,831 | 371,489 | 339,030 | 357,040 |
| Turkey | 34,162 | 83,169 | 81,177 | 79,898 | 45,209 | 33,698 |
| France | 27,059 | 172,870 | 146,491 | 145,576 | 131,229 | 119,314 |
| United Kingdom | 20,770 | 92,573 | 88,290 | 96,246 | 93,169 | 87,863 |
| Italy | 18,272 | 162,529 | 139,797 | 129,124 | 129,038 | 117,123 |
| United States | 16,736 | 106,250 | 98,936 | 95,630 | 94,682 | 85,974 |
| Finland | 14,271 | 110,480 | 105,157 | 108,792 | 116,462 | 112,655 |
| Latvia | 11,295 | 78,727 | 79,082 | 74,382 | 77,574 | 70,328 |
| Poland | 10,535 | 67,666 | 62,840 | 59,187 | 54,885 | 43,038 |
| Total | 452 161 | 3,090,538 | 2,758,893 | 2,687,146 | 2,505,457 | 2,283,850 |

## History
### General Rules

The law "On the legal status of foreign citizens in the USSR" was used by the Russian Federation. Action extended from 1 January 1993. Chapter III of the law "entry into the USSR and exit from the USSR Foreign citizens" was replaced adopted the Federal Law No.114-FZ 1996 "On the Order of Exit from the Russian Federation". The law was repealed with the adoption of the Federal Law 115-FZ on 25 Jul 2002 On the Legal Status of Foreign Citizens in the Russian Federation. The laws establishes that as a general rule all foreign citizens and stateless persons need visas for entry and exit from the territory of Russia and the period of temporary stay (90 days within any 180 days). It also establishes a number of exceptions addressing certain groups of travelers. The basis of the legal status of foreign citizens and stateless persons are secured primarily by the Constitution of the Russian Federation 1993 - Art. 62 and Art. 63.
According to the Russian Constitution, international treaties of Russia override the domestic legislation. Russia has concluded a number of bilateral or multilateral treaties on visa abolishing or simplification and is seeking to negotiate new such treaties. The visa policy Russia applies the principle of reciprocity, the principle of specular.

#### Visa-free 72-hour transit

In September 2013, the president of Russia has sent the bill of introduction of 72-hour visa-free transit to parliament. The list of the airports and the list of the states which citizens will be able to use visa-free transit in the tourist purposes, will be approved by the Government of the Russian Federation after ratification.
In 2014, the parliament has suspended ratification of the bill for an indefinite term.

#### Occupied territories of Ukraine
##### Crimea

In April 2014, Crimea's Tourism Minister proposed a visa-free regime for foreign tourists staying at Crimean resorts for up to 12 days and a 72-hour visa-free stay for cruise passengers. Visa-free access for Chinese citizens was proposed in June 2014. Visa-free entrance in cruise courts to Sevastopol began to be carried out from September 2015 Other of the proposals has been not realized.

##### Donetsk and Luhansk

On 18 February 2017, the President of Russia signed the decree "About Recognition of the Documents Issued to the Citizens of Ukraine and Persons Without Citizenship Living in Territories of Certain Districts of the Donetsk and Luhansk Regions of Ukraine". Holders of passports of the Donetsk People's Republic and the Luhansk People's Republic could carry out entry into the Russian Federation and departure from the Russian Federation without execution of visas. The decree is applied temporarily, for the period before political settlement of a situation in certain districts of the Donetsk and Luhansk regions of Ukraine on the basis of the Minsk Agreement.
From 29 December 2018, citizens of Ukraine who are residents of the territories of "certain districts of Donetsk and Luhansk regions" of Ukraine are allowed to enter Russia visa-free for a maximum stay of 180 days.

#### International events
##### Art events

Participants and members of delegations coming to participate in the musical events are either provided with a simplified visa regime (e.g. Eurovision Song Contest 2009) or the right of visa-free entry (e.g. International Tchaikovsky Competition 2015).
Currently (September 2015), the law providing permanent visa abolition for participants and jury members of art competitions is being planned by the Government of Russia. The focus of this regulation will be on the International Tchaikovsky Competition.

##### Economic events

Participants of the 1st Eastern Economic Forum in Vladivostok did not require a visa. Entrance was allowed with passport and the accreditation certificate only.
Participants of East Economic Forum in Vladivostok can visit an event without visas from 8 to 15 September 2018.

##### Sporting events

Prior to the adoption of a special law, participants and members of delegations arriving to sporting events, could count on a visa-free entry or visa facilitation (determined by law for each event which has to pass ratification in parliament and to be signed by the president). For the 2008 Champions League Final held in Moscow, also spectators were given such visa-free entry.
On 13 May 2013, the presidential decree on the abolition of visas for athletes, coaches, team leaders and members of foreign official delegations, as well as judges from the international sports competitions came into effect. It envisages entry on the basis of passport and accreditation certificate.
The order of the President or the Government of Russia is sufficient for visa abolition or simplification of registration of visas. Visas were abolished for participants of the 2013 Summer Universiade, the 2014 ICF Canoe Sprint World Championships in Moscow, the 2014 World Judo Championships in Chelyabinsk and the 16th FINA World Championships in Kazan.
Participants of the XVI World Aquatics Championships in the Masters category were exempted from visa fees.
The right to enter Russia without a visa was also given to visitors during the 2014 Winter Olympics and 2014 Winter Paralympics in Sochi if they were in a possession of tickets for the event. Players of 2016 IIHF World Championship were able to obtain visas on arrival, for the fans were simplified procedure for issuing visas.
2017 FIFA Confederations Cup holders of tickets for matches of the championship could enter Russia without a visa with personalized card of viewer (also known as the passport of a fan or fan-ID) and national passport from 7 June to 12 July 2017, if holding a laminated FIFA FAN ID card; from 14 June to 2 July 2017, if holding a printed FIFA FAN ID electronic format card. The foreign citizens could use their FAN IDs for multiple visa-free entry into and exit from the Russian Federation.
2018 FIFA World Cup holders of tickets for matches of the championship were able to enter Russia without a visa with personalized card of viewer (also known as the passport of a fan or fan-ID) and national passport from 4 June to 25 July 2018.
Foreigners participating in events and athletes included in the lists of FIFA, will have to obtain visas, but in a simplified manner. In particular, visas for this category of citizens will be issued within 3 working days from the date of filing and without consular fees. This procedure will be applied until 31 December 2018.
Foreigners involved in activities and not participating in sporting events, will travel to and from Russia by an ordinary multiple-entry work visas that will be issued for a period of 1 year. Foreigners, attracted by the FIFA, its subsidiaries and contractors, confederations, national football associations, the Russian football Union, organizing Committee "Russia-2018" will be entitled to work in Russia without obtaining a patent.

#### Travel restrictions due to the COVID-19 pandemic

Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Russia has imposed the following temporary travel restrictions:
On 28 June 2021, Russia resumed flights with Belgium, Bulgaria, Jordan, Ireland, Italy, Cyprus, North Macedonia, USA, Turkey, Austria, Armenia, Greece, Qatar, Serbia, Finland, Croatia, and Switzerland.
On 27 January 2021, Russia resumed flights with Finland, Vietnam, India and Qatar.
From 15 August 2020, restrictions are lifted for citizens of Switzerland.
From 1 August 2020, restrictions on entry to Russia were lifted for citizens of Abkhazia, Tanzania, Turkey, and the United Kingdom. The issuance of entry visas and invitations has also been resumed.
The issuance of Russian electronic visas for the Far East District, Kaliningrad Oblast, and St Petersburg and Leningrad has been suspended since 18 March 2020 and has not been resumed yet.
For foreign citizens who are in Russia on the basis of a visa or visa-free regime, the duration of temporary stay is suspended From 15 March to 15 June 2020.
From 18 March until a special order of the government, all foreign citizens (except citizens of CIS member nations, Abkhazia, South Ossetia from 20 March 2020) are not allowed to enter the Russian Federation. This does not apply to some category of travels. From 13 March 2020, temporarily suspended the entry of citizens of Italy travelling for educational, work, private, tourist and transit purposes
From 28 February 2020, temporarily suspended the entry of citizens of Iran travelling for educational, work, private, tourist and transit purposes.
From 20 February 2020, temporarily suspended the entry of citizens of China, Hong Kong, Macao, travelling for work, private, educational and tourist purposes.