page_title: Visa requirements for Russian citizens
section_title: History
hierarchical_section_title: Visa requirements for Russian citizens / History
caption_attribution_description: English: Henley &amp; Partners Visa Restrictions Index for Russia
context_page_description: Visa requirements for Russian citizens are administrative entry restrictions by the authorities of other states placed on citizens of Russia. As of 2 October 2019, Russian citizens had visa-free or visa on arrival access to 117 countries and territories, ranking the Russian passport 48th in terms of travel freedom according to the Henley Passport Index.
context_section_description: Visa requirements for Russian citizens were lifted (unilaterally or bilaterally, for the first time or repeatedly (in which case, the date of the last cancellation of visas is given) as the Soviet Union  by Micronesia (18 December 1980); as the Russian Federation by Dominica (11 March 1993), Cuba (29 July 1994), Antigua and Barbuda (6 November 1996), Malaysia (1998), Namibia (August 2001), Morocco (13 June 2005), Botswana (5 December 2006), Thailand (24 March 2007), Swaziland (12 June 2007), Laos (1 September 2007), Philippines (19 September 2007), Ecuador (20 June 2008), Israel (20 September 2008), Vietnam (1 January 2009), Nicaragua (19 March 2009), Venezuela (6 March 2009), El Salvador and Honduras (31 March 2009), Bahamas (1 April 2009), Guatemala (1 April 2009), Colombia (20 April 2009), Argentina (29 June 2009), Hong Kong (1 July 2009), Brazil (7 June 2010), Guyana (1 August 2010), Trinidad and Tobago (December 2010), Chile (18 January 2011), Turkey (April 2011), Saint Lucia (27 September 2011), Uruguay (27 December 2011), Georgia (until December 2000, visa-free for residents of Caucasian Regions from October 2010, resumed for all citizens on 29 February 2012), Macau (30 September 2012), Mauritius (November 2012), Jamaica (11 March 2013), Saint Kitts and Nevis (28 May 2013), South Korea (1 January 2014), Costa Rica (until 1 February 2008, resumed from 12 April 2014), Panama (14 April 2014), Paraguay (20 October 2014), Mongolia (resumed from 14 November 2014), Tunisia (1 December 2014), Turks and Caicos (2006 – September 2011, resumed in April 2015), Nauru (14 May 2015), Indonesia (10 June 2015), Bolivia (3 October 2016), Senegal (resumed in December 2016), South Africa (30 March 2017), São Tomé and Príncipe (25 April 2017), Qatar (22 June 2017), Brunei (8 January 2018), Taiwan (6 September 2018), Palau (27 December 2018), United Arab Emirates (17 February 2019), Suriname (13 May 2019), Cabo Verde (4 July 2020).
  Mexico has introduced Electronic Authorization for Russian citizens from 1 November 2010.
  Visas on arrival were introduced by Iran (July 2005), Zimbabwe (20 November 2007), Bahrain (November 2008), Guinea-Bissau (April 2012),  Mozambique (resumed in February 2017), Gabon (12 October 2017), Rwanda (1 January 2018), Benin (15 March 2018), Sierra Leone (5 September 2019), Saudi Arabia (28 September 2019), Myanmar (1 October 2019). 
  Russian citizens were made eligible for eVisas by Singapore (December 2009), Sri Lanka (January 2012), Montserrat (September 2012), São Tomé and Príncipe (2012), Myanmar (1 September 2014), India made Russian citizens eligible for the e-Visa (27 November 2014), Kenya (2 July 2015), Gabon (15 June 2015), Australia (Electronic Visitor visa from 1 October 2015), Lesotho (1 May 2017), Saint Helena (2018), Djibouti (18 February 2018), Oman (7 May 2018), Tanzania (26 November 2018), Papua New Guinea (17 June 2019), Saudi Arabia (28 September 2019), Guinea and Malawi (October 2019).
  The following countries/territories have reinstated visa requirements for Russian citizens: Estonia (1 July 1992), Latvia (20 March 1993), Lithuania (1 November 1993), North Korea (22 May 1997), Turkmenistan (June 1999), Slovenia (December 1999),* Czech Republic (29 May 2000),* Slovakia (1 January 2001),* Hungary (14 June 2001),* Bulgaria (October 2001),* Poland (1 October 2003),* Cyprus (1 January 2004),* Romania (October 2004),* Croatia (1 April 2013),* Kosovo (1 July 2013), Guam and the Northern Mariana Islands (3 October 2019).
  * – Visa policy has been synchronized with the visa policy of the EU because of accession of these countries to the European Union.
  The provision of visas on arrival to Russian citizens were discontinued by Mali (9 March 2015).
caption: Henley & Partners Passport Index. 2007 – Q1 2018. Russia.
exif: {}