E-visa for Russia from Jan

Starting January 1, 2021, Russia will start issuing a 16-day single-entry electronic visa for Indian tourists, to be valid for 60 days. Applicants only need to fill out an online application, which will be reviewed within four days.

Indian visitors will be now be able to obtain single-entry business, humanitarian and tourist visas in the form of an electronic document. Under the new regulations, citizens of 53 countries will be able to obtain the e-visa. Applications for the new-style visas will need to be made via a Russian Foreign Ministry website. VFS Global is currently managing Visa Application Centres for Russian visas in India. In October 2019, Russia had started issuing e-visas for entry to St. Petersburg.

Russia’s national tourism agency, Rostourism, had recommended offering the e-visa at no cost to help the sector recover from the COVID-19 crisis, as well as suggesting extending e-visas from 16 days to 90-120 days and making them multiple-entry.

Paresh Navani, Partner, Russ Information Center, says that this will enable Indian tourists to book their tours to Russia just five days prior to the intended date of departure, making the process simple and quick. “Normally, the longer duration tours are between 10-14 days and this new system of 16-day e-visas will also be useful in cases where the guest cannot return as per schedule due to illness or any other reason, without having to worry about visa expiry. Furthermore, tourists can also extend their tours on the ground in Russia, if any destination is added or some more interest generates, making the tourist wish for extension. This was not possible in the current type of e-visa for Indians. Overall, this digitisation of the visa process, duration of 16 days, access to all regions of Russia, and the sharp reduction in processing time for all Russian regions is a boon for the travel trade and our guests wanting to visit Russia,” he shares.

International borders being closed due to COVID-19 has led to significant losses for the Russian tourism industry. The e-tourist visa is designed to help make up for the loss and overcome the crisis.