eVisa Russia

An e-visa (or electronic visa) is an alternative to normal visas. The process of applying and obtaining an e-visa is much easier, faster, and cheaper than the non-electronic alternative. The entire application process is done online, via the official website of the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

Unlike an ordinary tourist visa, you do not need an invitation letter or a hotel confirmation to be able to apply for an e-visa. Because of this simplicity, the e-visa has more restrictions, which I’ll describe in detail below.

Depending on the purpose of your trip, the intended duration of your stay in Russia, and other factors, the e-visa may not suit your requirements. For example, if you want to spend 15 days in Russia, visiting Moscow and St. Petersburg, an e-visa won’t work for you because of its restrictions. By the end of this article, you’ll have an idea of whether this type of visa is viable for you.

The e-visa can be used for entering and leaving the Russian Federation at the following checkpoints, at the national border of the Russian Federation in the Far Eastern Federal District and Kaliningrad Oblast:

Air border checkpoints: “Kaliningrad (Khrabrovo)”, “Vladivostok (Knevichi)”, “Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky (Yelizovo)”, “Blagoveshchensk”, “Khabarovsk (Novy)”, “Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk (Khomutovo)”, “Anadyr (Ugolny)”, “Ulan-Ude (Muhino)”, “Chita (Kadala)”;

Maritime border checkpoints: “Kaliningrad” (checkpoints in the cities of Kaliningrad, Baltiysk and Svetly), “Vladivostok ”, “Zarubino”, “Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky”, “Korsakov”, “Posyet”;

Railway border checkpoints: “Mamonovo”, “Sovetsk”, “Pogranichny”, “Khasan”, “Makhalino”;

Automobile border checkpoints: “Bagrationovsk”, “Gusev”, “Mamontovo (Grzechotki)”, “Mamontovo (Gronowo)”, “Morskoje”, “Pogranichny”, “Sovetsk”, “Chernyshevskoye”, “Poltavka”, “Turiy Rog”.

Due to the ease of application, the e-visa has some restrictions that might be relevant for you, depending on the purpose of your trip.

Time restriction

The e-visa is a single-entry visa, issued for 30 calendar days from the date of its creation. The permitted stay in the Russian Federation with an e-visa is up to 8 days starting from the date of entry, within its validity period. E-visa validity and/or the permitted stay under it cannot be extended.

ATTENTION! The permitted duration of stay in the Russian Federation of up to 8 days under an e-visa doesn’t mean you can stay for the entire 192 hours (24 hours multiplied by 8). The period of stay in the Russian Federation always starts at midnight of the day of passage through passport control upon entry, regardless of the actual time of passage through passport control. For example, if you have an e-visa valid from July 15 to August 13 and you pass through passport control upon entry at 8:00 pm on August 1, a Monday. In that case, you need to pass through passport control upon exit by 11:59 pm on August 8, Monday (rather than 8:00 pm on August 9, Tuesday). You should also note that if you passed through passport control upon entry, for instance, on August 10 with the e-visa mentioned in the example above, you need to pass through passport control upon exit by 11:59 pm on August 13, i.e. when the e-visa expires.

If you need to stay in Russia for more than 8 days, you can apply for a tourist visa, which allows you to stay for up to 30 days. If you plan to stay in Russia for longer than 30 days, you can apply for a business visa – it allows you to stay for up to one year.

Visit purpose restrictions

E-visas can only be from the following categories: ordinary business visa (purpose of the journey is business), ordinary tourist visa (purpose of the journey is tourism), and ordinary humanitarian visa (purposes of the journey are sports, cultural, scientific and technological ties).

If the purpose of your journey to the Russian Federation does not correspond to any of the above, you should apply for a traditional (non-electronic) visa at a diplomatic mission or consular office of the Russian Federation.

Movement restrictions

This restriction is usually the most inconvenient for visitors to Russia. If you decided to enter one of the regions allowed with an e-visa, you can only stay in that region.

For example, if you enter Kaliningrad with an e-visa, you can only stay in the Kaliningrad Oblast (region). This means you are NOT ALLOWED to visit Moscow, St. Petersburg, or any other city or region besides the region you got your e-visa for. Besides this, foreign citizens are only allowed to leave Russia via the checkpoints that they entered the country through. This means that, if you entered Russia through the Khrabrovo (Kaliningrad) air border checkpoint, you can’t leave through an automobile border checkpoint, to visit Poland for example. As the e-visa doesn’t currently allow you to visit other cities and regions besides Kaliningrad and the Far East, you will have to apply for a tourist or a business visa in order to be able to visit Moscow, St. Petersburg or any other cities.

Medical Insurance

Foreign citizens who have arrived in the Russian Federation with e-visas are required to have medical insurance valid in the Russian Federation’s territory for the entire period of their stay.