Russia : The country is preparing to simplify its visa regime

Partial abolition of visas, cities eligible for a simplified visa regime, some European countries concerned,… Russia wishes to develop its tourism sector by facilitating formalities.

The intentions of Russia and its President, Vladimir Putin, are clear: the existing visa regime must be simplified to develop tourism.

A few weeks ago, at the Business Russia Forum, the Russian President highlighted his desire to reduce visa formalities, in particular with the development of the e-Visa throughout the country by 2021.

This weekend, the Kremlin website announced that Vladimir Putin had entrusted the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Ministry of Internal Affairs, the FSB and the Federal Tourism Agency (Rostourism) with the task of preparing, before 31 March 2019, proposals to simplify the current visa regime (including by extending the practice of electronic visas) for foreigners arriving in Russia for tourism purposes. The heads of these departments in charge of preparing these proposals by the end of March are: Sergei Lavrov, Vladimir Kolokoltsev, Alexander Bortnikov and Zarina Doguzova.

Pilot cities for the e-Visa project

Sergei Galkin, Deputy Minister of Economic Development of the Russian Federation, attending the Interregional Forum on the Development of Cruise Tourism on the Volga and Caspian Sea, announced today that some cities and regions could participate in the pilot project for issuing electronic visas.

« Moscow and St Petersburg can be pilot regions in terms of simplifying visa formalities because they naturally generate tourist traffic. They are more organizational than other cities and can therefore better carry out the tasks related to the digitization and administration of this process, » the Deputy Minister told the local media. Kaliningrad and Vladivostok were also presented as cities generating a large number of arrivals in the country, the latter, under a free port regime, already having the e-Visa system for nationals of 18 countries (outside the EU).

With regard to the planning for the development of such an online system, Galkin points out that it is still too early to talk about it, but assumes that it will be possible to buy tourist products online for visits of 8 to 10 days, with, for example, excursions and cruises along the Volga River.

Towards a partial abolition of visas ?

In addition to simplifying the current visa regime, Russia could offer international tourists a partial abolition of the entry visa.

This is at least what a bill on the « partial abolition of entry visas for foreign tourists » proposed today in the Duma by a group of deputies proposes.

The text recommends that citizens of foreign countries, which have a friendly policy towards the Russian Federation, economic projects and other close links with the country, should be able to stay in Russia without a visa for 14 days.