How to get a Russian E-Visa. Requirements, Cost 2020

The complete Step-by-step guide on how to get a e-visa to Russia

Using our guide, you can complete all the steps for requesting an e-visa within an hour. An e-visa document will be received by email within 2 business days.

To obtain an e-visa you need:

1. Valid travel passport.
2. Medical insurance policy..
3. Digital passport photo in JPEG format (with the 35x45 cm aspect ratio).
4. Completed application form on our website.

An e-visa application is reviewed within 2 business days. An e-visa document will be received by email.

An e-visa to Russia is a new type of a visa document that takes less time to obtain than other types of visa documents. Only citizens of the foreign states listed by the Government of the Russian Federation are eligible to apply for an electronic visa. An e-visa can be used to enter only the Far Eastern Federal District, the Kaliningrad region and Saint Petersburg and Leningrad oblast.

Foreign travelers have the right to freedom of movement only within the territory of the region they entered on an e-visa. Foreign citizens must leave the territory of the Russian Federation only through checkpoints of the constituent entity of the Russian Federation which they entered.

Starting January 1st, 2021 an e-visa service shall be available for all the territory of the Russian Federation. The list of the states eligible to enter Russia on an e-visa starting from 2021 is to be confirmed by the Government of the Russian Federation; and is to include the EU countries, China, Japan, Republic of Korea, as well as Schengen countries that are not members of the EU. It is likely to include New Zealand on the list. It is not planned to include Canada, the USA and the United Kingdom on this list.

An e-visa is free to obtain. Visa invitations or any other documents are not required for obtaining an e-visa. There can be the following types of an e-visa: common tourist, common business, common humanitarian. If you plan to visit Russia but the purpose of your travel does not correspond to any of the above category type, you must apply for an ordinary visa (non-electronic) at the consular department office or a diplomatic mission of the Russian Federation.

Everything you need to obtain an e-visa, you can do on your own. Keep reading this article to find out an easy and cost-effective way to get an e-visa to Russia.

E-visa to Russia. E-visa to Saint Petersburg

In accordance with Presidential Decree No. 347 of July 18, 2019, сitizens of 53 foreign states can enter Saint Petersburg and the Leningrad oblast region on an e-visa starting October 1st, 2019. The set of documents, application submission requirements (no later than 4 days prior to the estimated travel date, excluding a submission date) and permitted stay (8 days max within an e-visa validity period) are compliant with the general terms of obtaining a Russian e-visa.

An e-visa to Saint Petersburg and the Leningrad oblast region is available to citizens of Austria, Andorra, Bahrain, Belgium, Bulgaria, Vatican, Hungary, Germany, Greece, Denmark, India, Indonesia, Iran, Ireland, Iceland, Spain, Italy, Qatar, Cyprus, China (including Taiwan), Democratic People's Republic of Korea, Kuwait, Latvia, Lithuania, Liechtenstein, Luxembourg, Malaysia, Malta, Mexico, Monaco, Netherlands, Norway, Oman, Poland, Portugal, Romania, San Marino, Saudi Arabia, Northern Macedonia, Serbia, Singapore, Slovakia, Slovenia, Turkey, Philippines, Finland, France.

ign travelers can enter Saint Petersburg and the Leningrad oblast region on an e-visa through the following checkpoints:

• automobile checkpoints “Ivangorod”, “Torfyanovka”, “Brusnitchnoe”, “Svetogorsk” ;
• airport Pulkovo;
• naval checkpoints - Big port of Saint Petersburg (Marine station section), Passenger port Saint Petersburg, seaport Vysotsk;
• pedestrian checkpoint “Ivangorod”.

Entry by rail transport is currently not available.

Note that representatives of the transport company and the Border Guard Service can check the authenticity of an e-visa at the specialized verification service of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Russian Federation evisacheck.kdmid.ru.

E-visa to Russia. E-visa to Kaliningrad

In accordance with Presidential Decree No. 595 of May 15, 2019, citizens of 53 foreign states can enter the Kaliningrad region on an e-visa starting July 1st, 2019. The set of documents, application submission requirements (no later than 4 days prior to the estimated travel date, excluding a submission date) and permitted stay (8 days max within an e-visa validity period) are compliant with the general terms of obtaining a Russian e-visa.

An e-visa to Saint Petersburg and the Kaliningrad region is available to citizens of Austria, Andorra, Bahrain, Belgium, Bulgaria, Vatican, Hungary, Germany, Greece, Denmark, India, Indonesia, Iran, Ireland, Iceland, Spain, Italy, Qatar, Cyprus, China (including Taiwan), Democratic People's Republic of Korea, Kuwait, Latvia, Lithuania, Liechtenstein, Luxembourg, Malaysia, Malta, Mexico, Monaco, Netherlands, Norway, Oman, Poland, Portugal, Romania, San Marino, Saudi Arabia, Northern Macedonia, Serbia, Singapore, Slovakia, Slovenia, Turkey, Philippines, Finland, France.

Foreign travelers can enter the Kaliningrad region on an e-visa through the following checkpoints:

• Khrabrovo airport
• automobile checkpoints “Bagrationovsk”, “Gusev”, “Gzhekhotki” and “Gronovo” in Mamonovo, “Morskoye”, “Pogranichnyy”, “Sovetsk”, “Chernyshevskoye”;
• naval checkpoints - “Kaliningrad”, “Kaliningrad (Baltiysk)”, “Kaliningrad (Svetly)”;
• railway checkpoints - “Mamonovo”, “Sovetsk”.

Note that representatives of the transport company and the Border Guard Service can check the authenticity of an e-visa at the specialized verification service of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Russian Federation evisacheck.kdmid.ru.

E-visa to Russia. E-visa to Far Eastern Federal District

In accordance with Presidential Decree сitizens of 53 foreign states can enter 9 regions of the Far Eastern Federal District on an e-visa starting August 8th, 2017: Primorsky Krai, Sakhalin Oblast, Kamchatka Krai, Amur Region, Khabarovsk Krai, Chukotka, Republic of Buryatia, Zabaykalsky Krai. The set of documents, application submission requirements (no later than 4 days prior to the estimated travel date, excluding a submission date) and permitted stay (8 days max within an e-visa validity period) are compliant with the general terms of obtaining a Russian e-visa.

An e-visa to the Far Eastern Federal District regions is available to citizens of Algeria, Bahrain, Brunei, India, Iran, Qatar, China (including Taiwan), Democratic People's Republic of Korea, Kuwait, Morocco, Mexico, United Arab Emirates, Oman, Saudi Arabia, Singapore, Tunisia, Turkey, Japan.

Foreign travelers can enter Vladivostok, Primorsky Krai region on an e-visa through the following checkpoints:

• Knevichy airport;
• naval checkpoints - Vladivostok “Zarubino”, “Posyet”;
• railway checkpoints - "Makhalino”, “Pogranichny”, “Khasan”;
• automobile checkpoints - "Poltavka", "Turiy Rog".

Foreign travelers can enter Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk, Sakhalin Oblast region on an e-visa through the following checkpoints:

• airport Khomutovo;
• naval checkpoint "Korsakov”.

Foreign travelers can enter Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky, Kamchatka Krai region on an e-visa through the following checkpoints:

• Yelizovo airport;
• naval checkpoint "Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky".

Foreign travelers can enter Blagoveschensk, Amur region on an e-visa through the following checkpoint:

• airport Blagoveschensk.

Foreign travelers can enter Khabarovsk, Khabarovsk Krai region on an e-visa through the following checkpoint:

• airport Novy.

Foreign travelers can enter Anadyr, Chukotka region on an e-visa through the following checkpoint:

• airport Ugolny.

Foreign travelers can enter Ulan-Ude, Republic of Buryatia region on an e-visa through the following checkpoint:

• airport Mukhino.

Foreign travelers can enter Chita, Zabaykalsky Krai region on an e-visa through the following checkpoint:

• airport Kadala.

Note that representatives of the transport company and the Border Guard Service can check the authenticity of an e-visa at the specialized verification service of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Russian Federation evisacheck.kdmid.ru.

The validity period is 30 days starting from the date of issue, however, the permitted stay in Russia on an e-visa is up to 8 days from the date of entry within its validity period. The validity period of an e-visa is up to 30 days. Note that the permitted stay in the Russian Federation under an e-visa is counted as follows:

If you arrive in Russia at 23:00 on December 1st, then you must leave the territory of the Russian Federation, i.e. pass border control check, no later than by 23:59 on December 8th. Since the calculation of days is rounded to the full day (24-hour period), even if you were in the Russian Federation for one minute on that calendar day.

An e-visa can be only a single-entry. The validity period and/ or permitted stay on an e-visa cannot be extended!

The Border Guard Service reports that around 10% of foreign nationals make mistakes when completing an e-visa application for obtaining an e-visa to Russia, and get deported right after arrival, their e-visas are declared invalid due to incorrect or/and incomplete information. To avoid a similar case we recommend to use our “E-visa to Russia” service to obtain an e-visa to Russia.

Apply for an e-visa     Price €10.00

An e-visa is issued free of charge for now, still a fee of around 50$ might be introduced in the future.

An e-visa is issued free of charge and is not subject to a consular fee for now. Starting 2021 an e-visa fee around 50$ will be introduced. Still, one should consider that additional expenses will be involved, such as obtaining a medical insurance policy and taking a digital photo.

Sample calculation of the total cost of a Russian e-visa up to 8 days for a citizen of the EU:

The total cost of a e-visa consists of:

• Medical insurance policy
• Passport photo

How much does an insurance policy for a Russian e-visa cost?

The average price of an insurance policy required for obtaining Russian e-visa is ≈1,25$ per day. It depends on a number of factors, such as the applicant’s age, his or her health condition, etc. Therefore, the price may range from ≈1$ to ≈7$ per day.

For instance, a healthy adult person will spend from 1,25$ to 10$ on the policy, depending on his\her length of stay in Russia (which can be from 1 up to 8 days). Whilst a senior citizen in a poor health condition will have to pay from 9$ (providing he is staying in Russia only for a day) up to 70$ (for an 8-day travel).

Get a Medical Insurance Policy

Where can I get an insurance policy for a Russian visa?

How much does a passport photo for a Russian e-visa cost?

It will cost you 8$ to take a digital passport photo in a professional photo service. Or you can do it for free and take it yourself using your smartphone. The photo must be in JPEG format. The face must take up 70-80% of the area. Glasses and headcover are not allowed.The aspect ratio of this digital photo must be 35x45.

If you use our company “E-visa to Russia” service, we will accept any digital portrait photo taken on a mobile phone.

E-visa digital photo requirements are as follows:

 

• clear and well-defined colour photograph in the JPEG format
• 35x45 cm aspect ratio, no framing
• recently taken (not more than 6 months old) against a plain light background
• no foreign objects, shadows, flash reflections or other people shall be visible
• full front view of the head, with the face in the middle taken 70-80 % of the photo
• neutral face expression – mouth closed, eyes open and clearly visible
• If you wear glasses, your eyes must be clearly visible - flash reflection off the lenses, as well as tinted lenses, are not allowed
• any head covering is not allowed, unless the applicant wears such items because of their religious belief or ethnic background (in this case, your face must be clearly visible from the bottom of the chin to the top of the forehead).

As you can see, it’s that simple!

To get an e-visa to Russia you need to:

1. Have a valid international passport.
2. Get a medical insurance policy.
3. Prepare one personal photo in JPEG format (with the 35x45 cm aspect ratio).
4. Completed application form on our website.

An e-visa application is reviewed within 2 business days. An e-visa document will be received by email.

If you don’t qualify for an e-visa for any reason:

• you plan to visit a region where an e-visa service is not yet available;
• your country of citizenship is not on the list of foreign states eligible to obtain an electronic visa to the Russian Federation;
• you require a longer stay than 8 days;
• a purpose of your travel does not correspond to tourist, business or humanitarian category type

we recommend obtaining an ordinary visa (stamp in passport) at the consular department office or a diplomatic mission of the Russian Federation.

Complete step-by-step guide on how to obtain a Russian visa

More information on the required documents and details of applying for an e-visa to Russia:

• What documents are required?
• Where can I get an insurance policy?
• Where can I submit my application?
• Processing times

What documents are required for a Russian e-visa?

• International passport, valid for at least 6 months from the date of the visa application.
• Valid medical insurance policy, covering the entire territory of the Russian Federation.
• Filled in visa application form with a digital personal photo on evisa.kdmid.ru.

How to avoid getting scammed?

Attention! Only citizens of the states listed by the Government of the Russian Federation are eligible to apply for an electronic visa. The application for an e-visa must be filled out on the official website evisa.kdmid.ru only. If obtained through a website, which URL address differs from the specified one, Russian electronic visa shall be considered invalid.

Where can I get an insurance policy for a Russian visa?

Travel medical insurance, which is obligatory for obtaining an e-visa to Russia, can be purchased directly from an insurance company or ordered online using a specialized service.

Get a Medical Insurance Policy

The cost of such a policy depends on the applicant’s age, total amount insured, chosen insurance program and reputation of the insurance company. The price of the insurance policy is about 1 euro per day.

Important! The minimum amount of insurance coverage is determined according to the principle of reciprocity. For example, if citizens of the Russian Federation are required to provide insurance with the minimum coverage of 35000 EUR in order to enter some states, then the same will be required from the citizens of these states for traveling to the Russian Federation.
All citizens applying for an electronic visa to Russia require insurance coverage of 35000 EUR

Where can I submit my application for a Russian e-visa?

In order to obtain an e-visa to Russia, a foreign citizen must fill out and submit the electronic application form on our website.

In case of any queries, please contact the Russian Consular office or email us at order@goingrus.com.

Consular offices of the Russian Federation abroad

Processing times of an e-visa to Russia

An e-visa to Russia shall be issued within a period of 2 business days.

An e-visa can be only single-entry.

On a single-entry visa, a foreign national is allowed to cross the border of the Russian Federation only once upon entry and once upon departure.

Based on the purpose of visit to Russia, there are 3 types of e-visas:

• common tourist (the purpose of a trip to the Russian Federation is tourism);
• common business (business trip);
• common humanitarian (sports, cultural or scientific and technical relations).

If the purpose of your trip to the Russian Federation does not correspond to any of the above, then you need to contact the diplomatic mission or Consular office of the Russian Federation for an ordinary visa (not electroniс).

An e-visa to Russia is a written notification in the form of a PDF file, which contains the information concerning the decision on a visa application and personal details of a foreign national. The PDF file should be printed out. In case you do not have the opportunity to print it out, a digital copy of an e-visa can be saved on your smartphone and presented over the screen to the representatives of the transport company during boarding the vehicle, as well as to the border officials during passport control at the checkpoint upon arrival in Russia.

When filling out the electronic questionnaire, select the tips language from a relevant drop-down list. These tips will clarify the meaning of the questions you need to answer when filling out your visa application form. If Russian is chosen as a tips language, all answers should be entered in Russian only, with the exception of surnames, given names, addresses and names of institutions that are required to be entered in English. In case English is chosen, all answers should be given in English with the use of the Latin alphabet characters. If a name or surname spelling contains any characters of the national alphabets that are not included in the Latin alphabet (such as С, É, Ü or Ç), then it is necessary to use the transliterated meanings indicated in the first machine-readable line of your passport.

Click to enlarge

PDF

For instance, if the name in the visual area of the passport is spelled as "Séo Türre" then you shall use the name spelling from the machine-readable line, i.e. "Seo Tuerre", when filling in the application form.

The visa application should contain the following information:

• date of the visa issue;
• visa validity period;
• duration of stay in the Russian Federation;
• citizenship of the visa applicant;
• visa identification number (alphanumeric code that indicates the place of issue of the visa and its serial number;
• surname and given name of the foreign citizen (in Cyrillic and Latin alphabet);
• passport number;
• date of birth;
• gender;
• purpose of the trip;

Corrections in the printed out notification are not allowed!

Electronic visa is a new type of a visa document based on which a foreign national can enter Russia. If you don’t qualify for an e-visa, you can apply for an ordinary (non-electronic) visa.

• Tourist visa to Russia for foreign nationals
• Business visa to Russia for foreign nationals

This article describes the main steps of obtaining an electronic visa to Russia. It also features the documents required for that, as well as the expenses it entails. The legislative acts are included for a detailed inquiry.

So far, Russian e-visas have significant limitations:

• Only citizens of the states listed by the Government of the Russian Federation are eligible to apply for an electronic visa;
• An e-visa can be used to enter only the Far Eastern Federal District, the Kaliningrad region and Saint Petersburg and Leningrad oblast.