Who needs a visa to Russia?

Published by Mike Lomberg June 12, 2020

It’s great that you’ve decided to travel to Russia! There’s so much to see and do in this fascinating country. However, before you buy your plane tickets and book your hotels, there’s the matter of your visa to take care of. Do you need a visa? Why are citizens of some countries able to enter Russia visa-free, while others face an uphill battle to obtain theirs? We’ll get to the bottom of these questions here.

Firstly, the question of whether you need a visa to enter Russia or not will depend on the type of agreements between Russia and your home country. If you’re lucky and there is a visa-free arrangement for holders of your country’s passport, you can enter Russia without all of the time-consuming paperwork. However, if there’s no special agreement in place between your country and Russia, you must present a valid visa at migration control when crossing the Russian border. 

For citizens of most English speaking countries, such as the USA, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, the UK, Ireland, as well as citizens of EU countries, a visa to enter Russia is required.

The world map indicating countries which have or have not a visa-free entry to Russia

 (image taken from wikipedia)

Russia visa-free countries

Below is the list of the countries that have visa-free entry to Russia as of December 2019:

Belarus
South Ossetia
AbkhaziaTajikistan
ArmeniaMoldova
AzerbaijanUkraine
KazakhstanUzbekistan
Kyrgyzstan
Antigua and BarbudaHonduras
ArgentinaIsrael
BoliviaJamaica
BrazilMaldives
ChileNicaragua
ColombiaPanama
Costa RicaParaguay
CubaPeru
DominicaSaint Kitts and Nevis
EcuadorSaint Vincent and the Grenadines
El SalvadorSouth Africa
FijiSuriname
GrenadaUnited Arab Emirates
GuatemalaUruguay
GuyanaVenezuela
Mauritius
Samoa
South Korea
Bosnia and HerzegovinaMontenegro
BotswanaPalau
LaosSerbia
MacaoSeychelles
MongoliaThailand
North Macedonia
Brunei
Hong Kong
Nauru

Who needs a visa to Russia

If you don’t fall into the above categories and hold a passport from the list of countries below, you’ll need a visa to enter Russia:

AustraliaBangladeshBhutan
AustriaBarbadosUK
Azores IslandsBahrainHungary
AlbaniaBelizeVietnam
AlgeriaBelgiumGabon
Virgin Islands (US)BeninHaiti
AngolaIvory CoastGambia
AndorraBermudaGhana
Antigua and BarbudaBulgariaGuinea Bissau
AfghanistanBurkina FasoGermany
BahamasBurundiGibraltar
GreeceIndonesiaCambodia
GeorgiaJordanCanary Islands
DenmarkIraqThe Caribbean: Curacao, Bonaire, Saba, Sint Eustatius, the Dutch part of the island of St. Maarten and Aruba
Democratic Republic of CongoIranQatar
DjiboutiIrelandKenia
Dominican RepublicIcelandCyprus
EgyptSpainKuwait
ZambiaItalyLavia
ZimbabweYemenLesotho
IndiaCape VerdeLiberia
LebanonMadagascarMarshall Islands
LibyaMaderaMexico
LithuaniaMalaysiaMozambique
LiechtensteinMaliMonaco
LuxembourgMaltaMontserrat
MauritaniaMoroccoMyanmar
NamibiaNorwayPortugal
NepalOmanPuerto Rico
NigerPakistanThe Republic of Guinea
NigeriaPalauThe Republic of Korea
NetherlandsPalestineThe Republic of Congo
NicaraguaPapua New GuineaThe Republic of Cote d’Ivoire
New ZealandPolandRwanda
RomaniaSyriaSierra Leone
San MarinoSlovakiaTanzania
Saudi ArabiaSolomon IslandsTogo
SwazilandSomaliaTrinidad and Tobago
SenegalSudanTurkmenistan
Saint LuciaSurinameTurkey
SingaporeUSAUganda
PhilippinesSri LankaEquatorial Guinea
FinlandCentral African RepublicEritrea
FranceChadEstonia
CroatiaCzech RepublicEthiopia
SwedenSwitzerlandJapan

If you’re living in a foreign country and plan to apply from this country instead of your country of citizenship, you have to make sure that your citizenship allows you visa-free entry to Russia. Even if you are a permanent resident of a country with visa-free entry to Russia, your residency doesn’t give you the same rights as citizenship.

Special categories of travellers with visa-free entry to Russia

A ship in Saint Petersburg - Russian port city

Transit passengers

If you’re travelling through Russia on the way to another country, and your connecting flight is in less than 24 hours, you can stay in the international airport in-transit zone without a Russian visa.  Please contact your airlines to make sure you won’t need to clear passport control or leave the transit zone when changing flights in Russia. 

There are some Russian airports that do not have a transit zone, so you’ll need to obtain a transit visa to make your connection there. Here is the list:

Please note, that for travellers going to Kazakhstan and Belarus through Russia it is mandatory to obtain a Russian transit visa.

E-Visa to Russia

Russian authorities implemented a new E-visa program in 2017. Information below is effective as of January 2020.

Nationals of these 53 states can enter Russia on an E-visa:

AustriaMalta
AndorraMexico
BahrainMonaco
BelgiumNetherlands
BulgariaNorway
VaticanOman
HungaryPoland
GermanyPortugal
GreeceRomania
DenmarkSan Marino
IndiaSaudi Arabia
IndonesiaNorth Macedonia
IranSerbia
IrelandSingapore
IcelandSlovakia
SpainSlovenia
ItalyTurkey
QatarPhilippines
CyprusFinland
China (including Taiwan)France
The Democratic People’s Republic of KoreaCroatia
KuwaitCzech Republic
LatviaSwitzerland
LithuaniaSweden
LiechtensteinEstonia
LuxembourgJapan
Malaysia 

The following border points allow entry with e-visa:

The main things you need to know about E-visas:

If you decide to travel on an E-visa and need professional assistance in submitting your application, our staff are ready to help you: [email protected]