From 1 January 2021, foreign nationals will be able* to enter Russia with electronic visas at border control posts to be specified by the Russian government in a separate document.
An e-visa will be valid for a single entry into Russia. Its term of validity will be 60 calendar days, and the allowed term of stay will be up to 16 calendar days.
Obtaining e-visas will not be available to all foreigners, but only to nationals of states to be approved by the Russian government.
Electronic visas will be issued by the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs within four calendar days based on applications that foreign nationals will complete over a special website.
It will be possible to use e-visas for business, personal, tourism and humanitarian purposes.
Do not overstay
Foreigners using the e-visa entry procedure should ensure that, when completing visa applications, they provide full identification details strictly as per their ID details. To avoid administrative sanctions, e-visa holders must not overstay their visits to Russia as specified by the visas.
As previously reported, the Russian government is pursuing a consistent policy of introducing e-visas, which are already available for visits to Saint Petersburg, the Leningrad and Kaliningrad Regions, and the Far Eastern Federal District. From 2021, e-visas will not be restricted to certain cities and regions but will be valid throughout the country.
* In Russian
By Valeriy Fedoreev, Partner, Christophe Huet, Partner, and Ekaterina Elekchyan, Senior Associate, CMS Russia