The new Russian federal law of July 19, 2018, № 202-FZ, “On amending individual legal acts of the Russian Federation pertaining to easier E visa procedures for foreign citizens on the territory of Russian Federation state border airport checkpoints located in the Far Eastern Federal District,” comes into force on August 19, 2018. The federal law provides for extending entry and exit E visa procedures to the territory of airport checkpoints located in the Far Eastern Federal District. At the moment, the E visa procedures are valid for entry into the Russian Federation and exit from the Russian Federation only through the following checkpoints across the state border, located on the territory of the Free Port of Vladivostok: Air checkpoint “Vladivostok (Knevichi)”; Maritime checkpoints “Vladivostok,” “Zarubino,” Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky,” “Korsakov,” and “Posiet”; Railway checkpoints “Pogranichny,” “Khasan,” and “Makhalino”; and Road checkpoints “Poltavka” and “Turiy Rog.”
Beginning August 19, 2018, the E visa procedures will be available for entry into the Russian Federation and exit from the Russian Federation at following air checkpoints of the Far Eastern Federal District: Khabarovsk (Novy), Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky (Yelizovo), Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk (Khomutovo), Blagoveshchensk, and Anadyr (Ugolny).
E Visa Specifics and Application Process.
Only citizens of the following countries can obtain an e-visa, the list is set out by the Government of the Russian Federation: Algeria, Bahrain, Brunei, India, Iran, Qatar, People’s Republic of China, Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, Kuwait, Morocco, Mexico, United Arab Emirates, Oman, Saudi Arabia, Singapore, Tunisia, Turkey, Japan.
An E visa is free. Invitations, hotel booking confirmations, or any other documents that confirm the purpose of visit to the Russian Federation are not required for an E visa. An E visa is valid for entry into the Russian Federation and exit from the Russian Federation only through the checkpoints established by the government of the Russian Federation and located on the territory of the Free Port of Vladivostok and, since August 19, 2018, also in the Far Eastern Federal District. An E visa is for single entry and is issued for a period of 30 calendar days from the date of issuance. The permitted period of stay in the Russian Federation on an electronic visa is up to 8 calendar days, starting from the date of entry. The validity of the E visa and the permitted period of stay under E visa in Russia cannot be extended.
E visas can only be issued for the following categories: Business (purpose of the visit: business),
Tourist (purpose of the visit: tourism), Humanitarian (purpose of the visit: sports, cultural relations, or scientific and technical relations). If the purpose of the visit does not correspond to any of the above, the visa is issued through diplomatic missions or consular offices of the Russian Federation.
Foreign citizens who have arrived in the Russian Federation on E visas have the right to travel only within the Far Eastern Federal District, with the exception of territories, organizations, and facilities. Special permission to enter the latter is required in accordance with federal laws of the Russian Federation. Foreign citizens can leave the Russian Federation on E visas only through checkpoints in the territory of the Free Port of Vladivostok and the Far Eastern Federal District.
E visa applications are filed through the website of the Consular Department of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs: https://evisa.kdmid.ru/ru-RU (Russian), https://evisa.kdmid.ru/en-US/Home/Index (English)