Russia is the world's largest nation, a transcontinental state whose geographical position makes it an excellent tourist and business destination. But you still need authorisation to enter the country. Here's how to obtain an e-Visa to enter Russia.
Russian electronic visa
From 1 January 2021, the Russian government has introduced a unified electronic visa allowing you to visit the whole of Russia. Certain conditions must be met.
Firstly, the e-Visa authorises you to stay in Russia for a maximum of 16 days, and is valid for 60 days. Secondly, you must be a citizen of one of the 56 authorised countries. Secondly, the e-Visa gives access exclusively to the three regions listed above. For example, you cannot stop over in Moscow. There are three categories:
- Tourist e-Visa
- The e-Visa business
- Humanitarian e-Visa
- The e-Visa for visiting relatives
To obtain a Russian e-Visa, you will need to provide the contact details of accommodation (no voucher required), a passport valid for at least 6 months at the time of application, a passport-size photo in any format, a passport-size photo of the applicant and a passport-size photo of the applicant. travel insurance repatriation + medical expenses. You will also need to present a certificate of residence insurance and if your stay in Russia exceeds 7 working days, you must register with Russian immigrants.
Similarly, the application must be made at least 10 days before the planned date of arrival in Russia. This visa cannot be extended.
As soon as you meet all these conditions, you can plan your trip with complete peace of mind. Rest assured, you won't be asked to provide any documentary evidence of your trip or any other subsequent documents. That's the difference between an e-visa and a paper visa.
Obtain your visa on the authorities' website
The Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, through its consular department, has set up a platform which allows you to apply for your e-Visa. Designed in two languages (English and Russian), the site is very practical and simple. It takes 4 days to obtain your visa.
Once you have logged on to the site, you need to fill in an electronic visa application form. You start by selecting your nationality, then the region you wish to visit. Once you have read the terms and conditions, validate them. Then enter your personal details.
Obtaining your e-Visa through a private agency
An agency can help you obtain your electronic Russian visa. The advantage here is that you won't have to worry about the language barrier imposed by the official website, which is translated into several languages.
However, like the platform, the procedure is also electronic, and the documents required are identical. All you need to do is check that you are eligible for the programme. Once you have completed the form available on the website, you send the requested documents by e-mail to the agency.
Once this has been done, the agency will send you your visa by e-mail within an average of 4 days. The applicable rate is 49 €excluding brokerage fees.
An agency service 