NEW DELHI, 20 July 2022: Indian tourists are once more eligible for an electronic visa to visit Russia since 15 July, when Russia officially lifted the moratorium on issuing unified electronic visas.
The revival of the electronic visa followed a resolution of the Russian Cabinet of Ministers published on 15 July on the state portal pravo.gov.ru and tourdom.ru.
The ban on issuing entry documents was introduced at the beginning of the Covid-19 pandemic in March 2020. Travellers no longer need to provide additional grounds for visiting the Russian Federation, such as study, work or medical treatment. The eVisa facility is open to citizens of 52 countries, including India. The consular fees for Indian tourists start at USD40.
Eligible foreign citizens can stay in Russia for up to 16 days within two months and travel to all regions of Russia. To apply for an electronic visa, a tourist must complete an online application, which the Foreign Ministry will review within four days.
The Russian Information Centre in India spokesperson Paresh Navani commented: “This will enable Indian tourists to book their tours to Russia just five days before the intended date of departure, making the process simple and quick; normally, the longer duration tours are between 10-14 days, and this new system issues 16-day visas. This will be useful in cases where the guest cannot return as per schedule due to illness or other reasons. Overall the digitisation of the visa process plus the duration of 16 days, access to all regions in Russia and the sharp reduction in processing time is a boon for the travel trade and guests wanting to visit Russia.”
Russia is last country on earth I would want to travel. Very bad decision of any holiday maker to support Putins war responsible for despair and thousands of deaths in a sovereign country.