Russia approves new visa regime; Indians can now get 6-month tourist visa based on hotel reservation

Russia approves new visa regime

On Tuesday, Russian Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin signed a decree approving a streamlined visa system for 19 nations, including India.”Russia approves new visa regime“

This past week, Russia’s Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov made the announcement that the country intended to ease entry requirements for citizens of six additional nations and offer visa-free travel to citizens of up to 11 “friendly” nations.

The decree, which was posted on the government portal, stated that citizens of the specified nations may obtain a tourist visa for a period of up to six months if they have made a reservation for a hotel.

India, Bahrain, Cambodia, China, Indonesia, Iran, Kuwait, Malaysia, Mexico, Myanmar, Saudi Arabia, Thailand, Türkiye, the Philippines, and the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea are among the nations.

“We are chipping away at working with a totally sans visa system with around eleven nations. We want to make things better for six more, including India and Indonesia. 

In addition, “let’s not forget that we are working on lifting restrictions on the issuance of electronic visas to a large number of countries; there are approximately 70 countries, with the exception of unfriendly ones, which have stopped issuing visas to us in a simplified manner,” he was quoted as saying at a government hour in Turkey, according to state-run TASS.

Russia announced in September that it was working on plans to allow Indians to travel visa-free, first by expanding the e-visa program to India.

The most recent information from the Border Guard Service of the Russian Federation’s Federal Security Service indicates that in 2022, the number of foreign tourists visiting the country decreased by 96.1 percent.

Lavrov mentioned that logistical restrictions, not visa issues, affected Russia’s tourism volume.