Thanks to growing diplomatic relations and the decision of Russian counselors to open Russia to the world. Russian officials have announced that they will provide e-visa to Indians visiting its cultural capital Saint Petersburg and the Leningrad Region and plan to extend the facility for the rest of the country by 2021.
The facility has started its operations from October 1 and Indians can avail the services by filling an electronic application form and uploading the required digital photo. The form needs to be submitted at least four days prior to the expected date of arrival in the Russian Federation.
The type of visas available under the service for Indians are single business, humanitarian and tourist visas. These will be valid for 30 days from the date of issuance and the maximum period of stay in the Russian Federation should not exceed eight days.
Andrey V Fedorov, senior counselor, Consular Affairs, Embassy of the Russian Federation in India. Says, “We want to open up Russia, liberalize norms so that we get more visitors and also to showcase our history and culture to the world. We are also thinking of extending this e-visa facility for the rest of the Russian Federation by 2021,”
The e-visa facility is valid only for arrival and departure to the Russian Federation via border crossing points located in the territory of Saint Petersburg and the Leningrad Region. Air border crossing point – Pulkovo (the local airport), sea border crossing points – Vysotsk, Big Port Saint Petersburg (Marine Station), Passenger Port of Saint Petersburg, motor vehicle border crossing points – Ivangorod, Torfyanovka, Brusnichnoe, Svetogorsk and pedestrian border crossing point – Ivangorod are valid.
Foreign nationals with e-visas will not be allowed to enter other regions of the Russian Federation, with any purpose, including transit as that is not covered by e-visa service.
Officials shared that surname and name (names) are to be typed exactly as they are mentioned in the passport. In case there is full or any partial inconsistency in the information provided like – citizenship, surname, name, date of birth, passport number or in case another person’s photograph is uploaded, the entry into the Russian Federation will be denied.
The only exception shared in the case when the name of a foreign national contains more symbols than it is technically possible to type in the application form. Transport companies are authorized to check the validity of e-visas via the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Russian Federation website http://evisacheck.kdmid.ru.
As per the data shared, Russia has issued around 65,000 visas from its offices in New Delhi, Chennai, Kolkata and Mumbai offices between January to September 2019.
Last year, Russia issued around 55,000 visas.