Russia May Soon Offer Visa-Free Travel For Indian Tourists By Spring 2025!

Great news for those planning a trip to Russia! You might soon be able to visit this amazing country without the hassle of applying for a visa. If all goes well, this visa-free arrangement could start as early as spring 2025.  

Russia May Soon Offer Visa-Free Travel For Indian Tourists By Spring 2025!

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Back in June 2024, Russia and India discussed a new agreement to make traveling easier. They talked about introducing visa-free group tours, which would simplify the process for Indian tourists.  

Right now, Indian travelers need to go through a long visa application process to visit Russia. Indian travellers have different visa types to apply for depending on their travel purpose, such as tourist, business, employment, student, and humanitarian visa among others. It implies that they can be called upon to produce extensive documentation and careful planning again and again. But the situation may change with the introduction of the new scheme. 

In the first half of 2024, just around 28,500 Indian tourists will arrive at Moscow, according to Evgeny Kozlov, head of the Moscow City Tourism Committee, which constitutes an increment of 1.5 times within a year! Most of these visits were for work or business purposes.  

Russia has already started a visa-free program for tourists from China and Iran, which began on August 1, 2023. Seeing how successful it’s been, Russia is now thinking about offering the same benefit to Indian tourists.  

If this happens, it’ll be a big step towards making Russia more accessible and welcoming for Indian travelers!

Indian citizens can currently travel to 62 countries without a visa. As of August 2023, they can even apply for a Unified E-Visa (UEV) to enter Russia. This visa is applicable for travel all over Russia and is meant for personal, business or tourism purposes. It usually takes four days to process. 

India is proving to be a big market for Russian tourism, and in this regard, the UEV system has been a great step to strengthen ties between both countries. 

The best part is that applying for a UEV is straightforward. Indian nationals will only need to make an appointment for online application through the Russian Embassy or Consulate. To avoid delays and rejection, applicants must ensure that the details provided match the data retained in the registration system. 

This will be hopeful for Indians wishing to travel to Russia in the near future with an uplift and an ongoing success with the setup of visa-free entry and, possibly, up to UEV.