Electronic visas for visiting St. Petersburg

By Dmitry Kann 2 min read
This post  in Russian

Amazing news for anyone planning to visit Saint Petersburg.

As of 1 october 2019 a simplified procedure for obtaining a Russian visa has become available. The so-called e-visa allows for visiting Saint Petersburg and the Leningrad region.

According to the website of the Russian ministry of foreign affairs, nationals of 53 states (including the Netherlands) are eligible for an e-visa for visiting Saint Petersburg and the Leningrad region for up to 8 days.

The e-visa service is available for nationals of the following countries:

  1. Austria
  2. Andorra
  3. Bahrain
  4. Belgium
  5. Bulgaria
  6. Vatican
  7. Hungary
  8. Germany
  9. Greece
  10. Denmark
  11. India
  12. Indonesia
  13. Iran
  14. Ireland
  15. Iceland
  16. Spain
  17. Italy
  18. Qatar
  19. Cyprus
  20. China (including Taiwan)
  21. The Democratic People’s Republic of Korea
  22. Kuwait
  23. Latvia
  24. Lithuania
  25. Liechtenstein
  26. Luxembourg
  27. Malaysia
  28. Malta
  29. Mexico
  30. Monaco
  31. Netherlands
  32. Norway
  33. Oman
  34. Poland
  35. Portugal
  36. Romania
  37. San Marino
  38. Saudi Arabia
  39. North Macedonia
  40. Serbia
  41. Singapore
  42. Slovakia
  43. Slovenia
  44. Turkey
  45. Philippines
  46. Finland
  47. France
  48. Croatia
  49. Czech Republic
  50. Switzerland
  51. Sweden
  52. Estonia
  53. Japan

All you need to do to get hold of an e-visa is fill out an application form on the MFA website not later than 4 days before entry, and attach your digital photo to it. No other documents are needed.

Source: electronic-visa.kdmid.ru.
Source: electronic-visa.kdmid.ru.

What I find the most surprising in this story is that this servce is free of charge.

Limitations

According to the website of the ministry of foreign affairs:

E-visa can be used for entering and leaving the Russian Federation at the following checkpoints:

  1. Pulkovo international airport;
  2. Naval checkpoints “Vysotsk”, “Big port Saint Petersburg (Marine Station)”, “Passenger port Saint Petersburg”;
  3. Automobile checkpoints “Ivangorod”, “Torfjanovka”, “Brusnitchnoe”, “Svetogorsk”;
  4. Pedestrian checkpoint “Ivangorod”.

It is not possible to enter Saint Petersburg or the Leningrad region using railways.

Important: foreign nationals granted an e-visa are only allowed to travel within the Leningrad region.

How it all works

A walk-through from the same website:

Source: electronic-visa.kdmid.ru.
Source: electronic-visa.kdmid.ru.

I think it’s a great news, especially when you compare this procedure to the hassle of the regular application process for a Russian visa. ■

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