Published By: Gurpreet

Indians To Enjoy Visa-Free Travel To Russia By 2025: From Visa Types To Fees, All You Need To Know

Indian passport holders currently enjoy visa-free access to 62 countries, and now Russia is all set to be added to the list.

Indian tourists will soon be expected to visit Russia without a visa, and the decision may be effective from Spring 2025. As per a report from the Economic Times (ET) on Monday, the latest development comes amid Russia’s plans to boost tourism ties with India.

Evgeny Kozlov, Chairman of the Moscow City Tourism Committee, is hoping that the move will amp up the number of Indian travellers to the Russian capital. "It is predicted that thanks to the agreement, which is now under development, the number of travellers from India coming to the Russian capital will increase," he was quoted as saying. Earlier in June this year, Nikita Kondratyev, Director of the Russian Economic Development Ministry’s Department of Multilateral Economic Cooperation and Special Projects, had also stated how Russia and India are looking towards visa-free group tourist exchanges.

What exactly does visa-free travel mean?

Indian passport holders already enjoy visa-free access to 62 countries, and now with Russia slated to be added to the list, it’s more the merrier. With visa-free travel, tourists can make an entry into a country without the need to apply for a visa in advance. In such cases, travellers need to simply present their passport upon arrival, which also means a quicker visa processing time and no cost.

More Indians visiting Russia

With tourism boost in Russia, especially Moscow, there has been a keen interest in attracting more Indian visitors over the years. Kozlov asserted, "In the first half of 2024, 28,500 Indian travellers visited the Russian capital, which is 1.5 times more than during the same period last year." He further noted, "In 2023, India ranked high in terms of travellers coming to Moscow among non-CIS countries, with over 60,000 visitors, a 26% rise compared to 2022."

While India does rank third among visitors from non-CIS countries for business tourists, Indian citizens mostly visit Moscow for business and work-related trips. “Moscow authorities consider India one of the priority markets due to the strong, time-tested ties between the two countries,” Kozlov said.

In fact, since August 1, 2023, Indian travellers have been given the option to apply for an e-visa, which takes about four days of processing time. Kozlov further shared, "India entered the top five countries in terms of e-visas issued last year, with 9,500 electronic visas granted, making up 6% of the total electronic visas received by foreigners visiting Russia." In January this year, around 1,700 e-visas were issued to Indian tourists.

Meanwhile, Russia allows visa-free entry to citizens from China and Iran as well under its tourist exchange programme. Since the move was successful, the country hopes to repeat the programme with India.