Russia continues to open borders for international travelers: citizens and residents of 54 countries are now admitted to get tourist visas to travel to Russia. On August 4th 2 new countries were added, and the safe list now is:
Abkhazia
Armenia (visa only for residents, citizens are visa free)
Austria
Azerbaijan (visa only for residents, citizens visa free)
Belgium
Bulgaria
China (visa only for residents, citizens visa free)
Croatia
Cuba (visa only for residents, citizens visa free)
Cyprus
Czech Republic
Egypt
Ethiopia
Finland
France
Germany
Greece
Hungary
Iceland
India
Ireland
Italy
Japan
Jordan
Kazakhstan (visa only for residents, citizens visa free)
Korea (visa only for residents, citizens visa free)
Kyrgyzstan (visa only for residents, citizens visa free)
Lebanon
Liechtenstein
Luxembourg
Maldives (visa only for residents, citizens visa free)
Malta
Mauritius (visa only for residents, citizens visa free)
Mexico
Morocco
North Macedonia (visa only for residents, citizens visa free)
Portugal
Qatar (visa only for residents, citizens visa free)
Saudi Arabia
Serbia (visa only for residents, citizens visa free)
Seychelles (visa only for residents, citizens visa free)
Singapore
Sri Lanka
Switzerland
Syria
Tajikistan (visa only for residents, citizens visa free)
Tanzania
Turkey
United Arab Emirates (visa only for residents, citizens visa free)
United Kingdom
United States of America
Uzbekistan (visa only for residents, citizens visa free)
Venezuela (visa only for residents, citizens visa free)
Vietnam
The safe list is updated every 2-3 weeks. If your country is not yet in the list, it will be added sooner rather than later.
Starting from August 24th tourist visas will also be issued for 6 month unlike current limit of 30 days. It is not yet clear whether multiple entries will be allowed or only single/double as now.
Citizens of the following 50 countries travel visa free to Russia:
Andorra, Antigua and Barbados, Argentina, Belarus, Bolivia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Botswana, Brasil, Brunei, Cabo Verde, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Cuba, Dominica, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, El Salvador, Fiji, Grenada, Guatemala, Guyana, Honduras, Hong Kong, Israel, Jamaica, Laos, Macao, Macedonia, Mauritius, Moldova, Mongolia, Montenegro, Mozambique, Nauru, Nicaragua, North Macedonia, Palau, Panama, Paraguay, Peru, Saint Kitts and Nevis, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Samoa, South Africa, Suriname, Thailand, Ukraine, Uruguay, Vanuatu.
There are now 104 countries of the world that are open for tourism to Russia and still counting. Aircraft crews (both private and commercial) are allowed to enter and stay in Russia if they are from visa free countries as listed above or if they have valid Russian visa.
If you are a citizen of any of 67 visa free country, you may fly to Russia freely as crew without any limitations.
If you are a resident in one of 54 safe list countries above, you may travel to Russia as tourist, applying for a tourist visa in the Russian Consulate in your country of residence or any other county from the list. Being a certified travel operator, we are happy to provide necessary paperwork support.
If the crew wishes to obtain business ("crew") visas, we are here to assist.
A so-called "Crew visa on arrival" is an option at 4 airports - Moscow UUEE, Moscow UUWW, Moscow UUDD and Saint-Petersburg ULLI. Maximum duration of stay is 10 days.
Recently introduced e-visas for citizens of 52 countries valid for 16 days remain suspended although they might be resumed if vaccination tourism will be allowed already in July 2021.
Russia continues to be open for business, cargo, ferry, delivery and tech stop flights. If the route consists of 1 - 2 - 3 tech stops, no visa is required.
If you are planning a flight across Russia and nearby countries, check our Fuel page with massive list of 330 airports serving Jet A-1 and 280 airports with Avgas 100LL, including many airports of entry on the European side and Pacific Coast.