The snowy village of Teba in the Kemerovo region, Russia

Who needs a visa for Russia?

Eastern Europe · Moscow

Photo: Staselnik / Wikimedia Commons · CC BY-SA 3.0

Of 198 nationalities, 66 enter Russia with no paperwork at all. The rest: 132 must be approved before they travel.

We have not found a Russia government portal we can link to with confidence, so we link to none — a lookalike is worse than nothing. Apply through Russia's own immigration service or its embassy.

What do you need?

Who needs what

Visa free 66

Nothing to apply for and nothing to pay before you travel.

eVisa (electronic visa) 61

A real visa application, made online instead of at an embassy. It is assessed, it takes days rather than minutes, and it can be refused.

Visa required 71

You must apply and be approved before you travel. Airlines will refuse to board you without it.

About Russia

Region
Eastern Europe
Capital
Moscow
Population
143,513,328 2025 · 9th of 197
Size
17,098,242 km² 1st largest of 199
Density
8 per km²
Language
Russian
Currency
Russian ruble RUB

Capital, area, languages and currency from the open country dataset, pulled 21 September 2026. Population from the World Bank, series updated 13 July 2026. Density is calculated from the two figures above.