How can tourists from India travel to Russia with an e-visa

And how long can they stay in the country?

Citizens of India can travel to Russia with an electronic visa. Travel agents should be able to answer all the questions from the Indian tourists who are interested in such a trip — as in just a few months they will be able to enter the country with an e-visa. All the necessary information is gathered here.

How to enter Russia with an electronic visa
Starting January 1, 2021 citizens of 52 countries, including India, will be able to visit Russia with an e-visa. It will be possible for tourists from India to enter through any checkpoint with the necessary equipment, approved by the order of the Government of the Russian Federation, and travel throughout the country, whether it be well-loved St. Petersburg or alluring Kamchatka.

Travellers can get an e-visa for tourist, business, humanitarian and guest visits. Moreover, foreign visitors will not be required to provide an invitation, hotel reservations or any other documents confirming the purpose of the trip. All they will have to do is just fill in a form on the Russian Foreign Ministry website or via a mobile app, upload a personal photo and a copy of the passport — all of this may be performed by a travel agent. For reference, Russian consulates in India are located in the cities of Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai and Kolkata. Tourists will also need to pay a consular fee of $40 (for children under 6 this service is free) and then just wait for the notification.
An electronic visa is valid for 60 days as of the date of receipt, but you can travel around all regions of Russia for no more than 16 days.

E-visa will let your tourists go to every region of Russia
At the moment electronic visas are issued for the period of up to eight days and allow tourists to travel within just one region of the Russian Federation. However, starting from 2021, the period of stay of tourists in Russia will increase to 16 days with the possibility of traveling throughout the whole country. This is the best duration, given the geography of Russia, as it is often simply impossible to see several regions in one trip, for example, the North-West and the Far East.

The Federal Agency for Tourism of Russia encourages as many Indian citizens as possible to discover the unique natural and cultural diversity of Russia. It is their hope that facilitated procedures for issuing a visa will increase the country’s attractiveness and interest among Indian tourists.

Why does Russia need e-visas?
People around the world are now showing the increased interest in independent travel and the digitalization of travel services. In the general structure of the tourist flow, independent trips already account for about 80% of the total. The trend towards facilitating visa procedures is also gaining momentum as people want to travel and cross borders as easily and comfortably as possible. In the current situation, especially given the impact of the pandemic on international tourism and continued demand for travelling, one of the most effective non-financial measures to stimulate people to travel more is facilitated visa procedures. Tourist statistics show that any facilitation of visa formalities increases tourist flow to the destination by an average of 20-30%. The introduction of a unified electronic visa throughout the country will attract more foreign tourists, thus making Russia more competitive in the global tourism market and also ensuring the recovery of tourist flow and, in the future, its an annual increase, taking into account the obvious tendencies towards a sharp growth of international competition for tourists after the end of the pandemic.