Visa-Free: How and When? Indians Can Travel to Russia Visa-Free by 2025! - Read Now
Visa-Free: Great news for the Indian traveler! By spring 2025, you will be able to visit Russia without a visa, thanks to an agreement being developed between India and Russia. This plan is to boost the tourist numbers from India to Russia's capital and further strengthen bilateral ties between the two countries.
According to Evgeny Kozlov, the chairman of Moscow City Tourism Committee, this new deal will expand the opportunities for travel and boost tourism. "The number of tourists from India visiting the capital of Russia will increase substantially," Kozlov said, citing mutual possibilities in tourism and cultural exchange.
Visa-Free: Travel options for Indians currently
Indians have been able to apply for an e-visa to travel to Russia since August 1, 2023. The entire process of an e-visa takes almost four days to get approved. In 2023, India was one of the top five countries for which Russia issued e-visas. Russia issued 9,500 e-visas to Indian travelers in 2023. This accounted for 6% of the overall e-visas issued by Russia, which showed that Indians indeed were becoming increasingly interested in visiting this vast and very diverse country.
Rising Travel Demand
Indians mostly travel to Russia for work and business. According to Kozlov, in 2023, more than 60,000 tourists from India visited Moscow. This is 26% more than in 2022. This trend made India a leader among the non-CIS countries in the number of travelers visiting the Russian capital. In the first quarter of 2024, India even became the third country among the non-CIS nations for business tourists, which emphasizes the strengthening economic ties.
Visa-Free Program Comparisons
The citizens of China and Iran have so far benefited from visa-free entry into Russia under the tourist exchange program. To this end, Russia wishes to create a similar experience for tourists from India. Beginning August 1, 2023, the tourist program would be easy for travel plans and easier terms in issuing visas as a reflection of Russia's effort towards promoting tourism from other nations.
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