Visa requirements for Russian citizens

Russian citizens need a Schengen visa, which covers all member states for up to 90 days in any 180-day period.

Of the 198 countries whose entry rules are known in both directions, Russia and 64 of them let each other’s citizens in without a visa obtained in advance (visa-free, on arrival or with an ETA; an e-visa counts as a visa).

2 countries ask holders of the Russian passport for a visa beforehand, although their own citizens enter Russia without one: Andorra and Ukraine.

The reverse holds for 50 countries: holders of the Russian passport get in without a visa obtained in advance, but their citizens need one for Russia (Angola, Bahamas, Bahrain, Bangladesh, Barbados and 45 others).

60 countries ask holders of the Russian passport for a visa obtained before travel from an embassy, a consulate or a visa centre. 48 of them have an embassy or consulate on record in Russia.

12 countries have no embassy or career consulate on record in Russia, so the application usually goes to one of their posts in another country.

The United States refused 40% of visitor-visa (B1/B2) applications from citizens of Russia in fiscal year 2025, by the State Department’s adjusted refusal rate. 123 of the 197 nationalities with a published rate had a lower one and 73 a higher one; the middle value was 32%.

Schengen consulates in Russia refused 6.4% of short-stay visa applications in 2025 (all Schengen consulates worldwide: 15%). Among the 74 countries where they received at least 10,000 applications, that is the 59th highest rate. The figure counts every nationality applying there, not only citizens.

Visa-free travel with the Russian passport

By continent, the Russian passport is visa-free in 30 countries in the Americas, 24 countries in Asia, 13 countries in Africa, 7 countries in Oceania and 5 countries in Europe. The longest visa-free stays for Russian citizens are allowed in Georgia (360 days), Armenia (180 days), Peru (180 days), El Salvador (180 days), Fiji (120 days) and Vanuatu (120 days).

Visa on arrival

Russian citizens can get a visa at the airport or land border of Bahrain, Bangladesh, Burundi, Cambodia, the Comoros, Djibouti, Egypt and 21 others.

E-Visa and electronic travel authorisation

An e-Visa, applied for online before the trip, is how Russian citizens enter Albania, Australia, Benin, Bhutan, Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Chad and 17 others. Israel, Ivory Coast, Kenya, Mexico, Papua New Guinea, Saint Kitts and Nevis, South Korea and Suriname ask instead for an electronic travel authorisation (ETA), a lighter online check than a visa.

Russia’s neighbours

Georgia, China, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Mongolia and Azerbaijan admit Russian citizens without a visa. For the other neighbours, the rules are: Ukraine (visa required), Latvia (visa required), Poland (visa required), Estonia (visa required), Lithuania (visa required), Finland (visa required), Norway (visa required) and North Korea (visa required).

How the passport compares

Among neighbouring passports, the Finnish passport ranks 6th (161 destinations), the Norwegian passport ranks 6th (161 destinations), the Polish passport ranks 19th (160 destinations), the Latvian passport ranks 28th (159 destinations) and the Estonian passport ranks 28th (159 destinations). Of the 198 passports in the data, 66 can enter visa-free, 61 need an e-Visa and 71 need a visa from an embassy or consulate for Russia.