Electronic visas to St. Petersburg and Leningrad region from October 1, 2019

According to the government decree of September 26, 2019 “On establishing the specifics of issuing ordinary single-entry business, tourist and humanitarian visas in the form of electronic documents and entry into the Russian Federation”, from October 1, 2019, citizens of 53 foreign countries, including Germany, can obtain an electronic visa to enter the Russian Federation through air, sea, road and pedestrian checkpoints located in the territories of St. Petersburg and the Leningrad Region. Entry by rail is currently not provided. An electronic visa is issued through an application completed on the official website of the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs: http://electronic-visa.kdmid.ru/index.html. The application must be completed and sent no later than 4 days before the planned date of entry into Russia. You can track the status of your application through your personal account on the website. The notification of issuance of an electronic visa can be printed from email, from the website, or shown on a smartphone screen. The visa is issued without a consular fee, for a period of 30 days with a permitted stay in the country of no more than 8 days.

Electronic visas are valid for entry through the following checkpoints:

Air checkpoint “Pulkovo”;
Sea checkpoints “Vysotsk”, “Big Port of St. Petersburg (Sea Terminal)”, “Passenger Port of St. Petersburg”;
Car checkpoints “Ivangorod”, “Torfyanovka”, “Brusnichnoe”, “Svetogorsk”;
Pedestrian checkpoint “Ivangorod”.
Single-entry electronic visas may be introduced for entry throughout the Russian Federation from 2021. According to preliminary data, the visa will be valid for up to 16 days for entry for humanitarian, tourist and business purposes.