Russia to launch visa-free travel for Indian tourists in 2025

Indian tourists may soon be able to visit Russia without needing a visa, with the new arrangement possibly starting as early as spring 2025.

In June, Russia and India held talks about a bilateral agreement to ease visa rules, aiming to introduce visa-free group tourist exchanges.

This follows a move in August 2023, when Indian travelers became eligible for e-visas to Russia, which are typically processed within four days.

In 2023, India was one of the top five countries receiving e-visas, with around 9,500 issued to Indian citizens, making up 6% of the total.

Most Indian visitors to Russia travel for business or work. In 2023, over 60,000 Indians visited Moscow, a 26% increase from 2022.

By early 2024, India was ranked third among non-CIS countries for business tourism, with nearly 1,700 e-visas issued in the first quarter alone.

Currently, Russia allows citizens from China and Iran to enter without a visa as part of a visa-free tourist exchange program that started in August 2023.

The program has been successful, and Russia is hopeful it can extend this benefit to India as well.

Indian passport holders currently have visa-free access to 62 countries.