Russia to raise visa fees for all citizens of European countries - bill

MOSCOW. Nov 16 (Interfax) - The Russian State Duma on Thursday passed the first reading of a bill proposed by the government on suspending the effect of certain provisions of Russia's international treaties on visa facilitation for citizens of the European Union, the Kingdom of Denmark, Iceland, the Principality of Liechtenstein, the Kingdom of Norway, and the Swiss Confederation.

The initiative is aimed at synchronizing the collection of fees for issuing Russian visas with the regulations instituted currently by the European Union, Denmark, Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway and Switzerland, which have unilaterally suspended the international treaties on mutual visa facilitation with Russia, implying, inter alia, the collection of higher visa fees, an explanatory note to the bill says.

Considering this, the bill suggests suspending the effect of Article 6 of each treaty (Article 7 in the case of Liechtenstein).

If the bill is enacted, citizens of European countries of all categories will have to pay visa fees set by the Russian government's directive of November 11, 2010, endorsing the rates of consular fees collected by officials for carrying out consular functions.

In practical terms, this would mean that the cost of Russian visas would grow by a range of $50-$300 depending on urgency, the term of validity, and the number of entries, and the revenues from issuing them might grow by 180%, the explanatory note says.

The authors of the initiative took into consideration the fact that Russia launched an electronic visa system on August 1, 2023, which citizens of European countries can use among others. The total cost of an electronic visa ($52) is comparable with the cost of a short-term single-entry visa ($50) in line with Russian law. Hence, this circumstance would not have a significant effect on the attainment of the federal bill's objectives, the document says.