European travelers will soon be able to visit Saint Petersburg and
the surrounding areas with an e-visa, the finer administrative details
of which should be finalized imminently.
Following a new decree seeking to lighten the bureaucratic load of
entering and departing the Russian Federation for foreigners, travelers
heading to Russia for tourist, humanitarian or business reasons can
visit Peter the Great's former imperial capital by applying online for a
free visa, which will be valid for 30 days, and allow an eight-day stay
in the Saint Petersburg area. The list of eligible European
nationalities has not yet been revealed.
With the launch of the new visa, Russia continues to open its borders
to tourism. This follows the introduction of a visa opening the doors
to the Kaliningrad enclave, located between Poland and Lithuania. A
total of 53 nationalities are eligible for the latter, while citizens of
18 non-European countries (such as Japan and Qatar) are eligible for
the Vladivostok area e-visa.
Generally speaking, travelers can visit Russia by applying for a visa
through their local Russian diplomatic missions. The document is valid
for a maximum stay of thirty days, and conditional upon proof of hotel
arrangements from an authorized Russian travel company, or directly from
a Russian hotel with the reference number and confirmation number for
the visa.
Source - TheJakartaPost
