Russia allows Indian tourists to avail free e-visa for St. Petersburg

Indian tourists will be able to enter St. Petersburg in Russia via free e-visa today onward. According to reports, tourists from India are now eligible to get single-entry tourist, humanitarian, and business visa, while sitting at their home or office in India.
The online application for free e-visa takes four days to process and should be applied for 20 days before the date of travel. The e-visa will be valid for a period of 30 days and allows visitors to stay for a period of eight days.
It takes four days for processing of online free e-visa applications. As per the terms and conditions, the applications should be done 20 days before the preferred date of travel. The validity of the e-visa is 30 days and enables visitors to stay for eight days.

By making free e-visa available to visitors, Russia, more so the capital city of St. Petersburg, expects to receive more tourists from India.
St. Petersburg is the cultural capital of Russia. The free of cost e-visa is valid only for St. Petersburg, which was renamed as Leningrad many decades ago. The relaxed visa rules allow tourists of 53 countries, including India, to apply for free e-visa.



India and Russia are presently linked by Aeroflot’s double-daily operation between Moscow and Delhi that restrains the scope of free e-visa as Moscow is not on the list of free e-visa entry points. That is the main reason why Indian tourists enter Russia via St. Petersburg.

News also has it that the government of Russia wants to welcome tourists travelling on e-visa to every part of Russia. For now, CIS and Middle East flights like Qatar, Emirates, Air Astana, etc. directly link Indian cities like Delhi and Mumbai to St. Petersburg.