In a speech in Moscow last week, Russian President Vladimir Putin suggested that Russia should adopt short-term visa-free entry in order to encourage inbound tourism, in support of a target of $15.5B annual tourist spend by 2024.

Currently the only tourists who can enter Russia visa-free are passengers on cruise ships making port calls at Saint Petersburg, who are permitted to remain in the city for up to 72 hours.

Russian tourist visas permit foreign visitors to stay in the country for up to 30 days. But application processing can take up to 30 days, and it's recommended not to commit to any non-refundable travel expenses prior to actually being granted a visa.

An exception to this is: 5 regions in the Far East of Russia currently offer free, one-week e-visas.

Russian media group РосБизнесКонсалтинг has reported that Russia-wide e-visas are in the works for 2021.