Russia

A United States passport needs a visa for Russia, obtained before travel, and none of the shortcuts apply to it. Russia’s unified electronic visa - the route the line for EU passports in the same table describes - does not admit American passports; its nationality list has been amended reciprocally more than once and the United States has not been on it. A consular visa is therefore the only route, and it asks for a tourist confirmation, which is an invitation issued by an accredited Russian host or hotel rather than a form you fill in yourself, plus the foreign ministry’s own application form, an in-person appointment, and a fee set by reciprocity at roughly double what most nationalities pay. The figure shown against this record is an approximation of that reciprocal tariff rather than a schedule read off a consular price list, and an application-centre service charge sits on top of it, so confirm the amount with the mission before you budget for the trip. Applications go through the Russian Embassy in Washington or the application centre it contracts; there is no self-service government portal for this passport, which is why no link is offered here, and anything that presents itself as one is a commercial agency. A single-entry tourist visa runs up to 30 days, and where a longer multiple-entry visa is issued, the years are validity rather than the length of one visit. Then the practical layer, which stops more trips than the visa does. There are no direct flights from the United States and no Western carrier flies there, so routings run through Istanbul, Dubai, Belgrade or the Caucasus. Cards issued outside Russia do not work anywhere in the country - not at an ATM, not in a shop, not in an app - so the whole trip is paid for in cash brought in and exchanged. Keep the migration card issued at the border; it is asked for when you leave. Registration with the authorities is required for stays beyond a few working days and hotels do it. Anyone who also holds Russian citizenship is treated as a Russian citizen whatever else they carry, including for conscription and exit control, and should take specific legal advice before entering. Russia is not in the Schengen area and keeps its own count. Days spent here do not come out of the Schengen allowance of 90 days in any rolling 180, and days already spent in the Schengen area do not come out of what you are allowed here. The Schengen window rolls, so time spent outside the area restores it day for day. Consular assistance for American citizens is severely limited, arbitrary detention of foreign nationals has occurred, and the advice at the time of writing is not to travel.

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Entry details: Editorial synthesis - Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs consular visa rules and e-visa nationality list, foreign-ministry advisories (2025–2026) · compiled 18 Sept 2026

Holding a passport that is not listed? The picker above answers for any of them. See where your passport takes you. Source: Passport Index, updated 14 Aug 2026.

The rouble has been volatile and subject to capital controls since 2022, which makes euro-denominated figures move for reasons unrelated to local prices - a weak rouble has made Russia cheap in hard-currency terms while domestic inflation runs high. Summer is the peak for St Petersburg and for Siberia and Kamchatka, both of which have short seasons.

Updated Aug 2026 · Editorial synthesis - Russian Railways published fares, e-visa tariff, accommodation sampling (2025–2026) · confidence low

Excludes international flights - they depend on where you fly from.