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- Here's the flow: they want to make a visa-free trip to India for groups of three people or more for 21 days
Here's the flow: they want to make a visa-free trip to India for groups of three people or more for 21 days
Russia has handed over to India draft agreements on visa-free travel for tourist groups of three or more people for up to 21 days, the Ministry of Economic Development of the Russian Federation told Izvestia. The introduction of visa-free travel with such conditions will increase the demand for trips to India, but it will not cause a boom, experts say. However, in 2025, even with entry permits, the tourist flow between the countries increased by 15%. It would seem that unpleasant news for Russians comes from Thailand — the authorities plan to reduce the period of stay in the country without a visa from 60 to 30 days. However, we are talking about combating gray employment under the guise of tourism and will not affect those who go on vacation, tour operators are sure. See the Izvestia article with which other countries besides India Russia is negotiating visa—free travel.
Visa-free travel for groups of Russians in India
The authorities of Russia and India continue to discuss the conditions for the introduction of a visa-free regime for tourists. The Russian side has prepared and handed over to its partners draft agreements in which it proposed to establish visa-free travel for groups of 3 to 50 people for a period of no more than 21 days, the Ministry of Economic Development of the Russian Federation told Izvestia.
The issue of signing these documents was already raised on March 18 at consultations in New Delhi.
— The process is moving, but not as fast as we would like. The partners refer to the difficult process of internal coordination with the competent authorities. As soon as we receive the official position of our Indian colleagues, we will work out this issue quickly," the Ministry of Economic Development said.
The tourist flow between India and Russia in 2025 reached 143 thousand trips, an increase of 15% compared to the previous year, the trade mission of the Russian Federation reported earlier. Russians accounted for 85.6 thousand trips, while residents of India accounted for 57.6 thousand.
Currently, the visa regime for Russian citizens is quite simple. The main way to enter India is an electronic visa, which can be issued in 1-4 days.
The introduction of a group visa-free regime with India will be a positive signal for the development of tourism, Maya Kotlyar, founder and CEO of MAYEL Travel, told Izvestia. According to her, India still cannot be considered a mass destination in the classical sense, it is a complex product — culturally, logistically and in terms of perception.
— There will be growth, but moderate, without sudden jumps. Rather, this is a step towards a gradual warming up of the direction, rather than a tourist boom, the expert believes.
According to Kotlyar, demand will grow primarily among those who have long wanted to go, but postponed due to visa formalities. However, India is not Turkey or Thailand, where the abolition of visas has led to a multiple increase. In addition, individual trips, rather than group trips, have become a trend in recent years.
How will the rules of entry for Russians to Thailand change?
But the Thai authorities, on the contrary, intend to tighten the rules of visa—free stay in the country somewhat - to reduce this period from 60 to 30 days. However, this will affect not only Russians, but also citizens of 92 other countries. The measure is related to efforts to combat shadow employment, for example in fraudulent call centers, the authorities explained. Many foreigners work there illegally, entering the country ostensibly for tourist purposes. Among other things, this market is highly criminalized — there are many cases where foreigners, including Russians, literally fell into slavery to the owners of such call centers located, for example, on the border of Thailand and Myanmar.
The Tourism Department of Thailand explained to Izvestia that they had only recently learned about the plans of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to submit a corresponding proposal to the government.
— At the moment, we do not have any information [when the period of stay in the country without a visa will be shortened]. However, if there are any updates on this issue, we will post a press release on our official website.
The Russian Embassy in the kingdom told Izvestia that they had not received any official information regarding a possible reduction in visa-free entry.
— We proceed from the fact that currently the 60-day visa-free regime for Russians remains in place. Our citizens also have the right to extend their official stay in the country for another 30 days, that is, up to 90 days, for a fee at the immigration offices of Thailand," the diplomats stressed.
The embassy drew attention to the fact that the number of Russians coming to Thailand on vacation is growing from year to year. For example, in 2025, almost 1.9 million of our tourists visited the country. At the same time, there are few cases of violations of immigration laws on their part: according to the embassy, 120 Russians were deported from the country last year.
— There have already been several cases this year. There is no reason to say that the Thai side applies any selective sanctions against the citizens of our country," the Russian Embassy in Bangkok concluded.
The Thai authorities' intentions to reduce the visa-free period from 60 to 30 days will not have a serious impact on the tourist flow, since this decision will not affect 99% in any way, Artur Muradian, vice president of the Association of Tour Operators of Russia (ATOR), told Izvestia.
— There may be a reason to worry if this period is reduced to 20 days, because there are tourists who prefer to stay on vacation for 21 days, especially in winter. But 30 days is more than enough,— Muradyan stressed.
Dmitry Gorin, Vice President of the Russian Union of Travel Industry (PCT), also drew attention to the fact that the average duration of a trip to Thailand for organized tourists is from 7 to 14 days. At the same time, the tourist flow to Thailand is likely to increase due to the conflict in the Middle East.
Which countries does Russia have a visa-free regime with?
In 2025, Russians traveled abroad as tourists 13.4 million times (+15.6% compared to the previous year), the Border Service of the FSB of the Russian Federation reported earlier. According to tour operators, Asian destinations remain the most popular. To facilitate travel, the authorities are working to expand the list of countries that do not require visas to visit.
For example, Moscow is actively negotiating the expansion of the visa-free regime with Vietnam. Currently, Russians can stay in the country without a visa for 45 days. The tourist flow from Russia to Vietnam has almost tripled by the end of 2025 and amounted to 690 thousand people, Russian Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Chernyshenko said earlier.
During the same period, the number of Vietnamese trips to Russia increased by 36%. Therefore, the Russian authorities proposed to create a reciprocal mechanism for visa-free group trips for Vietnamese citizens. It is planned to coordinate the text of the agreement in June, the Russian Ministry of Economic Development confirmed to Izvestia.
"Negotiations on the text of the agreement have already been launched with Vietnam, and we will try to coordinate it in June at the next meeting of the sectoral intergovernmental working group, which will be held as part of the Travel! forum," the ministry said.
Currently, Russians can travel to 114 countries and territories of the world without pre-issued visas, ATOR reported in January. This number includes both fully visa-free destinations and countries where a visa is issued on arrival or an electronic permit is issued. The list of countries where you can come without a visa is gradually expanding. Jordan and Oman became available for entry in 2025, and Saudi Arabia will join them in 2026. In September 2025, China introduced a trial visa-free regime for Russian citizens for a year. In December, the Russian authorities took a similar step.
In Europe, Russians can still visit Serbia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, and Montenegro without a visa. However, the authorities of the latter had previously announced plans to introduce a visa regime with the Russian Federation this year. The EU is also putting pressure on Belgrade and Sarajevo to bring their visa policies in line with the European one.
In these circumstances, the number of visa-free destinations in Africa is growing. Currently, Russians have the right to visit just over 10 countries of the continent without a visa, including Morocco, Namibia and South Africa. Mozambique may join this list in the near future, Izvestia wrote earlier. There are prospects of introducing a visa-free regime with Tanzania.
Do not forget about Latin America, as almost the entire region has become visa—free for Russians. However, for the growth of the tourist flow from the Russian Federation, direct flights and the introduction of the Mir payment system are necessary.
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