Travel Between Russia and the UK

Due to the wide spread of the new variant of coronavirus across the UK and the current national lockdown, the Government of the Russian Federation has taken the decision to extend the suspension of flights from the UK to Russia until 17th April 2021.

The Russian Visa Application Center is currently still open and can accept new visa applications for any travel due to take place after 16th April 2021, although please be aware that resuming of flights may be further postponed depending on the COVID situation in the UK.  

Current Russian legislation does not provide any visa extension or visa fee refunds at this time, and any travellers due to travel will need to apply for a new visa. This is also the case for Russian nationals who have been unable to use their British visa, while there have been no flights between Moscow and London. 

We would like to remind travellers that British nationals and foreign residents in the UK can travel to Russia only by direct flight from London. Flying by transit via another country is not allowed, unless the person is subject to Government exceptions. 

Entry requirements for Russia 

According to the current requirements, anyone entering Russia must present a negative Covid-19 test certificate and self-isolate for 14 days after arrival. 

Entry requirements for the UK 

From 15th February onwards, anyone allowed to enter England who has visited or passed through a country where travel to the UK is banned in the last 10 days must: 

• Quarantine for 10 days in a managed quarantine hotel 
• Take a coronavirus (COVID-19) test on or before the second day of quarantine and on or after the eigth day.
• Follow the national lockdown rules 

Providing false or deliberately misleading information when filling out your passenger locator form is a punishable offence. You could be fined up to £10,000, imprisoned for up to 10 years, or both, if you do not provide accurate details about the countries you have visited in the 10 days prior to arrival in the UK. 

If you are a British or Irish national, or third country national with residence rights in the UK and you have been in or passed through a red-list country 10 days before your arrival, you will need to quarantine in a managed quarantine hotel, unless you’re exempt. 

Before you travel to the UK you must: 

• Take a coronavirus (COVID-19) test and get a negative result 3 days before you travel. You must take the test 3 days before your scheduled departure date. For example, if you travel directly to England on Friday, you must take the test on the Tuesday, Wednesday or Thursday. 
• Book a managed quarantine hotel where you will quarantine. Your quarantine package will include your managed quarantine hotel, quarantine transport and your travel test package for COVID-19 tests on day 2 and day 8 of quarantine 
• Complete a passenger locator form with details of where you will quarantine when you arrive. You must provide a quarantine package booking reference number to complete your passenger locator form 

The booking portal to book your quarantine hotel package can be found here: https://quarantinehotelbookings.ctmportal.co.uk/  

Please check the red list of travel ban countries before planning your trip. Russia is currently not on the list, therefore, If you are returning to the UK from Russia, you must:

1. Take a coronavirus (COVID-19) test and get a negative result within 3 days before you travel
2. Book a test package for COVID-19 tests on day 2 and day 8 of your quarantine period
3. Complete a passenger locator form with details of where you will quarantine when you arrive
4. Self-isolate for 10 days
5. Follow the national lockdown rules

Real Russia can provide PCR test kits through our partner RightAngled. For more information or to order your test kit through us, please visit https://realrussia.co.uk/visas/order-your-pcr-certified-coronavirus-test-kit 

While we are waiting for an update on the direct flights between the UK and Russia to resume, why not take a look at our range of exclusive Trans-Siberian experiences or have our visa experts arrange your visa application? 

Restriction measures in Russia

Restriction measures in Russia have started to relax.

Moscow

The food service industry including night clubs, bars, karaoke clubs and other leisure and entertainment organisations in Moscow, are allowed to work from 11pm to 6am so long as they meet current sanitary requirements.

Museums, theatres, cinemas, and other cultural organisations in Moscow are open to visitors, although venues cannot reach more than 50% total capacity.

St Petersburg

Restrictions in St. Petersburg remain stricter. Catering and other entertainment organisations must close between 11pm and 6am. Food courts in shopping malls are closed. Aquaparks, oceanariums and other entertainment facilities are also closed to the public. Museums, theatres, concert halls are currently operating , although venues cannot reach more than 25% total capacity.

Countries that have opened borders with Russia

Nationals and residents of the following countries can enter Russia assuming they are travelling from their country of citizenship / residency:

• Armenia
• Azerbaijan
• Belarus
• Cuba
• Egypt
• Ethiopia
• Finland
• Greece
• India
• Japan
• Kazakhstan
• Kyrgyzstan
• Maldives
• Qatar
• Serbia
• Seychelles
• Singapore
• South Korea
• Switzerland
• Tanzania
• Turkey
• United Arab Emirates
• Vietnam

Real Russia visa services 

Following the UK Government guidelines, our London office will be closed until further notice, however our team will continue to support our clients via email on visas@realrussia.co.uk or via phone on 02071007370. We would like to ask you not to post any documents to our office. 

Unfortunately, we are unable to offer our fully Managed Visa Service (Service C) in London. However, we can still offer invitation letters (Service A) and our Check & Prepare Service (Service B). Please visit our Russian visa tourist page for more information or contact us directly. 

Real Russia can still assist with visa enquiries although we cannot advise on whether someone is eligible to travel abroad or not. To check the current lockdown rules regarding travel from the UK please visit: https://www.gov.uk/guidance/national-lockdown-stay-at-home 

Kind regards, 

The Real Russia Team  

https://realrussia.co.uk/