The traveling and visa restrictions between Finland and Russia remained mostly unchanged. Newsletter was updated 28.4. For information about COVID-19 testing and quarantine, please see below.
At the moment, the Russian consulate issues tourist, business and employment visas, including multiple-entry visas. However, there are still restrictions on the issuance of cultural relations visas. Also it is not yet possible to travel to Russia with e-visa.
The Russian government has updated its legislation on visa types and the purpose of travel.
The purpose of travel has been changed as follows:
• Technical service visa type has expired and will no longer be issued by the consulate. The new purpose of the trip can be installation work (монтажные работы), which is a sub-type of employment visa. For this visa, an official invitation must be obtained from the Russian Ministry of Internal Affairs.
Update 23.2.2021: The Russian consulate has stated that invitations issued by the Ministry of Internal Affairs or Foreign Affairs for the travel purpose technical maintenance issued before 8.2.2021 can still be used to apply for a new visa called installation employment visa. This new visa can be issued for a maximum of double entry only, even though the technical maintenance invitation has already been issued for the whole year.
• In the future, only general business visas (business / деловая) can be applied with a direct invitation from the company.
• A multiple-entry visa issued to a child for the purpose of travel is issued to a family member only on the basis of an invitation issued by the Ministry of the Interior. See our instructions later on how to obtain this visa through us.
Please note that visas issued before 8.2.2021 allow normal travel. Please contact us if you want more detailed information. We will be happy to help you.
Traveling from Finland to Russia
Fly to St. Petersburg or Moscow
At the end of January 2020, the Russian government removed entry restrictions on air traffic for Finnish citizens and persons with a permanent residence permit in Finland. Arrival in Russia is allowed only on direct flights from Helsinki to St. Petersburg and Moscow.
A Finnish citizen is allowed to fly to St. Petersburg and Moscow without restrictions, provided he has a valid visa. In addition to a valid visa, a foreign citizen permanently residing in Finland must present at check-in a certificate of the right of permanent residence in Finland, such as a residence permit or an official certificate issued by the local register office.
Restrictions still apply at land borders
When arriving in Russia via land borders, the restrictions still apply. At the moment, all foreign nationals can cross the land border for the following reasons: 1) State co-operation, freight drivers, air, ship and train crews, 2) family members of a Russian citizen, funeral of a close relative, 3) Holders of a residence permit, 4) Installation and maintenance workers with an entry permit obtained by a Russian customer and issued by the Ministry of Industry. Please note, that from 8.2.2021 no new technical maintenance visas will be issued, the replacement visa type is the installation work “монтажные работы”, which is a sub-type of work visa. 5) Medical reasons, foreign nationals in need of an urgent care. In addition, the holder of a highly qualified worker visa may cross the land border with a special permit.
Covid test and quarantine
Upon arrival in Russia by plane, a foreign citizen must present to the border authority a certificate of a negative Covid-19 PCR test not exceeding 72 hours old in English or Russian. A test result is also required for passengers continuing to a third country. Kindly note that a certificate of being recovered from corona virus or Antigen test taken before the trip, are not valid for the Russian border authority. When traveling across land borders to Russia, a covid test certificate is not required unless a test requirement has been ordered in a specific area. A Russian citizen is not required to have a negative test result to arrive in Russia, but a traveller must take a covid-19 test within 72 hours of entering the country. As of 15.4.2021 Covid-19 test is required also for travelers through land borders. As of 01.05.2021 Russian citizens have to take 2 tests after arriving in Russia, first of those tests has to be done within 3 days and the test results must be awaited in isolation. The second test has to be done within 5 days after arrival to Russia. There must be at least 24 hours between the two tests. The results of both of the tests must be uploaded immediately to the official website Gosuslugi.ru.
14-day quarantine is mandatory only for persons coming to work in Russia. For others, the quarantine order has been revoked.
Arrival from Russia to Finland
Flying to Finland - Covid-19 test required
Finnair requires a certificate (English) of a negative Covid-19 test or a certificate of a coronavirus infection already cured for all passengers arriving to Helsinki. Please note that this also applies to Finnish citizens. However, the test result will not be required for children under the age of 12 or for those traveling from Helsinki on an international connecting flight. Finnair accepts a PCR test or LAMP test that is less than 72 hours old, and an Antigen test that is less than 48 hours old. The negative test result must include as follows: name of the person, date of birth, test result, test method, time of sampling, time of sample analysis, time of test result and issuer of the test result.
Via land borders to Finland
Those arriving Finland from Russia via land borders are not required to take a pre-arranged corona test.
The quarantine recommendation applies to all entries
For all entries, a 14-day voluntary quarantine is recommended, which can be shortened by two voluntary corona tests, if desired.
The right of Russian citizens to leave Russia
The right of Russian citizens to leave Russia is restricted only for land transport, while it is possible to leave the country by air without restrictions.
Across land borders it is possible to leave Russia once, e.g. for the following reasons: citizenship of another country, residence permit, move to work or study in another country, visit to a close relative other than a family member, compelling medical reasons.
In addition, employees performing certain job duties may apply for permission from the government to leave the country. It is possible to leave the country more than once to visit a family member. The restriction on Russian nationality does not apply to freight drivers or to the traveling of air, train and ship personnel.
For more information
Order of the Russian Government on exceptions regarding entry rules during COVID-19 times
Regulation of the Russian Health Authority on entry rules
Gosuslugi.ru - official website
Order of the Russian Government, which came into effect on 8.2.2021
Travel information of Finnair on the approval of corona vaccination certificate of the passengers arriving to Finland from 11.5.2021
Finnish government instructions 27.1.2021
Notice of the Russian government 25.1.2021
Traveling of Russian citizens to Finland 17.1.2021
http://publication.pravo.gov.ru/Document/View/0001202104200067?index=0&rangeSize=1