VISA REGIME
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For holders of diplomatic and official passports: |
Visa is not required for stays of up to 90 days |
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For holders of national passports and other travel documents: |
Visa is not required for stays of up to 30 days |
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Note: |
Visa is not required for holders of an emergency travel document in transit |
ENTRY REGIME FOR CITIZENS OF THE REPUBLIC OF SERBIA DURING THE COVID-19 PANDEMIC
It is no longer necessary to present a negative PCR test when entering the Russian Federation by air and road transport. This applies to both Russian and foreign citizens.
ENTERING AND LEAVING THE COUNTRY
Serbian citizens are not required to have a visa for a stay of up to 30 days, including the day of entering/leaving the Russian Federation. Upon entering the country, it is mandatory to fill in the migration card. It should be kept all the time and returned to the border officer when leaving the country. Upon arrival, travellers must register their stay within 7 working days. For travel purposes, the passport must be valid for at least another 6 months, and for the regulation of stay in the Russian Federation at least a year and a half.
The decision of the Government of the Russian Federation for the citizens of the Republic of Serbia introduced a relief for obtaining an ordinary tourist visa for up to 6 months from March 5, 2023. It is no longer necessary to pay the entire arrangement through a travel agency, i.e. a travel voucher is not necessary, but only a confirmation of hotel reservation or other accommodation, which are on the unique list of RF classified hotels, ski slopes and beaches.
If the Russian Federation is entered for the purpose of employment, education, professional training or medical treatment for a period longer than 30 days, it is necessary to obtain a visa at the Embassy of the Russian Federation in Belgrade. From 16 February 2015, visa applications are submitted through the website: http://visa.kdmid.ru.
Regardless of the reason of travel or the type of the visa regime, foreigners are required to adhere strictly to terms and conditions of permitted stay in the Russian Federation. Competent Russian authorities will otherwise deny leaving the country by initiating an administrative misdemeanour procedure and imposing a fine (of up to 5,000 roubles). Border and migration authorities will then enter the offender’s data into the relevant register and impose a ban on entering the Russian Federation for up to 5 years.
Travellers are advised to have a health insurance certificate/card and a certain amount of money. When entering the country, travellers should declare amounts of money exceeding 10,000 American dollars and technical goods.
IMPORTANT: Bearing in mind that, since the beginning of the conflict in Ukraine, the competent authorities of Poland have prohibited all crossings for foreign citizens who wish to enter Poland via land/road from Russia (Kaliningrad) and Belarus for the purpose of transit, it is recommended that entry into Russian Federation, as well as the exit from it, takes place through the territory of Latvia.
Crossing the border between Poland and Belarus for passenger traffic is done only through the border crossing: Terespol - Brześć, while cargo traffic is allowed only for trucks registered in Poland, EU countries, EFTA and Switzerland at the Kukuryki - Kozłowiczy crossing. Trucks of Serbian truck carriers are recommended to cross from Belarus to the European Union via border crossings with Lithuania and Latvia.
Entry to Poland is permitted only to those foreigners who have a diplomatic passport or a residence in Poland (work and student residence cart) or visa, while other foreigners are granted entry in exceptional cases, and the final decision on entry is made exclusively by the competent chief of the border police when a foreigner arrives at a specific border crossing.
Citizens of the Republic of Serbia who wish to return to Serbia from Belarus, Russia and the Kaliningrad region via Poland are requested not to set off before contacting the Embassies of the Republic of Serbia in Warsaw, Moscow or Minsk. Travelers should provide embassies with information on who, when and through which border crossing they plan to enter Poland. The Embassy of the Republic of Serbia in Warsaw, after receiving this information for the purpose of announcing the entry of citizens of Serbia into the territory of Poland. However, announcements are not a guarantee that they will be automatically granted entry and transit. The announcement is just a request to the Polish authorities to grant them entry, and the concrete decision on the entry of Serbian citizens into Poland is made by the border police officer who will review the documentation at the border crossing between Poland and Belarus and Poland and the Kaliningrad region.
The exit of all foreigners from Poland to the Russian Federation and Belarus is not prohibited, but it is extremely difficult due to the rigorous controls carried out by the Polish authorities. The entry of foreign citizens from Belarus to the Russian Federation and vice versa is realized exclusively by air, which affects the process of registration of the foreigner's entry/exit in both countries. Foreign citizens who enter the Republic of Belarus from third countries and plan to continue their journey towards the Russian Federation must obtain, from the Belarusian competent authority, the so-called a migration card (the card cannot be issued once they enter the Russian Federation, nor will their enter be registered, due to the fact that flights between Belarus and the Russian Federation have the character of domestic flights). When traveling from the Russian Federation to the Republic of Belarus, the "migration card" issued in the Russian Federation is not taken. Foreigners traveling from third countries to the Republic of Belarus, via the Russian Federation, should obtain a Russian transit visa.
SOCIAL SECURITY AGREEMENT
A bilateral agreement on social security was signed in 2019. The agreement enables the calculation of and/or adding the pensionable service earned in the Republic of Serbia and/or the Russian Federation. It regulates the right to payment of benefits based on old-age, disability and survivor’s pensions, payment of compensation in case of work-related injuries and/or occupational diseases and funeral costs in the country of residence of citizens of the Contracting Parties.
USEFUL INFORMATION
HEALTH SITUATION — Vaccination is not required before entering this country. Only bottled or filtered tap water should be drunk.
SECURITY SITUATION — The security situation is stable, although the Russian security authorities have enhanced security checks and strengthened their measures and activities. Police presence is strong at metro stations and airports, on roads and railroads, and at locations most visited by tourists, including shopping malls.
TRANSPORT — The Russian Federation has well-developed road, rail and air traffic networks. Transport hubs are Moscow, St. Petersburg, Sochi and Yekaterinburg.
The most important airports are: Sheremetyevo, Vnukovo and Domodedovo (Moscow), Pulkovo (St. Petersburg) and Adler (Sochi). There are many flights operated on a daily basis to and from all over the world, as well as a large number of domestic flights.
As traffic jams are huge, visitors are advised to use the metro and to download mobile applications to navigate around the city more easily and to use public transport. Downloading taxi applications (Yandex Go, Rutaxi, City) are also useful as they show fixed amounts of transport costs.
During a tourist stay in the Russian Federation, Serbian citizens may operate motor vehicles with a national (Serbian) driver’s licence, if translated into the Russian language by a certified court interpreter, or with an international driving permit, in accordance with the Vienna Convention on Road Traffic (concluded on 8 November 1968). In case of regulated permanent residence (Вид на жительство), the national (Serbian) driver’s licence ceases to be valid 60 days from the date of obtaining the residence permit and can be exchanged for a Russian one in accordance with the Russian legislation.
OTHER INFORMATION —Taking into account the difficulties experienced with the transfer of money between the Republic of Serbia and the Russian Federation, we inform you of the following:
The Post of Serbia provides money order services through an international postal order, the so-called POSTCASH, which enables the transfer of money with the Russian Federation.
This is currently the only option for sending and receiving money to/from the Russian Federation via the Post of Serbia.
Users can find more information about this service on the website of the Post of Serbia, at the following link: https://www.posta.rs/cir/stanovnistvo/usluga.aspx?usluga=finansijske-us…
The national currency is the rouble (RUB). Due to the current sanctions imposed on Russia, payment can only be made in cash in the national currency or by all types of credit cards of the Russian Federation with the mandatory opening of an account with Russian banks. Currency exchange is limited and amounts to the exchange of foreign currencies for rubles. The purchase of foreign currency is limited and variable.
The quality of accommodation and cost of services vary to a great extent. An overnight stay in an average hotel in Moscow is 150 euros. There are chains of both domestic and international hotels and restaurants; the offer of cultural events is rich and varied, but services are costly. Shopping malls and stores are open seven days a week, from 10 a.m. to 10 p.m.
Contact information:
For consular assistance and protection while in the Russian Federation, you may contact the Embassy of the Republic of Serbia in Moscow at the telephone number: 00 7495 988 66 45, and e-mail address: konzularno.moskva@mfa.rs and ambasada.moskva@mfa.rs.