E-Paper
Russia to resume issuing visas to all categories of Indian citizens
On Thursday, the Indian government extended the ban on international commercial flights till February 28.
Russia said on Saturday it will resume issuing visas for all categories of Indian citizens planning to travel to the country by air and to those possessing residence permits.
The Russian embassy in New Delhi said in a statement that the move was in line with a decision made by the Russian Covid-19 Emergency Response Centre on January 16.
The Russian government issued a directive on January 25 to restore “international air traffic on a reciprocal basis with a number of foreign states, including India”. The embassy said flights between Moscow and New Delhi are expected to be operated twice a week, but didn’t say when they would start.
“In this regard, issuing of visas of all categories (including student visa) to enter Russia via air checkpoints is resumed for the Indian citizens, as well as for persons who have a residence permit,” the statement said.
The issuance of e-visas is temporarily suspended “until an appropriate directive of the Russian government”, the statement added.
On Thursday, the Indian government extended the ban on international commercial flights till February 28. The ban on scheduled overseas flights, imposed 10 months ago, was earlier set to end on January 31.
Dedicated cargo flights and those allowed by the Directorate General of Civil Aviation, such as flights under bilateral air bubble agreements with select countries, will continue to operate. Russia isn’t among the 24 countries with which India currently has air bubble arrangements.
The Russian embassy said people applying for visas would have to provide the standard packet of required documents listed on the websites of the embassy and Russian visa centres and a valid medical document confirming negative results of laboratory PCR tests for Covid-19.
