Starting on June 30, foreign citizens travelling to Russia without a visa must submit an electronic pre-arrival application to receive a QR code granting them entry into the country.
The pre-arrival application requires a photo, passport data, and information about the purpose and duration of the trip to Russia and must be submitted no later than 72 hours before arrival via the RuID mobile app. If approved, the app will generate a QR code that the visitor must present when crossing the Russian border, where they will also be required to submit their biometric data. The new requirement does not apply to travelers entering Russia on a visa, with a temporary residence permit, or holding permanent residency.
The pre-entry application is another requirement in the growing number of migration restrictions to Russia. Since the March 2024 terrorist attack at the Crocus City concert hall, which was allegedly carried out by nationals of Tajikistan, the Russian government has enacted over a dozen laws complicating migration to the country.
Law enforcement stepped up the frequency and the severity of raids on establishments frequented by labor migrants such as markets, mosques, gyms, and barbershops. The government created a registry of controlled persons – a database of foreigners regarded as residing in Russia illegally – inclusion in which (even by mistake or as a means of intimidation) severely limits the rights of foreigners and initiates deportation proceedings. The simplified procedure for obtaining a residence permit for spouses of Russian citizens has been annulled. As of April 1, children of migrants are subject to Russian language tests and residence permit checks when enrolling in school. And from September 1, foreigners living in Moscow and the Moscow region will have to undergo mandatory fingerprinting and biometric photography and report their place of residence using a special mobile application.
These restrictions severely impact labor migrants from Central Asia who seek seek work and better incomes in Russia. Despite wage theft and relentless bureaucracy, daily abuse and discrimination, death threats from both law enforcement and ordinary Russians, and growing pressure to fight for Russia in Ukraine, the number of Central Asian labor migrants in Russia remains steadily high. According to data from the Russian Ministry of Internal Affairs, labor migration from Central Asia reached a five-year high in 2022, with up to a million Kyrgyz, 3.5 million Tajiks, and 5.8 million Uzbeks entering Russia with the intention to work (some individuals may have been counted multiple times in these figures, as they reflect the total number of registered border crossings).
The new QR code requirement essentially upends the existing visa-free regime with Russia for Central Asian countries. Kazakhstan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs, however, denied that the new requirement constitutes a visa.
“We have a visa-free regime with Russia, and it remains in place. The new rule is merely a requirement for crossing the border,” an MFA spokesperson inexplicably said during a recent press conference. “Citizens of Kazakhstan travelling to Russia need to familiarize themselves with the new border crossing requirements in advance so that it does not come as a surprise and create any issues when crossing the border.”
The governments of other Central Asian countries have not commented on the issue yet.
Whether it can be considered a visa or not, Russia’s new QR code rule fits a global trend of introducing advance travel authorization requirements. The European Union will introduce the European Travel Information and Authorization System (ETIAS) by the end of 2026. ETIAS is an entry requirement for visa-exempt nationals travelling to any of the 30 European countries. ETIAS will be linked to a traveler’s passport and valid for up to three years or until the passport expires; however, it does not guarantee entry. The United Kingdom inaugurated its Electronic Travel Authorization (ETA) system in 2023, requiring an advance travel permission from foreign nationals who intend to visit the United Kingdom without a visa.
