US-Russian Agreement on Visa Issuance

In July 2011, after a meeting in Washington between Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov and U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, both countries decided to sign an agreement on a less restrictive visa regime between the U.S. and Russia that will carry on through the end of this current year.

"The agreement with the U.S. on simplifying the visa process is ready, and we will soon sign it, thus providing an opportunity for businessmen and tourists to obtain multiple entry visas that are valid for three years, and whereby officials of both governments can obtain annual multi-entry visas," noted Sergey Lavrov. The project also will reduce the number of documents required for visa processing, as well as the length of time it takes to formalize visas.

There are only a few remaining provisions that are yet to be agreed upon, mostly relating to the time limits of visa applications, as well as a list of documents required for obtaining a visa.