13 February 2009

Russia toying with changes to visa rules

The Russian government is playing with several ideas concerning changes to their immigration system.

According to the RBC News, the government has not drafted an agreement yet to introduce a Russian visa scheme with Ukraine, as confirmed by the director of the Russian Foreign Ministry's consular service department, Andrei Karlov.

However, Russia is actively discussing visa-waiver arrangements with Arab countries.  Karlov also announced this year would see agreements signed with Arab countries although he has not confirmed which countries these would be.

Russia already has 93 travel agreements with Arab countries, which include visa-free travel.

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The Worldwide Visa Bureau is an independent consulting company specialising in Russia visa and immigration services.