You will need to produce evidence of the registration at passport control on departure from Russia. Photographing any military establishment or site of strategic importance including airports is banned. There may not be warning signs in locations where prohibitions are in place. You are likely to be detained for questioning or arrested if you are caught.
You must inform them of the flight route at least 24 hours in advance and keep in regular contact with them before and during the flight. Failure to do so will result in a fine. Public displays of affection may attract negative attention. Since January , credible reports have been received of the arrest, torture and extrajudicial killing of gay men in Chechnya, allegedly conducted by Chechen regional authorities.
Homosexuality is not illegal in Russia. However, in , Moscow Pride was banned for years. There are restrictions on certain religious activities, including preaching and distributing religious materials. Other minority religious groups in Russia are also subject to similar discrimination, as are organisations like the Scientologists. I'm unsure whether my question is on-topic here, but it's about travel and border crossing, so I've decided to try.
I'm writing an article about Russian borders, focusing on illegal crossings in both directions. The aim of the article is not to give specific hints to potential illegal border crossers, but to give an objective picture of how well Russia's vast land borders are guarded by Russian border guards and their counterparts on the other side of the border and what are the implications for illegal migration, smuggling, drug trafficking, etc.
As a student learning the Russian language, I've been able to find and read various Russian posts and articles about the matter, but almost all information I found dates back to a decade ago or so, so I'm unsure about the current situation. But back then, there were many "holes" in the Russian border. In particular, a large part of the Russian border with Latvia, an EU member, goes through wild swampy forests and was barely marked, let alone guarded, back then. A more or less recent article shows a part of the Russian border with another EU member, Estonia:.
The border control officer interviewed in that article says that a very large part of the Russian-Estonian border is like that, and compares that forest to a jungle. The article makes it very clear that illegal crossings do occur, although some border crossers get caught. My question: How easy is it to illegally cross the Russian border nowadays? Am I right in understanding that you still can easily cross the Russian border illegally in any direction if you do your homework, take a compass, and avoid silly mistakes like using electronic devices in the border region?
I emphasize that I'm not looking for border-crossing advice and merely want to read the information that sheds light on the overall picture and might help me write my article - e. My impression is that there's a big problem that is largely ignored and swept under the rug, and I'd like to know whether my impression is correct and how I can back it up with facts in my article.
You are completely right that when looking at the Russian border from many European neighbours, it almost looks like an open invite. Contrary to many other, even less 'intimidating' borders, there are absolutely no physical obstacles, not even a fence at the border and you are on the foreign side freely able to move directly up to the border itself.
Coming from the Norwegian side, you are allowed to move freely all the way up to the actual border, even on the few meters of Norwegian soil on the other side of the border post.
The area is not very far away from the nearest road, the terrain is relatively easy to hike in and if you are interested in entering Russia illegally, it looks as if you only need to take a few more steps to succeed. It's not that easy. The Norwegian border patrol was very aware of our presence, the border is on the Norwegian side probably under gapless electronic surveillance, but not having anyone else but us to 'take care of', we had several cups of coffee and a long chat with one of the patrols.
They told us that even they only very occasionally see Russian patrols on the other side of the border, but the quiet is just a deception. At least here, and from what I can find on the internet this applies to the entire Russian border, the 'real' border security is not exerted directly at the border, but up to several 10s of kilometres inside the country.
Both access and allowed activities are severly restricted in the Russian border zone, and even you could easily enter Russia here, you would have a hard time getting out of, or even through the border zone without being intercepted.
If we for example take a look at Google Streetview, when approaching Norway by road from the Russian side, you enter the border zone blue sign on the right side of the road already 35 km before the border crossing. Passing this point is only allowed with a permit or if you are on your way to the border crossing. The Streetview imagery is a bit older here, so you can see that the Google car stopped taking photos at this point and didn't proceed into the border zone.
Until a few years ago, photography was strictly prohibited in the border zone, but is AFAIK now allowed. You will find this regime all along the Russian border, e. If you look at the aerial or satelite photography of the area on Google Maps, Bing or Norgeskart you can in several areas make out long, straight clearings in the forest along the border a bit into Russia.
The clearings seem too narrow for a road, but I would not be surprised if what we see are fences. There is not really much secrecy about this border zone, one can easily find a lot of documentation and information online, but perhaps not so much in English.
The Russian Wikipedia page is quite extensive and the online translation services are good enough to give an understandable version in English. As you can read in this article, the practical implementation of the border zone and the level of surveillance differs a lot from region to region.
Russia warns against illegal border-crossings. Text og photo:. Thomas Nilsen. Norwegian border guards on patrol in the Pasvik River. Photo: Atle Staalesen. After years in Russia, Afghan migrants take Arctic route to Norway.
Mayor of border town calls on prime ministers to act on refugee crisis. In some countries it is required to contact the Russian Visa Centre instead of the Consulate. Citizens of the Schengen countries can obtain a visa in any country-member of the Schengen Area.
To receive a visa in a third country, one must submit a residence or work permit in this country. As a rule, to obtain a visa, you are required to submit a visa Invitation, passport, one or two photos approximate size 3 x 4 cm , proof of medical insurance and to pay Consular visa fee.
At the Visa Centre you will need to pay Service fee. Travelers applying for a visa to the Consulates in the United Kingdom, Denmark, Namibia and Myanmar will be obliged to provide their biometric data. For multiple-entry visas you may also be required to present an AIDS Test certificate with test results issued within the previous 90 days.
In any case, you are advised to get in touch with the Russian Consulate in order to check the latest update on the required documents. For further information, please see At the Consulate. This is possible in certain Consulates. Please see the detailed information on the page At the Consulate and contact the appropriate Consulate.
In any case, you will need to obtain a Visa Invitation. However, the final decision to grant a visa rests with the Consulate. Before ordering the tickets to Russia, please, check the start date of your visa. You will not be allowed to enter Russia before this date.
Passengers are strictly prohibited to import and export the following materials: 1 Printed, audio-visual and other information containing prohibited materials. Once you have passed through the passport control, please, check the stamps on your passport and migration card.
In case you found a mistake, you are strongly recommended to immediately contact the customs officer to avoid problems with a visa registration or your following entry to Russia. You will be informed of the reason.
It is possible that: your visa has expired; the arrival stamp on your passport or visa is not correct; something else is wrong with your documents. As a rule, the absence of a visa registration is not an obstacle for leaving Russia. It is not possible to make any correction in the visa when you are already in Russia. It will also be necessary to pay a penalty — RUR in Police for violation of the visa regime. The landlord of the apartment where you are staying may be able to register your visa at the Post Office by paying a fine.
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