The Government has approved Directive No. 140-r of 26 January 2021, the second paragraph of which provides for a mechanism for the entry of foreign nationals into the Russian Federation through the submission of applications by federal executive authorities via the unified portal of state and municipal services. The signed document has introduced amendments to Directive No. 635-r of 16 March 2020.
The operational headquarters previously adopted the Ministry of Digital Development’s algorithm for submitting applications for the entry of foreign nationals into Russia and a unified data submission form. According to this algorithm, a federal agency submits the application for a foreign national to enter Russia by filling out a form on the Public Services Portal. The form must include the applicant’s first, middle and last name, birth date, gender, citizenship, and the series number of the passport, as well as information on crossing the border: the expected checkpoint, the reason for entry, the department, and date of entry. Once a common application base is created, the information from the Public Services Portal is transferred via the unified system of inter-agency online communication to the Border Service of the Federal Security Service (FSB) by the Mir system infrastructure. The Border Service can then monitor the border crossing directly. After the application is reviewed, a reply will be sent to the personal account of the agency at the Public Services Portal.
The upload of applications from foreign nationals who plan to enter Russia for medical services is performed by medical organisations.
In turn, foreign nationals can monitor the issuance of a permit for crossing the border on their personal account at the Public Services Portal. For this, they must register at the website for a basic account. Transport companies will also be able to check the submitted data of their passengers at the same Public Services Portal.
