The expiration date of the passport is indicated on the main page of the identity card next to the photograph of its owner. Each foreign state has its own rules of entry, which impose additional restrictions on the validity of the passport of a tourist from the Russian Federation.
Basic document requirements
Upon receipt of a newly issued passport, it is recommended to carefully check the accuracy of all the specified information in order to avoid problems with its further use. Even minor and insignificant inaccuracies can cause a refusal to cross the border.
The passport is presented to the border service officers when crossing the state border. General requirements for a tourist ID at the border:
- A neat appearance, no streaks, spots, torn pages and other defects that lead to difficulties in identifying a person;
- Availability of at least 1-2 free pages for affixing stamps and visas;
- The validity period of the document must comply with the rules for entering a foreign country.
The validity of the Russian passport in different countries
Each state has its own rules, according to which the validity of the document can be determined depending on:
- The length of stay in someone else's territory;
- Dates of entry;
- Check-out dates;
- Dates of applying for a visa.
Any citizen of the Russian Federation who travels abroad has no reason to be concerned only if the validity of his identity card overlaps the date of his planned return by at least six months. The smaller the gap, the more cause for concern and the shorter the list of foreign destinations for a future trip.
At the stage of planning a trip, you must familiarize yourself in detail with the entry rules in force in the selected country. Different countries have different rules that are constantly changing. A safe way is to go to the current website of the consular service and get all the information you need.
Gap less than three months
There are two groups of states whose rules allow for a gap of less than three months.
The rules for entering the states of the first group do not provide for any additional restrictions regarding the period of validity indicated in the passport of the arriving Russian. It is important that the document is valid both at the time of entry and at the time of departure.
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The states of this group, in particular, include:
- Georgia, which was visited by about 1 million 405 thousand tourists from Russia in 2019;
- Azerbaijan, which received about 900 thousand Russians over the same period.
The rules for crossing the borders of the states of the second group provide for the requirement that the traveler's identity card must be valid for at least 30 days after his departure to his homeland. This group, in particular, includes popular among Russian travelers Montenegro and Cuba.
The gap is from three months to six
The list of states whose rules allow a gap from 90 days to six months, in particular, includes:
- Tunisian Republic, included in the top 10 most popular holiday destinations for Russians in 2019;
- Schengen countriesWe are among the most visited by travelers from Russia: Germany, France, Italy, Spain and Greece;
- Turkey - the undisputed leader of 2019, every fifth traveler from Russia rested here.
Going to Tunisia, you need to know that the validity period of the passport is not less than 90 days from the planned date of return home.
When submitting documents for a Schengen visa, it must be borne in mind that formally a Russian passport must be valid at least 90 days after the scheduled date of departure of the tourist from the Schengen area. In practice, the duration is increased up to 180 days from the date of issuance of the visa, since the period of its validity is usually limited 3 months.
Due to the aggravation of relations between Turkey and Russia, which happened in 2015, Turkey abandoned its plan to abolish passports for travelers from Russia.
However, she retained the 60-day visa-free regime. Formally, the minimum period of validity of a passport for a trip to Turkey is 60 daysstarting from the end date of the visa-free stay.
In practice, for Russian tourists, this formal restriction means the validity of the identity card for a period of 120 days from the moment of crossing the state border of Turkey.
If a traveler who entered under a visa-free regime stayed in Turkey for more than 60 days, then he is threatened with:
- A fine and a ban on entering Turkey for 1 month if the delay does not exceed two weeks;
- Deportation and ban on entry for 5 yearsif the delay has exceeded two weeks.
A gap of six months or more
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When visiting Cyprus using a tourist pro-visa, it is important to know that the validity of the passport of a citizen of the Russian Federation is counted from the moment the application for a pro-visa is submitted. The validity of the identity card must be at least six months. The same procedure applies when applying for a visa to the UK.
There are states that prescribe the requirement for the validity of a passport for at least 6 months from the date of departure of a citizen of the Russian Federation to his homeland. These include the Dominican Republic.
There is a large list of states, when visiting which the six months restriction is counted not from the moment of departure, but from the date of arrival.
This list contains:
- Southeast Asian countries: Vietnam, Cambodia and Malaysia;
- India, Sri Lanka and Maldives;
- Middle East countries: Egypt, Israel, Jordan, UAE.
This list also includes Thailand, which took second place in the top 10 most popular holiday destinations for Russians in 2021. The validity of the passport for Thailand is limited by the period at least 6 months from the moment of crossing the state border, while it is allowed to use the visa-free regime for an unlimited number of times duration 30 days.
When passing through passport control in Thailand, the traveler is advised to pay close attention to the fact that the stamp is affixed not only in the passport, but also in the migration card.
The correctness of the date in both stamps is a guarantee that there will be no problems when leaving home. If the traveler exceeds the prescribed period of stay, he will be able to leave Thailand only after paying a fine in the amount of 500 baht for every day. Otherwise, he will face arrest, imprisonment and deportation.
What is the threat of an attempt to enter in case of violation of the rules
If the requirements for the validity of the passport in the country of entry are not met, the tourist will be refused:
- In obtaining a visa from the consulate;
- In the design of a tourist voucher on the part of competent employees of travel agencies who do not want to take on the risks associated with the tourist's non-departure;
- Boarding the plane. Most air carriers, at the stage of ticket registration and preparation for departure, control the validity period of passengers' passports, commensurate with the requirements in the country of arrival. The air carrier does not want to take on the risks associated with the need to urgently organize the return transportation of a passenger who has not passed passport control at the place of arrival.
During passport control, officers of the Russian border service are not obliged to compare the validity period of the document with the requirements in force in the country of arrival.Their task is to identify the identity of a citizen of the Russian Federation and establish the legality of crossing the border of the Russian Federation.
During passport control, employees of the migration service of the country of arrival are obliged not only to identify the tourist, but also to measure the validity period of his passport with the requirements of their country. If violations are detected, they are obliged to refuse to cross the border.
Result of non-compliance:
- Impossibility of travel;
- Return to home;
- Lost money and time.
What threatens the expiration of the passport
If, due to any force majeure circumstances, the traveler was forced to stay on the territory of a foreign state until the actual expiration of his passport, he must immediately contact the Russian consulate and submit an application for registration and provision of a new certificate.
The consulate will issue a certificate, which will be the main document of a citizen of the Russian Federation until a new identity card is received. The lack of a certificate is the basis for immediate deportation.
Rosturizm and the Russian Foreign Ministry strongly advise all Russians traveling abroad to install the Foreign Assistant application on their mobile devices, which is designed to help and provide any necessary information in the event of incidents during a trip abroad.
To maintain complete freedom of choice of future travel without regard to the validity period of the passport, each owner of the document should attend to the issue of its timely renewal. The first steps for updating must be taken at least six months before the expiration date of the document.
