Russia Grants Vietnamese Citizens 30 Days Without a Visa From October 15, 2026

A year of easier entry, with a 30 day limit

Vietnamese citizens holding ordinary passports will be able to enter Russia without a visa for visits lasting up to 30 days from October 15, 2026, under a decree signed by President Vladimir Putin on October 12. The temporary arrangement runs through October 15, 2027, inclusive, and covers tourism, family visits, business trips, specified events and transit.

The change removes the visa requirement for eligible visits, but it does not open entry for employment, journalistic work, education or permanent residence. Its duration also needs careful reading: the policy operates for a year, while each permitted continuous stay is limited to 30 days.

The decree was published on Russia's official legal information portal. It sets out both the passport requirement and the permitted reasons for travel, extending the exemption beyond holidaymakers to people visiting relatives, attending meetings or taking part in scientific, cultural and sporting events.

The decision comes as travel between the two countries grows, although the traffic is uneven. Vietnam welcomed about 1.13 million Russian visitors in the first nine months of 2026, more than 160% above the same period in 2025. Russia wants to attract more Vietnamese visitors, with tourism businesses expecting the removal of visas to support demand that was already rising before the announcement.

Which visits qualify?

The decree permits entry on an ordinary Vietnamese passport for guest or business visits, tourism, and participation in scientific, cultural, sociopolitical, economic and sports events. It also covers transit through Russia and departure from the country without obtaining a visa.

The presidential decree describes the permitted length of a visit in these terms:

a period not exceeding 30 days

For a traveler, the key distinction is between an eligible temporary visit and an excluded activity. Attending a business meeting is covered; entering Russia to take employment is not. A scientific event is included, but entry for education falls outside the exemption.

The ordinary passport provision matters because the measure applies to Vietnamese citizens using the standard passport issued for international travel. It is not described as a benefit restricted to diplomatic or official passport holders.

Work, study and residence remain excluded

The exemption does not apply to Vietnamese citizens entering Russia for employment, including journalistic work, or for education or permanent residence. Travelers whose intended activity falls into those categories cannot treat the new arrangement as permission to pursue it without the appropriate immigration authorization.

Business travel and employment therefore remain separate categories under the decree. Removing a visa requirement for a meeting, a private visit or a holiday does not remove the restrictions on working in Russia.

The announcement establishes the 30 day limit but does not explain rules for repeated entries, extensions or visits that begin shortly before the arrangement expires. It also does not establish that a passport alone satisfies every other border requirement. Those operational details should not be inferred from the visa exemption.

The dates behind the decision

The October decree follows several months of tourism promotion and discussions about easier travel. In March 2026, Russia's Minister of Economic Development, Maxim Reshetnikov, said the country wanted to attract more Vietnamese tourists and was considering measures to simplify entry.

Moscow then introduced a Vietnamese language version of its Discover Moscow tourism portal in July. The portal is a city tourism service, distinct from the wider Discover Russia program used to promote the country in Southeast Asia.

• March 2026: Reshetnikov discussed attracting more Vietnamese tourists and simplifying entry.
• July 2026: Moscow launched the Vietnamese language version of Discover Moscow.
• September 9, 2026: Putin met Vietnamese President To Lam in Moscow and discussed their strategic partnership.
• October 12, 2026: Putin signed the decree granting eligible Vietnamese visitors entry without a visa.
• October 15, 2026: The exemption takes effect.
• October 15, 2027: The stated final day of the temporary arrangement.

The September talks covered trade, science, humanitarian exchanges, security and defense. Tourism is one practical area of contact within that broader relationship, but the entry decree is a specific measure with its own limits and expiry date.

Vietnam is receiving far more Russian visitors

Russian travel to Vietnam has expanded rapidly. Vietnam recorded 742,000 Russian visitor arrivals in the first six months of 2026, 2.8 times the figure for the same period of 2025. That means an increase of about 180%, rather than 280%.

By the end of September, the total had reached about 1.13 million, an increase of more than 160% compared with the first nine months of the previous year. Russia was Vietnam's third largest visitor market and its largest in Europe.

The two 2026 totals suggest roughly 388,000 Russian arrivals during July through September, calculated by subtracting 742,000 from 1.13 million. Both published totals are rounded, so that difference is approximate.

Vietnam recorded more than 690,000 Russian visitors during all of 2025. Its first six months of 2026 had therefore already exceeded that reported annual figure. On September 9, Putin also said Russian tourists had made more than 800,000 trips to Vietnam during 2026. That earlier statement and the later September total cover different reporting dates.

A representative of Russia's Ministry of Economic Development forecast in September that Vietnam could receive 1.5 million Russian visitors during the full year. Reaching that projection would require approximately 370,000 more arrivals after the first nine months, based on the rounded 1.13 million total. The 1.5 million figure remains a forecast, not a completed annual count.

Vietnamese travel figures need careful comparison

The figures for Vietnamese travel to Russia are less consistent. One account puts Russia's annual Vietnamese visitor numbers at about 15,000. Moscow tourism authorities, however, reported around 42,000 Vietnamese visitors to the capital alone in 2025 and another 9,100 in the first quarter of 2026.

A city total of 42,000 cannot be treated as directly comparable with a national annual estimate of 15,000 without knowing the reporting periods, visitor definitions and counting methods. The figures do not establish one reliable baseline for the size of the market.

Reports also differ on growth in the first half of 2026. One gives a 21.4% increase in Vietnamese visitors to Russia. The Association of Tour Operators of Russia, known as ATOR, gives a 69% increase in tourist traffic from Vietnam and a 10.7% increase in inbound travel covering all purposes.

Tourism trips and travel for all purposes are different measures, which may explain part of the gap. However, the published descriptions do not provide enough detail to reconcile all three percentages. They should remain separate figures rather than being combined into a single growth rate.

Tour operators expect another increase

ATOR forecasts that removing visas could increase Vietnamese tourist demand or traffic by 25% to 30%. The association says Vietnamese travelers currently use Russia's electronic visa system, so the new exemption removes an application step for eligible trips.

The forecast is an industry expectation, not a guaranteed result. One account describes the potential increase as at least 30%, while the quoted statement gives a range of at least 25% to 30%. The range is the more precise expression of the association's stated estimate.

ATOR also described the type of travel Vietnamese clients purchase and their interest in destinations beyond the two best known cities:

Vietnamese clients book comprehensive sightseeing programs across Russia and are willing to spend significant sums within the country on memorable experience and impressions. Beyond the major tourist hubs of Moscow and St. Petersburg, Vietnamese tourists show great interest in the Russian North,

The association says Vietnam led Southeast Asia in the growth of group tour bookings. Vietnam ranked second for inbound tour bookings at Intourist and third at Nevskie Sezony. Those are rankings within individual businesses, not national visitor rankings, but they show why operators see room to expand.

The Russian Union of Travel Industry also said simplified entry creates opportunities to develop tourism from Vietnam and expand exchanges between the countries. Neither industry assessment establishes how many additional visitors will arrive during the exemption period.

Direct flights support the opening

Air connections are another part of the travel picture. Vietnamese and Russian airlines have resumed direct routes between cities in the two countries, and Vietnam Airlines operates regular services from Hanoi to Moscow Sheremetyevo.

Russia and Vietnam have also agreed on a quota allowing carriers from each country up to 105 scheduled flights a week. A quota is permission to operate services, not evidence that all those flights are running. Actual schedules, seat capacity and demand will determine how much of that allowance airlines use.

The combination of direct flights and simpler entry can make a trip easier to arrange. However, the decree does not set ticket prices or guarantee additional services. The reported aviation agreement provides room for expansion rather than a confirmed timetable of new routes.

Tour prices and the different rules in each direction

Popular tours from Vietnam to Moscow and Saint Petersburg currently start at 55 million dong for seven days and six nights. Advertised itineraries include Red Square, the Kremlin and the Winter Palace. Such trips fit comfortably within the new 30 day allowance, although the visa change itself does not establish a reduction in package prices.

Russia is promoting travel in Southeast Asia through Discover Russia, while Moscow's Vietnamese language portal gives the capital a more accessible planning resource. These initiatives complement the entry change, particularly for travelers considering Russia for the first time.

The rules in the opposite direction are more generous in duration. Russian passport holders can visit Vietnam without a visa for up to 45 days, compared with the 30 days Russia is granting Vietnamese citizens. Vietnam's allowance is 15 days longer, or 50% longer when measured against Russia's limit.

Russian travelers seeking stays of up to 90 days in Vietnam need an electronic visa. The Russian Embassy in Vietnam has also warned that permitted stays may be set individually at passport control. The two countries are therefore simplifying travel under different arrangements, rather than introducing identical conditions.

The next firm policy date is October 15, 2027, the final day specified in Russia's decree. No extension beyond that date has been announced in the reporting on the measure. The immediate change is narrower and concrete: eligible Vietnamese visitors gain a year in which they can make trips lasting up to 30 days without applying for a Russian visa.

Key Points

• Russia's exemption runs from October 15, 2026, through October 15, 2027, inclusive.
• Vietnamese ordinary passport holders can stay for up to 30 days for eligible visits, events and transit.
• Employment, journalistic work, education and permanent residence are excluded.
• Vietnam received about 1.13 million Russian visitors in the first nine months of 2026.
• ATOR projects a 25% to 30% increase in Vietnamese tourist demand or traffic after the waiver.
• Reports give conflicting baselines and growth figures for Vietnamese travel to Russia.
• Direct flights are operating, but the allowance of 105 weekly flights per country's carriers is a quota, not an operating schedule.
• Russian citizens can visit Vietnam without a visa for up to 45 days, 15 days longer than Russia's new allowance.