The Government of the Russian Federation has increased the temporary stay period for professional drivers – citizens of the EAEU Member States – to 180 days per year. The applicable resolution was published on the official portal and comes into force on June 30, 2026.

As a reminder, in 2025, international road transport operators, citizens of the EAEU Member States, faced difficulties in carrying out their professional activities in the Russian Federation. The reduced temporary stay period for foreign citizens in the Russian Federation to 90 days per year has led to an increase in costs for transport companies.

This issue has been repeatedly discussed at the Eurasian Economic Commission. Following the discussions, operational response measures were developed that allowed international freight carriers to continue their professional activities.

At the present time, the issue of temporary stay of international drivers, citizens of the EAEU Member States, on the territory of the Russian Federation has been resolved.

Thus, “the Government of the Russian Federation resolves: to increase the period of temporary stay in the Russian Federation of citizens of Member States of the Commonwealth of Independent States, as well as citizens of Georgia who are professional drivers engaged in international road transport, who arrived in the Russian Federation in a manner that does not require a visa, to 180 days in total within one calendar year, provided that such foreign citizens submit an application in the established manner for the purpose of entry into the Russian Federation and stay (residing) in the Russian Federation.”

Detailed information on how to submit this application is available at the link. 

For the purpose of implementing this measure, the Government of the Russian Federation has also defined a list of documents that must be provided by international road carriers when applying for entry into the Russian Federation, namely:

• a copy of an identity document or any other document recognized in accordance with an international treaty of the Russian Federation as an ID document;

• a copy of a national driving license or international driving license (presented together with the corresponding national driving license), issued in the country, where the professional driver engaged in international road transport is a citizen, unless otherwise provided by the legislation of the Russian Federation or international treaties of the Russian Federation, and confirm the right to drive a vehicle of category M2, M3, N2, N3, 03 or 04;

• a copy of the registration certificate of a vehicle of category M2, M3, N2, N3, 03 or 04;

• a copy of the international consignment note (for truck drivers) or a route map of regular transportation or a passenger list (for bus drivers)."

The applicable resolution was published on the official portal and comes into force on June 30, 2026.