1 comment5 questions answered
- May tours
to Abkhazia - Last minute tours
to Abkhazia
Visiting Abkhazia is as easy as shelling pears - Russians don’t even need a foreign passport for this: at the border it is enough to present an internal passport, and, of course, no marks are put on it. The picture is slightly clouded only by border formalities - representatives of the relevant Abkhaz services, to put it mildly, are not fast - and for those who travel to Abkhazia without a transfer from a hotel or personal vehicle, there is also the need to cross a 2-kilometer pedestrian bridge on their own two feet. As for mandatory insurance and resort fees, tour operators take these concerns upon themselves.
Entry rules to Abkhazia
The Republic of Abkhazia is an independent state.
The state border between the Russian Federation and Abkhazia runs along the Psou River, where the border and customs services of both states are located. The border post is open 24 hours a day. To travel to Abkhazia, you must travel to the city of Adler (by air, rail, or road). The distance from the city of Adler to the border with Abkhazia on the Psou River is 10 km (about 10 minutes on the road). To cross the border on Psou there are two bridges - pedestrian and vehicle. Border formalities can take quite a long time, up to several hours. Passengers without their own vehicles and not traveling with a boarding house transfer cross the border via a pedestrian bridge. The length of the crossing in this case will be about 2 km - from the Cossack Market to the border post. In this area you can use the services of private baggage movers.
- Is it possible to enter Abkhazia with a military ID?
To cross the border on Psou there are two bridges - pedestrian and vehicle. Border formalities can take quite a long time, up to several hours.
Required documents
On the Russian-Abkhaz border on the Psou River, citizens of the Russian Federation, Belarus and Kazakhstan enjoy a visa-free regime with general customs and passport control. Citizens of other countries to enter Abkhazia must have a visa, you can receive confirmation of its issuance online, and then, based on it, receive the visa itself at the Psou checkpoint from 9:00 to 18:00, or within 3 days upon arrival at the Consular service of the republic.
Citizens of Belarus and Kazakhstan do not require a visa to Abkhazia for a period of travel not exceeding 14 days.
Military personnel of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation, as well as federal executive authorities that provide for military service, with the exception of persons undergoing military service by conscription, leave the Russian Federation with permission from the command, issued in the manner established by the Government of the Russian Federation (Article 19 Chapter III of Federal Law No. 114-FZ of 08/15/96). Documents for military personnel are an identity card (general, admiral, officer, warrant officer of the RF Armed Forces); military ID of a serviceman with a travel or vacation certificate (indicating the place of arrival - Abkhazia).
- Is it possible to enter Abkhazia using a passport with a maiden name?
Features of relations between Abkhazia and Georgia
It is worth visiting Abkhazia with a foreign passport only if you are not planning to visit Georgia. Marks in a document about crossing the border of the republic can cause serious problems, including a prison sentence. Georgians consider Abkhazia their region, and once you visit it, you become a trespasser. It is best to travel with your general passport and leave your foreign document for other trips. This little trick will help you avoid problems. A small stamp about crossing the Russian-Abkhaz border can also cause problems when traveling to other countries.
Do not plan your route through Abkhazia to Georgia or in the opposite direction. Due to difficulties with the state's independence status, such moves are fraught with big troubles. If you try to get into Georgia, you will be arrested right at the checkpoint, since crossing the border from the occupied side is a direct violation of the law. If you enter the Russian Federation in transit through Abkhazia, we will not have a stamp indicating that you have crossed the Georgian border. Subsequently, the path to Georgia will be closed to you, this may negatively affect the receipt of a visa to the USA or Schengen.
Required documents for children
When leaving Russia for Abkhazia, children under 14 years of age must have a birth certificate with an insert or stamp on Russian citizenship or a foreign passport. (At the same time, for children over the age of 6 years, foreign passports must contain photo cards sealed with the official seals of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs or the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the Russian Federation).
When leaving Russia for Abkhazia, children from 14 to 18 years old must have a general internal passport or an international passport.
For children under 18 years of age traveling from Russia to Abkhazia with at least one parent, a power of attorney from the second parent is not required! Attention: in this case, the child must have a birth certificate with him (even if he is over 14 years old and has his own foreign or internal passport). In this case, a birth certificate will be required to establish the relationship of the child with the person accompanying him (parent).
Children under 18 years of age leaving the Russian Federation unaccompanied by both parents (adoptive parents, guardians or trustees) must have, in addition to a passport, a notarized consent of the named persons for their departure from the Russian Federation, indicating the date of departure and the state they intend to visit (Article 20 of Chapter III Federal Law No. 114-FZ of August 15, 1996). Such consent is not required in the actual absence of the second parent, which is confirmed by documents: a maternity book (book of a single mother), a death certificate, a document on deprivation of parental rights, a statement from the second parent about abandonment of the child, a document from the court indicating that the location of the second the parent cannot be determined.
- What documents are needed to travel to Abkhazia with a child?
Documents for crossing the Russia-Abkhazia border
If you want to relax in the mountains and rent a house in Abkhazia without unpleasant minutes at the Russia-Abkhazia border checkpoint, have your general or foreign passport ready. In this regard, you need to check whether the foreign passport has expired and whether the necessary photographs are pasted into the regular civil passport on time. If something is wrong with the documents, the tourist will not be allowed into the territory of Abkhazia. A temporary identity card will also not give you the right to cross the border. Read below about the necessary official papers for foreign citizens to cross the Russian-Abkhaz border.
Crossing the border by vehicle
To cross the border by vehicle, you must have a driver’s license and registration certificate (and when crossing the border in someone else’s car, a general power of attorney for it, which, in a separate clause, allows travel abroad of the Russian Federation). After crossing the border, car owners are required to register their vehicle temporarily at the traffic police department of Abkhazia and pay a fee of 150 RUB for cars or 300 RUB for trucks (valid for 30 days). As at any “land” border, these formalities can take from 20 minutes to two hours and depend on the density of people and vehicles at the checkpoint.
Motor insurance
Those arriving in Abkhazia with a personal car are also required to insure it on the territory of Abkhazia. The easiest way to do this is at the border at the insurance point of the State Insurance Company "Abkhazgosstrakh". Passenger cars are insured for 3 days for 200 RUB, for 30 days for 500 RUB and for 183 days for 2000 RUB. The payment in case of an accident will be no more than 15,000 RUB.
Rules for crossing the border with Abkhazia
You can get to Abkhazia from Russia without any problems by bus or on foot.
A simpler and calmer way to enjoy the natural beauty of the region, get acquainted with the unique culture and national traditions is to use the recommendations of experienced travelers who know how to get to Abkhazia from the Russian Federation:
- arrive in Adler by train, car, bus or plane;
- 10 km by minibus or the same tourist bus;
- cross or drive across the bridge.
At the checkpoint they show both a valid international passport and an internal passport of a citizen of the Russian Federation.
Friendly relations between countries ensure loyalty when crossing borders. Russia is one of the few countries that have officially recognized the independence of Abkhazia. However, this does not exclude the possibility of baggage inspection. Border checkpoints are usually not very busy, so a simple tourist will quickly find himself in the country.
Travel insurance
Since August 2006, the RA Law of July 12, 2006 No. 1408-c-XIV “On compulsory accident insurance for foreign citizens and stateless persons arriving in the territory of the Republic of Abkhazia” has come into force in Abkhazia.
The objects of insurance are the life, health and ability to work of foreign citizens. The insurer is the state insurance company. Compulsory insurance is carried out when crossing the State Border of Abkhazia on the Psou River on road and road bridges. In this case, an insurance contract is concluded between the policyholder and the insurer.
If a tourist buys a tour package from an Abkhaz tour operator, insurance is usually included in the price of the trip.
The amount of insurance coverage under compulsory accident insurance contracts is RUB 30,000. After paying the insurance premium, the policyholder receives an insurance policy. According to the Resolution of the Cabinet of Ministers of the Republic of Abkhazia dated July 28, 2006 No. 189, a foreign citizen who arrives on vacation in Abkhazia for a period of 1 day is required to pay an insurance premium per day of stay in the amount of 15 RUB. The amount of the insurance premium for tourists arriving in Abkhazia for up to 3 days inclusive is 30 RUB, for up to 30 days inclusive - 250 RUB, for up to 183 days inclusive - 750 RUB. Prices on the page are as of September 2019.
Children under 6 years of age are not subject to compulsory insurance; this category of persons is covered by the insurance policy of one of the parents without increasing the insurance premium.
Foreign citizens residing in Abkhazia for a total of more than 183 days in a calendar year are exempt from paying the insurance premium; working in Abkhazia under employment contracts; on business trips to foreign diplomatic missions, consular offices, and international organizations.
Rospotrebnadzor clarified whether quarantine will be needed after Abkhazia
Due to the threat of the spread of coronavirus infection, Abkhazia closed its border with Russia in April. The restrictions were supposed to end yesterday, July 21. But, as follows from a message on the website of the President of Abkhazia, they were extended until July 28.
Abkhazia has traditionally been popular with Russian tourists. Holidays there are relatively inexpensive, and the climate is truly subtropical. The republic is located just south of Sochi, so the tourist season there lasts until October. Since there is no direct regular air or rail service between Russia and Abkhazia (you can only get to Adler by plane or train, and from there cross the border by minibus or bus), thousands of tourists travel to the exotic country every year by personal transport. This year there are only more people wanting to travel by car. Surely, after the border is opened, Russians will traditionally go to warm Abkhazia.
But won’t I have to go into a 14-day quarantine after returning to Russia? It will have to, Rospotrebnadzor explained to Rossiyskaya Gazeta. They recalled that self-isolation for 14 days was canceled only for those passengers who will arrive in Russia on regular air flights from countries with which air traffic is planned to be resumed.
If a person enters the territory of Russia by car, these standards do not apply to him, Rospotrebnadzor clarified. According to the rules, everyone who will cross the Russian border fills out forms at checkpoints. The data is transferred to Rospotrebnadzor.
However, the situation is evolving. The Russian and Abkhaz sides constantly interact on issues of combating coronavirus. Perhaps the requirements for tourists will be relaxed. But at the moment there is no such information.
By the way, the day before the sanitary service of Abkhazia issued clarifications for tourists. According to the Association of Tour Operators of Russia (ATOR), which has familiarized itself with the recommendations of the sanitary and epidemiological service of the Republic of Abkhazia on organizing the work of recreation facilities in the context of the continued risks of the spread of COVID-19, tourists will not be accepted into rest homes, boarding houses, sanatoriums and others without a certificate of absence of coronavirus. placements.
“Reception of vacationers should be carried out only if there are negative laboratory results for the new coronavirus infection COVID-19, obtained no later than 3 days before the day of arrival at the holiday destination,” the ATOR document quotes.
The requirement for a certificate applies to any accommodation facilities - hotels, guest houses, boarding houses, sanatoriums, etc. No distinction is made between them. In many ways, the document repeats recommendations previously issued by Rospotrebnadzor for health resort organizations. In particular, they offer to accommodate one person per room, except when a family arrives.
Resort fee
According to the Law of the Republic of Abkhazia on resort fees No. 1421-c-XIV of July 25, 2006, foreign citizens arriving in Abkhazia for a period of more than 3 days for the purpose of recreation are required to pay a one-time resort fee in the amount of 30 RUB at the place of stay. The following are exempt from paying the resort fee: children under 14 years of age, disabled people of the 1st and 2nd groups and the person accompanying them; persons whose stay in Abkhazia is not related to recreation (subject to documentary confirmation of the purpose of stay).
The resort fee is usually included in the cost of a tour or hotel accommodation.
Answers to questions about obtaining a visa to Abkhazia
- Will a mother and child have problems entering Abkhazia without the father’s permission?
- What documents are needed to travel to Abkhazia with a child?
- Is it possible to enter Abkhazia a week after the wedding using a passport with a maiden name?
- Do I need a visa to Abkhazia?
- Do EU citizens need a visa to Abkhazia?
Ask your question
Do Russian citizens need permission to enter the country?
By the Law of the Republic of Abkhazia on the procedure for exit and entry into the Republic of Abkhazia No. 4017-c-V dated January 26, 2021, from April 1, 2021, a visa regime was introduced for citizens of those foreign countries with which Abkhazia does not have intergovernmental agreements on visa-free mutual travel.
However, Abkhazia has signed such interstate documents with Russia, so Russians do not need a visa to Abkhazia if their stay in this country does not exceed 90 days .
To get to Abkhazia without a visa, a Russian must have a passport of a citizen of the Russian Federation or a foreign passport. In addition, the Decree of the President of Abkhazia “On establishing visa-free entry into the Republic of Abkhazia for certain categories of foreign citizens” establishes the following categories of Russian citizens entering this country without a visa:
- Excursionists entering the Republic as part of an organized excursion group for a maximum of 24 hours.
- Citizens of the Russian Federation entering Abkhazia in order to carry out various commissioning, repair and maintenance work at energy system facilities and to eliminate accidents for a period of no more than 5 days.
- Russians entering the Republic for the operation and maintenance of electric power generation facilities built on the territory of the Tkuarchal and Gal regions for a period of up to 1 year.
Important! If there are legal grounds for staying on Abkhaz territory for more than 90 days, a citizen of the Russian Federation must obtain a single or multiple entry visa.
