greycap7

The Russian Federation DC website says transit travelers that are flying to ALA need a transit visa. I called a couple of visa agencies that my work provides and the all say otherwise. I checked Timatic and it say something different as well.

What is the verdict on this?

Temedar

I'd say no visa needed. SU flights depart from terminal F, KC's from terminal E - both of these are for international flights only.
If you travel with checked luggage on SU - make sure your departure airport qualifies for tagging your bags to your final destination. Most of US/EU airports do qualify. It's not required for int'l-to-int'l connections, but Kazakhstan is probably regarded as domestic for customs puproses.

ncvet61

The Russian Federation DC Web site couldn't make it any clearer:

"Passengers travelling to the Republic of Belarus or the Republic of Kazakhstan via the Russian Federation must obtain Russian Transit Visas."

My verdict would go with Russian Federation website

Swanhunter

Yes and I have heard of people being denied boarding without a transit visa. The common customs and immigration zone means arrival in Moscow is where you will clear immigration for all 3 countries. If you fly back via Moscow you will need a double entry transit visa and have the novelty of visiting Kazakhstan without actually clearing immigration there. Think of it as Schenhen with visas and hassles.

N.B if you need a visa for Kakhstan you should still get one as it will be needed for internal hotel/travel purposes.

greycap7

I'm going for the weekend so I'm wondering if it is worth all the hassle of getting a visa anyways. Kazakhstan has been on my bucket list for a while. But it seems like I should only bother with this if I am get going for a longer period of time or make my routing visa something other than Moscow.

König

Russia, Belarus and Kazakhstan are not a common immigration zone. Belarus and Russia indeed do not have customs and immigration control on their common border, but it is still not like Schengen because separate visas are required for these 2 countries. Russia and Kazakhstan are even further from Schengen because they do have immigration control, and the OP will not clear Kazakh immigration in Moscow.

bnurkhai

Officially, I see no reason why you should have to have one (regardless of what the website says, kaz and rus don't have open border policies). However, I've heard from a few americans that they were forced to pay for a visa at the airport. I think it depends on what terminal the flight leaves from, but that's just a theory. Side note, you will have to clear immigration in Kazakhstan coming from Russia, however you won't be subject to customs checks.

Both my parents and my brother flew IAD-SVO-TSE last summer on 2 different occasions with american passports (no rus visa) and didn't have any problems whatsoever, but they speak fluent Russian and are originally from Kazakhstan, so that could've made a difference.

Final advice, check which terminal the ALA flights leaves from, if it's from an international terminal, you should be fine. Almaty is a really nice place so definitely worth a visit plus the tenge is really weak atm, a weekend might be a but short though.

bnurkhai

Post above already said this, but this info is false. Belarus, Kazakshtan and Russia don't have an open border policy like the Schengen, it's just a customs union atm no immigration. You don't need a visa to visit Kaz, you do need a visa if visiting Russia, idk about Belarus. There is no unified visa for all three countries.

König

I think the transit visa requirement has to do with the fact that Russia and Kazakhstan are a customs union. Kazakhstan does not perform customs checks on flights from Russia, but citizens of other countries would still have to be subjected to customs checks somewhere. My assumption is that the customs checks would be performed in the first country of the customs union, which in case would be Russia. Hence, the requirement to have a transit visa in order to clear Russian immigration and more importantly customs inspection.

bnurkhai

Right, but as I said before, my parents and brother flew through Moscow with American passports (no visa) to TSE and didn't run into any problems. Depending on what terminal you fly in/out of you may not even have to deal with Russian immigration/customs (of my three international transfers in SVO, my passport got checked only once). The whole system isn't well set up (what a surprise), if all Rus-Kaz flights departed out of the domestic terminal, then that would make sense, but as far as I know that is not the case (I actually don't think any kaz flights are out of domestic). So a IAD-SVO-ALA passenger goes through the same process as IAD-SVO-BUD passenger, unless there is a passport check for every international transfer (has happend once to me), then immigration officials have no way of finding out. Therein lies the problem with only having a customs union, but not a unified immigration policy.

That being said op, I would err on the side of caution and get the visa or fly through another country.

Swanhunter

Good point about Kazakhstan, however Russia and Belarus are a common immigration zone in that there are no controls at the border. You do need the relevant visa for hotel check in, registration etc. When I travelled the Trans-Sib I was stamped into Belarus at Brest and only received a Russian exit stamp at Nauskhki.

König

There are indeed no immigration and custom checks at the border, but I would stop short of saying that they have a common immigration zone. Each of them has its own immigration laws and regulation, and they both require their own visas from most foreigners. So, if someone were to enter Belarus and exit Russia, he/she would require Belorussian and Russian visas in the passport. In practice, a person with just one visa--either Russian or Belorussian--can travel within both countries, but it is still illegal and if caught, he/she would face fines and deportation.

greycap7

Thanks for the information. Just to err on the side of caution. What are the current Russian transit visa processing times?

Thanks

a7m

When I used to fly between St. Petersburg and Minsk, Belarus, a year ago, no one in Minsk looked at my passport. It was like a domestic flight.

You are supposed to have visas for both Russia and Kazakhstan when you travel through these countries, but your passport and visa will be examined in depth only once, when you enter the first of the two countries.