For visiting Russia a filming crew from the UK, USA or EU will need getting visas. The kind of visa required for your crew members depends on what exactly and how you plan filming in Russia.
Types of Russian Visas for filming crews: Tourist Visa, Business Visa, Journalist Visa.
As for 2026 — filming activities with a tourist visa are not recommended, unless you have the citizenship of a country that is considered «friendly» to Russia. These are China, South Africa, most countires that are part of the League of Arab states, Brazil, India, and several more. We don’t recommend to bring professional filming equipment as personal belongings to Russia, especially if you are travelling under a tourist visa. Only DSLR cameras are ok to be brought like this.
If you plan getting filming permits for the name of your company and you plan to sign contracts or agreements while being in Russia — you should get the business visa. For most documentary, wildlife projects, game shows, youtube projects and feauture film projects — getting russian business visas is the best way to proceed. We will gladly help you to prepare the right paperwork lowering the risks to get negative responses from the consulate or embassy.
If you plan visiting official or protocol events as a representative of any media — you should apply for a journalist visa. It’s a complex procedure that starts with the application backed by a media from your home country and leads to the official accreditation of you and your crew in Russia as journalists.
If you have doubts on the kind of visa you need to get for filming in Russia — please feel free to e-mail us on info@filmsiberia.com and we’ll answer you within 24 hours.
The most important thing to know about Russian customs — you can bring into Russia filming equipment using the Carnet ATA.
Despite the fact that the possibility of using the Carnet doesn’t directly depend on the kind of Russian visa you have we recommend to have a business or journalist visa for the carnet holder.
Our recommendation is to enter into the country through St Petersburg or through Moscow as customs here are more familiar with Carnets. If you have any doubt about customs clearance in Russia — please feel free to e-mail us on info@filmsiberia.com. We’ll consult our customs broker and will get back to you as soon as possible.
Customs procedures are quite transparent in Russia — upon arrival you should go through the red channel to present the carnet papers and the goods you are temporaly importing to Russia. Sometimes the customs officers are not english speaking, so please have a printed copy of the carnet translated into russian, as well as a list of goods in Russian and a usb key with the photos of the contents of the cases/bags/suitcases. This will spare you a lot of time at the airport.
IMPORTANT TO KNOW! We don’t recommend importing any kind of drones to Russia. Currently there’s a ban for private flights throughout the country.
Our english speaking fixers and production assistants are happy to meet your crew at the airport and help you at all the stages of the customs clearance.
If you have any kind of questions regarding the customs procedures for importing film gear into Russia — don’t hesitate to get in touch with our office via email, Whatsapp or calling during regular working hours (9-20, GMT+3 time zone).
If you don’t want to undertake the customs clearance procedure — please feel free to contact us for renting all the required filming equipment locally.
