The news about the possible closure of all visa centers in Russia has worried the owners of Russian passports. Despite the fact that Russians can visit more than half of the world without a visa (or get it under the simplified procedure for crossing the border), many popular destinations without a previously issued entry permit remain closed to them.

Among the countries for which Russian citizens do not need a visa, such favorite destinations as Turkey and Israel. Since February 2017, the United Arab Emirates has been added to the list of virtually visa-free for the Russians. Now Russian citizens traveling to the coast of the Persian Gulf can obtain a free entry permit upon arrival.

But among the countries of the European continent, Russians do not have much of a choice: apart from neighboring Ukraine and Belarus, without a visa they can go to Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Macedonia, Moldova, Montenegro and Serbia.

In terms of freedom of movement in Europe, the holders of the Russian passport were less fortunate than some of the neighbors in the former USSR. For example, citizens of Ukraine can visit 128 countries without a visa. For them, this list significantly expanded after the introduction in June last year of a visa-free regime with the EU. Now citizens of Ukraine who have biometric passports can travel without a visa to 26 of the 28 countries of the European Union. To enter the UK and Ireland they need to apply for a visa.

Otherwise, the list of visa-free countries for Ukrainians and Russians is similar. It, for example, includes most of the countries of South America. However, unlike Russians, Ukrainians need to issue a visa to Venezuela, Colombia and Guyana. Among the countries of Southeast Asia, Ukrainian citizens, unlike their neighbors, need to issue a visa, for example, to Vietnam and the Philippines.

A bit shorter than that of Ukraine, the list of visa-free states for Moldova - the first of the CIS countries, for which in April 2014 earned a visa-free regime with the European Union. Now Moldovans do not need a visa to visit 121 countries. Georgia, whose citizens do not need a visa to the EU since March 2017, is somewhat behind Russia. Her list of visa-free countries consists of 112 items.

Meanwhile, the most profitable in the post-Soviet space passports for travel around the world are citizens of Latvia and Lithuania who have a visa-free regime with 179 countries. Estonia lags only one country: its citizens can travel without a visa to 178 countries.

In addition to the European Union: where all three Baltic countries are included, citizens of Latvia, Lithuania and Estonia can go without visas, for example, to Switzerland, Norway, Japan and Canada. Entry to the US for them is possible by electronic authorization. But for a trip to Russia, Latvians, Lithuanians and Estonians need to get a visa.

Of the 15 former union republics, the most unprofitable passports from citizens of Uzbekistan, Tajikistan and Turkmenistan.

They need a visa to travel to most countries of the world. Visa-free regime for them operates only with 59, 58 and 53 countries respectively. Belarus was exactly in the middle of the list of best and worst passports in the post-Soviet space. Its citizens can travel without a visa (or formalize it when crossing the border) in 77 countries. By the way, Belarus is the only country in the post-Soviet space, whose citizens can travel without visas all over China.

Source: DW.