How to get travel medical insurance for Russian visa (in 5 minutes)

In this article I explain how to obtain valid medical insurance to travel to Russia to enter the country with your electronic visa (or paper visa).

1. Is it mandatory to have insurance to travel to Russia?

The governments of some countries require foreigners who cross their borders to have travel medical insurance. This way, if you have an accident (or die during the trip), it will be your insurance company that will bear the medical or repatriation expenses, and not the public authorities of the country of destination.

One of these countries is Russia. Thus, foreigners who arrive to Russia with an electronic visa (or a traditional paper visa), are required to carry valid medical insurance throughout the territory of the Russian Federation and throughout their stay period, which must meet a number of conditions.

I have contracted insurance with different companies to travel to Russia, both for the traditional visa and for the electronic visa. In this article, I will explain the conditions that this insurance must meet and how you can buy it online in 5 minutes in PDF format ready to print.

2. Which conditions must the travel insurance policy meet to obtain the electronic visa to Russia?

When buying travel insurance to Russia, the following must be considered:

• You have to buy it before going on a trip. It is not possible to buy it when arriving in Russia, or at the airport, or at the port or at any point of entry by land or by rail.
• The electronic visa insurance policy must come in English or Russian (not in other languages).
• The insurance can be purchased online with any insurance company in PDF format. In this case, you must print it before your trip, to show it along with your electronic visa.
• The following information must be indicated in the insurance policy:
  • Insurance date and the period it covers.
  • Policy number.
  • Full Names of the insured (which must match those listed on the electronic visa).
  • List of medical coverage. A minimum amount of insured capital is not required, but I always recommend a minimum amount of 30,000 euros or its equivalent in other currencies.
  • Covered insured area: you must clearly specify “World” or “Russian Federation” or “Europe, Russia included” (it is not enough that the insurance specifies that you have medical coverage only in “Europe”, since Russia has a European part and an Asian part).
  • Signature of the insurance company.

3. How to get travel medical insurance to Russia for an e-visa in 5 minutes?

The insurance that I use for the electronic visa is the one offered by Cherehapa, a Russian insurance company specialized in travel insurance (Liberty insurances). They offer an insurance policy that comes in English and Russian, and meets all the above conditions. This insurance is also valid to obtain a traditional paper visa.

The good thing about this insurance is that it has very good coverage (50,000 euros), has a very affordable price and you can get it in 5 minutes:

Step 1. Enter your personal information

To acquire it, you must enter its website and enter the traveler’s personal information: name, surname and date of birth. You can add several travelers when purchasing the insurance policy.

The policyholder will be the person who contracts the insurance, that is, the person who pays. Normally it will be the traveler who is responsible for buying insurance for all travelers. You must provide your email address, to which the insurance policy will be sent.

Step 2. Enter payment information

In a second step, you must make the payment by entering your card details:

Step 3. Download the policy in PDF format (and print it)

Once the payment is made, you can download the policy in PDF format, ready to print. They will also send it to your email. The policy will include the names of all the insured. You can check the detailed conditions of the policy in this link.

I hope this article has been useful to you, in order to obtain a good medical travel insurance to Russia, quickly and economically. If it has been useful, you can help me by sharing it on Twitter or Facebook. Thank you very much.