Saudi-Russian Investment Forum Promises Visa-Free Travel for 90 Days

(RIYADH) — Russia and Saudi Arabia signed a mutual visa-free travel agreement on December 1, 2025, in Riyadh, opening the way for citizens of both countries to travel without visas for short stays when the deal takes effect on May 11, 2026.

The agreement allows citizens of each country to enter and stay in the other for up to 90 days continuously or cumulatively within any calendar year. It covers tourism, business visits, family visits and attending events.

That means Saudi citizens will be able to make short trips to Russia without applying for a visa once the agreement comes into force, while Russian citizens will receive the same treatment in Saudi Arabia under the same terms. The arrangement is reciprocal, with identical conditions on both sides.

Russia’s Foreign Ministry announced the agreement on April 6, 2026. Officials signed it during the Saudi-Russian Investment and Business Forum, which was attended by Saudi Energy Minister Prince Abdulaziz bin Salman bin Abdulaziz and Russian Deputy Prime Minister Alexander Novak.

The deal sets out clear limits on what travelers may do under visa-free travel. Citizens can use the exemption for tourism, business visits, family visits or attending events, but not for paid work, study or seeking permanent residency.

Visas will still be required for employment, education, long-term residency and Hajj or Umrah pilgrimages. Those exclusions leave in place the ordinary visa process for travelers whose plans go beyond short visits.

For Saudi travelers, the change marks a shift from the current system. Before this agreement, Saudi citizens needed visas or eVisas for Russia.

As of April 7, 2026, Russian embassy guidance in Riyadh still requires visas for Saudi residents, including non-citizens. That guidance is expected to update after the May 11, 2026 implementation date.

The timing creates a short transition period between the announcement and the start of the new rules. Until the agreement enters into force, existing visa requirements remain in place even though the political decision has already been made.

For travelers and companies planning trips, the distinction matters. The agreement has been signed and publicly announced, but the visa waiver itself begins on May 11, 2026.

The 90 days provision is one of the central features of the arrangement. Citizens of Russia and Saudi Arabia will be able to stay visa-free for up to 90 days, either in one uninterrupted trip or in several visits added together, as long as the total remains within any calendar year.

That format gives travelers more flexibility than a single-entry short stay rule. A person could make multiple trips for meetings, tourism, family visits or events, provided the cumulative total does not exceed 90 days in the calendar year.

The categories permitted under the agreement suggest a focus on short-term mobility rather than migration. Tourism, business visits, family visits and event attendance all fall within temporary travel, while work, study and permanent settlement remain outside the visa waiver.

Business travel may draw particular attention because the agreement was signed during the Saudi-Russian Investment and Business Forum. The setting tied the announcement to a wider effort to support economic contact between the two countries.

The pact also adds Russia to the list of visa-free countries for Saudis. That expansion fits with Saudi Arabia’s Vision 2030 agenda to boost tourism and business ties.

For Saudi Arabia, easier entry rules can support two policy tracks at once. One is tourism, which Vision 2030 has promoted as part of economic diversification, and the other is closer business engagement with overseas partners.

For Russia, reciprocal access gives its citizens the same visa-free entry conditions for short trips to Saudi Arabia. The symmetry of the agreement means neither side receives broader privileges than the other for the covered activities.

The exclusions are also as important as the new freedoms. Anyone traveling for a job, an academic program, a long-term stay or religious pilgrimage will still need the appropriate visa despite the broader waiver for other visits.

That keeps the agreement narrowly tailored. It removes visa paperwork for temporary travel but does not replace the immigration rules that govern employment, education, residence or pilgrimage.

The continued visa requirement for Hajj and Umrah pilgrimages stands out because Saudi Arabia receives large numbers of religious visitors each year. Under this deal, those journeys remain outside the visa-free framework.

Likewise, students will not be able to rely on the waiver for academic study. Workers seeking employment and travelers hoping to relocate for long-term residence also remain subject to normal visa rules.

Those restrictions reduce ambiguity at the border. Travelers will need to match the purpose of their trip to the category allowed under the agreement.

Saudi citizens who had previously needed visas or eVisas for Russia may see the most immediate practical change once May 11 arrives. Short visits for eligible purposes should become simpler because they will no longer require a prior visa application.

The same logic applies in reverse for Russians making short trips to Saudi Arabia. Tourism, family visits, business travel and attending events will move into a visa-free channel, while other purposes will continue under the existing visa structure.

Even with a visa waiver, the agreement does not create open-ended access. The 90 days limit remains the controlling threshold, and the activities allowed are confined to a defined set of short-term purposes.

That makes the arrangement closer to a travel facilitation measure than a wider immigration reform. It eases movement for visitors, not workers, students or long-term residents.

The Riyadh signing on December 1, 2025, also placed the agreement within a period of growing contact between the two countries. By linking the pact to the Saudi-Russian Investment and Business Forum, officials framed easier travel as part of broader state-to-state engagement.

Prince Abdulaziz bin Salman bin Abdulaziz and Alexander Novak attended that forum, giving the event a high-level political profile. Their presence underscored the importance both governments attached to the gathering where the deal was signed.

The April 6, 2026 announcement by the Russian Foreign Ministry provided the public confirmation of when the agreement would take effect. That announcement set May 11, 2026 as the start date for the visa-free regime.

Until then, travelers still need to follow existing embassy guidance. As of April 7, 2026, that guidance in Riyadh still requires visas for Saudi residents, including non-citizens.

That point is particularly relevant because the agreement applies to citizens of both countries, not to all residents living in either country. Residency alone does not place a traveler inside the new waiver.

The distinction between citizens and residents may shape how embassies and travelers handle the transition period. Saudi citizens and Russian citizens gain the benefit once the agreement starts, while current guidance still applies before that date and to others outside the covered national categories.

For travel planners, the practical message is straightforward. Trips before May 11, 2026 remain under the old visa rules, while eligible trips from May 11 onward fall under the new visa-free travel system.

The agreement may prove especially useful for frequent short visits. Because the 90 days can be used continuously or cumulatively within a calendar year, repeat travelers can divide time across several trips rather than use the allowance all at once.

That could help families with cross-border visits, businesspeople attending meetings and delegations joining events. It also gives tourists more room to plan travel over the course of the year without a visa, as long as they stay within the 90 days cap.

Russia’s addition to Saudi Arabia’s list of visa-free destinations carries symbolic weight as well as administrative value. It places easier access to Russia alongside the kingdom’s wider effort to expand international travel options for its citizens.

For both governments, the agreement turns diplomatic cooperation into a rule that ordinary travelers can use. On May 11, 2026, that shift moves from paper to practice, replacing visa applications with visa-free entry for short visits and leaving longer-term or restricted activities under the old system.