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I have a dual citizenship - British and Israeli. I'm currently studying and living in the UK. I want to go to Russia to visit my family (I have some family which I haven't seen in a while).

Since there is no visa requirement for Israelis to enter Russia, can I travel with my Israeli passport to Russia? I do not want to pay for the visa for my English passport.

All Israelis (who are living in Israel) are banned from entering the country, but UK residents are not.

Is there any legal problem with what I want to do?

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    Possibly related: travel.stackexchange.com/questions/159743/…
    – user105640
    Commented Oct 9, 2020 at 7:42
  • If you have family in Russia you should be able to travel ... perhaps. A fresh test would be required I assume.
    – bipll
    Commented Oct 9, 2020 at 10:06
  • @Arthur'sPass it is related (we're friends). Although mine is more detailed
    – user
    Commented Oct 9, 2020 at 14:54
  • @Marina, do not ask questions if you know they are already on the site. Better improve the existing question, (or ask your friend to include more details,) as we do not accept identical questions here. Your question is so close to the other one that at least one of them will get closed.
    – Willeke ♦
    Commented Oct 9, 2020 at 16:45
  • To be fair, the other question is pretty poor and should be closed as a dupe of this one...
    – FreeMan
    Commented Oct 9, 2020 at 17:39

1 Answer 1

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According to Timatic's COVID travel information page:

  1. Passengers are not allowed to enter. This does not apply to:
  • nationals of the Russian Fed. and their family members;
  • permanent residents of the Russian Fed.;
  • British nationals and residents of the United Kingdom if arriving from the United Kingdom;

So you can indeed enter Russia at this time. You will use your British passport to prove you're a British national and then use your Israeli passport to gain visa-free entry. Showing two documents at once at immigration is common practice, so airline personnel shouldn't give you trouble for it. The Israeli passport will serve as an equivalent of a Russian visa, allowing you free passage.

Update: OP was able to travel successfully:

@JonathanReez it worked! They asked me for both passports both times, just like you said, and it all went without any disturbances!

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    Showing two documents at once at immigration is common practice,...: without reliable sources confirming this to be generally true, caution should be taken with this advice. As a mixture (that applies basically to dual citizens only) of immigration and health regulations, there is no guarantee how an immigration officer may react. An Airline, which may be fined, may come to a more cautious conclusion.
    – Mark Johnson
    Commented Oct 16, 2020 at 7:35
  • @MarkJohnson if your interpretation was correct, Timatic would say something like "British nationals with a Russian visa in their British passport", not just "British nationals". They work hard to make sure that they're as specific as possible.
    – JonathanReez ♦
    Commented Oct 16, 2020 at 7:44
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    The quote refers to the COVID-19 Travel Regulations, not to the Visa requirements.
    – Mark Johnson
    Commented Oct 16, 2020 at 7:50
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    @Marina just make sure you have a PCR test on hand too!
    – JonathanReez ♦
    Commented Oct 16, 2020 at 15:49
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    @JonathanReez it worked! They asked me for both passports both times, just like you said, and it all went without any disturbances!
    – user
    Commented Oct 19, 2020 at 10:44

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