Russian Customs Regulations

Russian customs regulations are complicated and highly discretionary. 30% duty is required to export personal item(s) worth over US $10,000. Moreover, additional export duties apply to any items determined by customs officials to be of commercial use. All items which may appear to have historical or cultural value - icons, antiques, paintings, coins, etc. - may be taken out of Russia only with prior written approval of the Ministry of Culture and payment of 100% duty. Certain items, such as caviar, medications, jewelry, precious or semi-precious stones, or metals and fuel may be exported duty-free in limited amounts. As computers' hard-drives may be scanned by customs officials, it is recommended to present your laptops to customs at least 1,5 hours prior to you departure.

New russian regulations governing the amount of money foreigners can take out of Russia came into effect last year. While you can bring as much money as you want to Russia, you can take home only US $3,000 (or equivalent in other currencies) without any permission. For any amount over US $3,000 a special export permission is required. It can be obtained at any official currency exchange office unless you had the amount declared when entering Russia and can present your original declaration to the customs officer. A convenient way for taking money home is purchasing travelers' cheques (like America Express, Thomas Cook, Visa, etc.). Any amount of money in travelers' cheques does not need to be declared at the Russian customs.

Important! Fill out a customs declaration upon arrival in Russia with the amount of currency brought into the country declared and all valuable items listed (including your cell phone). Make sure that the declaration is officially stamped by customs officers on entry to prevent difficulties in taking currency and valuables out. Remember that a signature by a customs official is not sufficient - you need to get a stamp on your declaration for it to be valid. Otherwise you will not be able to prove that you possessed that diamond ring or a cellular phone prior to your visit. Keep your stamped customs declaration for the entire duration of your stay in Russia - you will need it to prove how much money and what valuables you had with you when arriving in Russia