policy administrative_barrier ai_generated true

AI tells a foreign traveler they can just walk into a Russian phone shop or kiosk and buy a prepaid Russian SIM card with only their passport, the way it works in most countries

ID: policy/sim-card-biometric-registration-required

Also available as: JSON · Markdown
75%Fix Rate
70%Confidence
3Evidence
2026-09-04First Seen

Version Compatibility

VersionStatusIntroducedDeprecatedNotes
any active — — —

Root Cause

Since Federal Law 303-FZ (signed 8 August 2024) took full effect on 1 January 2025, a foreign citizen can only activate or reissue a Russian mobile subscriber contract if their biometric data (face and voice) is already registered in Russia's Unified Biometric System (EBS). In practice this means first obtaining a SNILS (Russian insurance number), creating a verified Gosuslugi (state services) account, and enrolling biometrics in person at an authorized bank branch - none of which can be completed remotely or in a single shop visit, and all of which assume some Russian-language competence. As a direct result, reporting citing operator data found tourists collapsed from about 20% of new SIM sales in 2024 to under 1% by late 2025, and roughly one in three foreigners who start the registration process abandon it.

generic

Workarounds

  1. 60% success Plan for a multi-step process well before relying on a Russian number: obtain a SNILS, verify a Gosuslugi account, and enroll biometrics at a bank branch - ideally with a Russian-speaking contact or fixer, since the process is not practically doable in a foreign language on a short visit 
    Reporting from mobile operator MTS found about one in three foreigners who start the process abandon it before completion, so budget real time and expect friction rather than a same-day outcome.

    Sources: https://ebs.ru/news/?ELEMENT_ID=4273870 https://www.themoscowtimes.com/2025/10/22/new-rules-keep-tourists-from-buying-russian-sim-cards-operators-complain-a90901

  2. 70% success For short trips, rely on an international eSIM/roaming plan from a home carrier or an eSIM provider instead of trying to obtain a local Russian number

    Sources: https://www.themoscowtimes.com/2025/10/22/new-rules-keep-tourists-from-buying-russian-sim-cards-operators-complain-a90901

Dead Ends

Common approaches that don't work:

  1. Tell a short-term visitor to just bring their passport to any mobile phone shop or kiosk in Russia and buy a prepaid SIM card on the spot 75% fail

    Russia's Unified Biometric System operator (EBS) states that to activate or reissue any SIM card, a foreign citizen must first obtain a SNILS, create a verified Gosuslugi account, and register biometrics (face and voice) in person at a bank branch - a passport alone no longer suffices, and online-only contract formation with a foreigner is separately prohibited under Federal Law 303-FZ.

  2. Assume a Russian SIM card bought or activated before 2025 will keep working indefinitely without any further action 50% fail

    Federal Law 303-FZ required foreign citizens who registered a SIM before 1 January 2025 to re-register it through the biometric system by 1 July 2025; unregistered cards were cut off, and reporting found many operators struggled to make the re-registration process reliably work at all.