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A Russian woman I know has been told by her travel agency in Russia that she MUST have evidence of a booked hotel (in this case, in Thailand) before she will be allowed to depart Russia on a holiday. She will be staying with me, and I have a hotel already booked. She has tickets, valid passport of course.

Graeme
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  • RF? Russian Federation? –  May 08 '17 at 08:06
  • For leaving Russia no evidence or proof of booked hotel is required. – Neusser May 08 '17 at 10:08
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    How do you know her? Because internet relationship + odd issues (and the Russian part does not help) makes it sound like a possible scam... – SJuan76 May 08 '17 at 10:48
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    A possible explanation could perhaps be, that she might need proof of hotel booking to be allowed to enter Thailand, in which case the airline can refuse her to checkin or board the plane, since she doesn't have all the documents required to enter Thailand. That has however nothing to do with Russian customs or immigration. – Tor-Einar Jarnbjo May 08 '17 at 11:18
  • Thanks everyone .. you echo my own suspicions. And yes she is probably a scammer who I will now not have anything further to do with. Appreciated. – Graeme May 09 '17 at 01:51

2 Answers2

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No, this is an absurd statement, since that would be a direct violation of the article 27 of the Constitution of the Russian Federation.

Oleksandr Kravchuk
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No, that is not correct. Only a valid passport is required to leave Russia, en route to any country. At check in, the airline would check whether a visa is required, but that is not the case for a Russian citizen to enter Thailand.

Giorgio
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Arthur
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    Welcome to TSE. I've expanded your answer so that it's a bit clearer, and given it my upvote. – Giorgio May 16 '17 at 00:39