---
title: "Record outflow: Russians are massively looking for ways to leave the country and obtain foreign passports"
description: "Russians are breaking records in searching for foreign passports and visa-free exit methods: demand has grown by 221% since the end of 2024. Experts link the frenzy to the risks of new mobilization, however, 8.9 million citizens are detained at the border due to debts. 🚨🛂📉"
date: 2026-07-23T14:34:00.000Z
lang: en
url: https://xab.info/en/posts/record-outflow-russians-massively-look-for-ways-to-leave-and-get-passports
tags: [russia, migration, mobilization, passport, federal-security-service]
publisher: "XAB.info"
---

# Record outflow: Russians are massively looking for ways to leave the country and obtain foreign passports

![People with bags walk past a building in a modern city, illustrating the theme of population outflow and the search for new opportunities abroad](https://xab.info/media/2026/07/23/rekordnyy-otok-rossiyane-massovo-ishchut-sposoby-uexat-za-granitsu/rekordnyy-otok-rossiyane-massovo-ishchut-sposoby-uexat-za-granitsu-1.webp)

Russia is witnessing an unprecedented surge in interest regarding emigration and the acquisition of foreign documents. Search engine statistics record record levels of queries related to leaving the country, which have reached a peak since the start of the full-scale war.

### Record demand for foreign passports

According to data cited by RBC-Ukraine from the Telegram channel "We Can Explain," in June 2026, the number of users searching for information on the cost of obtaining a foreign passport on "Yandex" reached 26,339. This is an absolute maximum for the entire observation period since 2024.

The growth dynamics are impressive: compared to November 2024, when only 8,203 queries were recorded, interest grew by 221%. Even the previous peak, recorded in July 2025 (21,616 queries), was surpassed by 22%.

The situation in the document processing services market has become so tense that Moscow residents began to complain en masse about the lack of available slots for obtaining documents in July 2026.

### Google Trends and the search for visa-free countries

Google Trends analytics confirm this trend. In May 2026, the query "how much does it cost to get a foreign passport" reached the maximum popularity index for the first time in five years — 100 points. For comparison, the previous record was recorded in January of the same year and amounted to 96 points.

Simultaneously, interest in countries that do not require visas is growing. In June, the query "leave without a visa" was entered 1,251 times on "Yandex." This is 118% more than during the period of least interest (February 2025) and 12% higher than the March 2026 maximum.

Citizens are also actively interested in bureaucratic nuances: the query "permission to leave" was searched 20,629 times in June, which is 10.5% less than the absolute maximum last summer, but remains at an extremely high level. In Google Trends, the phrase "exit visa" also reached 100 points in July 2026, doubling the figure of the previous peak in March 2023 (49 points).

### Barriers to leaving: debts and mobilization

Despite the mass desire to leave the country, a significant part of the population physically cannot do so due to official bans. Over the last year, the number of exit restrictions for debtors has increased by 41.5%.

As of January 1, 2026, the FSB Border Service database contained 8.9 million active orders restricting exit. A year earlier, this figure was 6.3 million. Such restrictions are imposed en masse due to unpaid alimony, unpaid loans, compensation for damages, and fines.

Against the backdrop of these data, experts and intelligence agencies link the growing interest in emigration to expectations of a new wave of mobilization. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy previously stated that after the Duma elections, the aggressor country might conduct a new mobilization to avoid expenses on contractors. Meanwhile, the Main Directorate of Intelligence of Ukraine (GUR) reports that Russia is secretly preparing for general mobilization to continue the war, avoiding public mention of this due to public dissatisfaction.