For years, thousands of North Koreans worked abroad in countries like Russia and China, funneling large chunks of their earnings back to the DPRK government. Now, more than a year after the U.N. banned overseas North Korean workers in an effort to squeeze the country’s nuclear programs, experts are raising concerns about a new Russian e-visa that could be used to circumvent sanctions.

As of Jan. 1 of this year, citizens from 52 countries including North Korea can apply for simplified Russian e-visas. The legal change, announced in Nov. 2020, no longer requires a Russian entity such as a person, company, school, tour group or hotel to extend a “formal invitation” to foreigners in order for them to enter the country.