Russian Visas - An Overview

What is a Russian Visa?

A visa to the Russian Federation is a document, permitting stay in Russia for a specific period of time. A visa lists entry/exit dates, your vital information, passport details. . Please note that your Russian visa is an exit permit . . . just like it’s an entry permit . . . . if you overstay your designated departure date, leaving the country could be more troublesome than entering it.

Requirements for Foreign Citizens to enter Russia

 

Tourist Travel to Russia

  1. A completed visa application form
  2. Passport must be valid 6 months beyond period of intended of stay
  3. One professional passport sized photo stapled to the application form
  4. A standard tourist confirmation ("Podtverzdeniye") from an authorised hosting Russian travel agency, registered with the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MID RF). The confirmation letter must contain the agency's special reference number with MID RF
  5. A tour voucher original or its copy attested by authorised Russian travel agency
  6. Tickets and Documents for return or onward travel

 

 

Business Travel to Russia

  1. A completed visa application form
  2. Passport must be valid 6 months beyond period of intended stay.
  3. One professional passport sized (3x4 cm) photo on a white background. Please write your name in capital letters on the back of the photos.
  4. Invitations to Russia are now issued by the Ministry of Interior (Home Office) and its Passport and Visa offices upon the application of companies or organizations or private persons you are going to visit. The letter must contain official seal and legal address of the agency, signature and name of the authorised person, name of the applicant in Russian and in English, date and place of birth, gender, citizenship, country of residence, passport number and date of issue, purpose of visit, dates of travel into and out of Russia, places to be visited in Russia, name and address of the inviting organization in Russia or the name of the person who invites you with his or her the residential address, period of the validity of the invitation.
  5. An HIV test certificate is required for visas valid for more than 3 months.
  6. Tickets and documents for return or onward travel

 

Russian Transit Visa

  1. A completed visa application
  2. Passport valid for at least 6 months
  3. One professional passport sized photo on white background stapled to the application form
  4. A copy of the confirmed air, railway or other ticket

 

 

What is a Russian Visa?

A visa to the Russian Federation is a document, permitting stay in Russia for a specific period of time. A visa lists entry/exit dates, your vital information, passport details. . Please note that your Russian visa is an exit permit . . . just like it’s an entry permit . . . . if you overstay your designated departure date, leaving the country could be more troublesome than entering it.

Travelers who are departing Russia by train should be aware that if they board a train on the last day of a visa's validity, Russian immigration officials may consider the visa to have expired if the train crosses the international border after midnight on the day of expiry. The Embassy and Consulates General are aware of cases in which travelers have been detained at border crossings, unable to leave Russia, because their visas were expired by a matter of hours or minutes.