Russian Visas

• General
• Types of visas
• Requirements
• Tourist visa
• Business visa
• Private invitations
• Notes

General

Visa to the Russian Federation is a document, permitting you to stay in Russia for a specific period of time.

A visa is issued on a separate piece of paper with 2 your photos stapled to it, and lists your name, address, passport details, entry and exit dates of your visit. If you loose this paper, you will have enormous problems with leaving the country; and it's a good idea to have a copy of your visa in a safe place. If you have to stay longer than the period the visa was issued for, you must apply for extension ahead of time; otherwise you will face similar problems.

Types of visas

Generally, there are 2 types of visas one can obtain in order to visit Russia:

1. Tourist visa
2. Business visa

There won't be any problem with receiving a Russian visa of both types; the only thing you must take in consideration is time. Your passport must be valid 3 months beyond intended stay; vaccinations are not required.

Standard time for processing your application is 10 working days; lets say it's two weeks. If any of your papers are incorrect, you may need additional time to obtain the right one. If you submitted your documents 9 working days in advance or less, you will have to pay double fee. Yes, Russians are capable of doing the paper work faster, if you pay.

Russian visas cannot be obtained at the airport on arrival; I have heard about cases when men were hoping to get a transit visa on their arrival to Moscow, and were mercilessly deported.

What you will need:

• Visa application form (available from embassies and travel agencies);
• Passport (copy of the passport if sending documents by mail);
• 3 passport-size photos;
• Corresponding fee.

This is applicable for all type of visas. Particulars on the different types of visas see below.

It is a good idea to include a copy of your tickets/reservation of the tickets along with the documents. Write a cover letter, and include a prepaid self addressed envelope if you want the consulate to send you the visa by mail.

If you apply for a visa in person, you will be issued a slip with a number. When you come to pick up your visa, please do not forget this slip. They do require it.

When enter Russia, your visa will be stamped. Your visa must be also registered and stamped by a visas' department at every single city where are you staying during the visit. You must register within 3 days from your arrival. If you stay in a hotel, administration will do it for you. But don't be concerned if you must do it yourself: it takes 2 minutes and your personal presence in the visas department is not required, anyone can bring your passport and fill out the form. It is a very formal procedure that is a survivor of socialist times.

When you leave Russia, they will collect the visa on the border, so save your tickets if you ever need to prove you have been in Russia (may be handy for the purposes of fiancee visa application).

Tourist visa

This is the most common type of visa that foreigners use to visit Russia.

In addition to the papers mentioned, this requires a "tourist voucher". If your travel agent is not familiar with organizing tours to Russia, he may be a bit confused what is it.

Tourist voucher is a confirmation from a Russian tour operator, that you have booked a hotel and they are responsible for your staying.

Why they call it "voucher"? Nobody knows, but in addition to normal confirmation from hotel that is required by most embassies, the Russian consulate has some rules who can issue such a document. The tour operator must be a registered tourist company that has been assigned a special index in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Russia. This index and a tour reference number must be indicated in the confirmation (copy of a fax message).

Many Russian hotels such as "Rossia" in Moscow can issue the voucher for you when you book accommodation there.

Business visa

For business visas tourist voucher is not required but you need an invitation from a Russian company.

The invitation must be issued by an organization that is registered with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Russia. In order to obtain a multi-entry visa, the hosting organization must apply to the Russian Foreign Ministry for authorization.

If you visit Russia on the business visa, you can stay whenever you want, at hotel or private apartments, and you don't have to book in advance that is very convenient. You can ask a person you visit to buy get you a business invitation. There are some organizations that do it for a fee, and their names and addresses usually may be obtained from the visas department (in Russian they spell it as "OVIR" - the place where they issue "foreign passports", special documents for traveling abroad). Just ask the person who you visit to find out at OVIR where she can get a business invitation for her foreign friend. The fee that companies charge for business invitations may be anything from 5 to 80 dollars, depending on the city; in big cities like Moscow fees are higher.

Private invitations

You can also visit Russia with a private invitation, too.

A person must apply to a district police office ("rayonniy otdel vnutrennikh del") that will send request to the visas department. She must fill out a special form that can be obtained from the police office, and include a receipt on transferring the corresponding fee and proof of residence (a document from the government communal service that is in charge of the area where she is staying - "domoupravlenie"). Usually processing of the application takes anything from 2 to 4 months, and one cannot receive any information when her application will be processed. If you wish to visit Russia on a private invitation, take the time matters in consideration. The rest is the same as for business visas.

Notes

The Consulate says it reserves the right to invite any applicant for an interview, but I did not hear about such cases.

USA consulate is particularly overworking so they have special requirements on how the documents should be submitted.

• Copies of the passport pages should be trimmed to the size of the original and stapled to the upper-left corner of the application form.
• Two of your photos should be stapled to the copy of the passport page.
• The other photo should be stapled to the specially marked place in the upper-right corner of the application form.

They reserve the right to return the documents if they are submitted in a different manner.

Do not forget to carefully check your visa when receive it. If there is any misspelling or mistake, you will be refused in entering Russia. If there is some, return the visa to the embassy for corrections. This is another reason why you should take care of your visa well in advance. If you send documents by mail, add some time for delivery.