What is 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, and your photo. Please note, that your Russian visa is an entry-exit permit: if you lose it or stay over your designated departure date, leaving the country could be more troublesome than entering it.

Tourist visa.

This visa type is issued to tourists who have booked accommodation in Russia for different reasons. Tourist visas are issued for a maximum of 30 days (check with your local Russian Embassy or Consulate). A tourist visa is the best when you know exactly where and how long you will be staying without diverting from your planned itinerary. For a tourist visa you must have confirmed accommodations for every night of your stay in Russia. We will provide you with visa support invitation to satisfy this requirement and confirm your accommodation or itinerary in Russia. No hotel reservation or bookings are needed on your part.

Business visa.

This type of visa is issued for travelers who visit Russia on official or private business. Business visas are the best for visitors who do not know their exact itineraries, want to stay in Russia longer than 30 days but not more than 365 days or need to enter Russia frequently. We will apply for your official business visa support at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and will fax or mail it after it is issued.

Price List for the visas to Russia

ATTENTION!

The cost of a visa does not include local charges levied by the appropriate Russian Consulate. The cost of all visa types except multiple entry visa includes registration in Moscow.

Please note that after receiving "EYE VISTA Travel" visa support papers you or your client should contact the appropriate Russian Consulate and ask for an application form (PDF; 81,5 KB), (please note that application forms may vary in different countries but this form includes all basic questions of the Russian Consulate to the applicant), fill it with the required information, stick photo picture, sign the application, pay the Consulate fee and deliver back to them: the letter, Voucher and the passport, wait to receive VISA in few days.

Russian Tourist Visa requirements:
1. Two photocopies of your valid passport (copy all the most important pages of the passport showing your name, birth date, photo, passport number, expiration date). Sometimes it may be required to present the passport.
2. Russian visa application form completed and signed (it's available in a Russian consulate for free).
3. Three passport-type photographs (make sure you have no glasses and hats on).
4. For individual travelers: a letter of invitation (also called "visa support" or "tourist voucher and reservation confirmation") issued by a Russian travel agency authorized in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA), or directly from a Russian hotel, showing the reference number of the company in the MFA and the confirmation number for the visa.

Some Russian consulates require copies, some require originals, it depends of the mood of the visa officer and the regulations of the consulate.

For group travelers: a letter from tour company confirming itinerary and including a copy of the confirmation from authorized Russian travel company which shows the reference number and confirmation number for the visa.

Russian Business Visa requirements:
1. Two photocopies of your valid passport (copy all the most important pages of the passport, showing your name, birth date, photo, passport number, expiration date). Sometimes it may be required to present the passport.
2. Russian visa application form completed and signed (it's available in a Russian consulate for free.
3. Three passport-type photographs (make sure you have no glasses and hats on).
4. If you're applying for a visa longer than 3 months or a multiple entry visa, an HIV test is required.
5. Official invitation from an organization authorized to invite business visitors to Russia. The Invitation to Russia must be from the Russian Ministry of Internal Affairs (Passport & Visa Department) through Russian companies authorized to process invitations for business visas.

The Russian Consulate where you will apply will ask for an original copy of the invitation.

What we need to prepare Invitation form for you

To issue a visa support forms (Invitation and Voucher for tourist type of visa, or Official Invitation Form of the Passport & Visa Department of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Russian Federation for business types of visas) we need the following information:
IMPORTANT!!! This information should be given for each applicant.

• Family name (write in capital letters), given names;
• Day, Month, Year of birth (for Moslem countries - 00.00.Year);
• Sex;
• Citizenship;
• Passport number, expiration date;
• Dates of visa validity: From ” To. (Please indicate the date of CHECK-IN and CHECK-OUT);
• Cities to be visited in Russia;
• Accommodation in Russia (Hotel or private flat);
• The Russian Consulate or Embassy where the visa will be collected. (We are ready to supply you with the information about location of the Russian Consulate);
• Your personal Fax number or your Travel Agent-s Fax (Please notify your Travel Agent that he will receive visa support forms in the Russian and English languages).

For business visas, please add the following information:

Copy of first page of passport with photo + passport No.;
Place of your birth, your current citizenship, Company name, business address, telephone and fax numbers.
Position of the applicant in a Company.

Getting a visa to Russia step by step:

Step 1.
Read carefully the above instruction.

Step 2.
Answer all questions of the instruction in written form. Each applicant (passport bearer) should fill the separate form.

Step 3.
Send your form to our Fax to Moscow: (Please check country code and follow dialing instructions) + 495 789-9721, 789-9722, by e-mail: visa@eyevista.ru or fill the Visa support application form. Please enclose the filled form of Payment Agreement (if payment for this service is effected by Credit Card). You are welcome do download Payment Agreement Form now.

Step 4.
Receive from EYE VISTA Travel Invitation Form consisting of one A-4 size page but divided in two parts (printed in Russian language with Cyrillic letters and printed in English language) for TOURIST TYPE OF VISA or Official Invitation Form of the Passport & Visa Department of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Russian Federation for BUSINESS TYPE OF VISA.

Step 5.
Contact the Russian Consulate or the Russian Embassy in their work hours. Ask for the Application Form (You are welcome to download now an example form containing all questions of a standard Visa Application Form). Fill the form by answering on the questions (use pen or type). Stick your photo size pictures. Pay the Consulate fee for visa processing. Please note that there could be Regular (10-12 work days but cheaper) and Urgent (1-2 work days but more expensive) fees.

Step 6.
Deliver your passport (Xerox copy is not acceptable), filled Application Form and EYE VISTA Travel visa support documents to the Russian Consulate. Wait.

Step 7.
Receive your passport and visa at appointed time. We advise you to make Xerox copy of your visa and passport.

Step 8.
On arrival to Russia be ready to produce your passport, visa and EYE VISTA Travel visa support documents to the border officers.

Step 9.
WITHIN 72 HOURS AFTER ARRIVAL all clients must register at any Hotel in Russia or local passport department (if they are staying in private accommodation).

EYE VISTA Travel office is open to assist you at Hotel IZMAILOVO GAMMA-DELTA Block 24 hours per day. Please call: (+495) 737-7150, 737-7159.
IZMAILOVO GAMMA-DELTA – Moscow, Izmailovsky highway, 71, office 6-15.

The new Russian visa registration procedure was implemented starting from 15’Jan. 2007.

The new rules are friendly to the foreigners.

If you're staying at a hotel, the hotel will register you. The main change is that there is no need anymore to go to UFMS (former OVIR) if you're staying at an apartment and that all the documents can be submitted by post.

1. A foreigner submits his passport and migration card to the landlord. The landlord takes these to the local police station and fills out a registration form (see in attached file) also enters his own passport details and needs to have his own passport when going to the police. It's essential that the landlord himself is registered at this address. The good news is that no approval of the other people registered at the apartment is needed (as it was before).
2. The authorities accept the form and give a tear off coupon to the landlord. He gives it back to the foreigner and the foreigner keeps it until departure. Please note that the foreigner himself is not supposed to go to the police at all.
3. The registration is to be done within three business days upon arrival.
4. When leaving, the foreigner renders the tear off coupon to the landlord (he does not need to show it at the border) and the landlord passes it to the police. This should be done within 24 hours after departure. This procedure is obligatory. If the guest does not render the coupon his stay would not be duly accomplished and it can cause the serious problems for future arrivals.
5. The procedure can be accomplished by post. In this case the same documents are presented to the post office, they check them and give you the coupon back and when the foreigner leaves, you can send the coupon back by post as well. This procedure (submitting the registration by post) should work in Moscow, we do not yet know if all the post offices in Russia are aware of this procedure.

Telephone/Fax: +7 495 789-9721, 789-9722, 298-3010, 778-6583. Local tel. (at the lobby) # 45-64, 66-93.

THE FEDERAL LAW ON THE ORDER OF DEPARTURE FROM THE RUSSIAN FEDERATION AND ENTRANCE TO THE RUSSIAN FEDERATION

(extracts)

State Duma
July, 18, 1996

Article 1. Departure from the Russian Federation and entrance to the Russian Federation (including transit travel) are adjusted by the Constitution of the Russian Federation, the international treaties of the Russian Federation, this Federal law, other federal laws, and also the governmental regulations. In case then the international treaty of the Russian Federation establishes other rules, than the rules, stipulated by this Federal law, rules of the international treaty have an effect.

Article 6. Foreign citizens or persons without citizenship are obliged at entrance to the Russian Federation and departure from the Russian Federation to show the valid documents proving their identity and recognized in this quality by the Russian Federation and the visa if other is not stipulated by the international treaty.
Persons without citizenship enters to the Russian Federation and leaves the Russian Federation according to the rules established by this Federal law for foreign citizens if other is not stipulated by this Federal law, other federal laws or the international treaty of the Russian Federation. The control over presence of visas or other entry documents of persons in the foreign state is a duty of the transport company (a carrier of passengers) if other is not stipulated by the international treaty of the Russian Federation.

Article 24. Foreign citizens can enter the Russian Federation and leave the Russian Federation with visa and valid documents proving their identity and recognized in this quality by the Russian Federation if other is not stipulated by the international treaties of the Russian Federation.
Persons without citizenship can enter the Russian Federation and leave the Russian Federation with visa and valid documents given by corresponding bodies of the state of their residing, proving their identity and recognized in this quality by the Russian Federation if other is not stipulated by the international treaties of the Russian Federation.
The foreign citizens, who have received residence permit in the Russian Federation, enters to the Russian Federation and leaves the Russian Federation with valid documents proving their identity and recognized in this quality by the Russian Federation, and residence permit. Persons without the citizenship with residence permit enter to the Russian Federation and leave the Russian Federation with residence permit.
Foreign citizens and persons without the citizenship, recognized as refugees in the order established by the federal law, staying in territory of the Russian Federation, can leave the Russian Federation and enter the Russian Federation on the basis of a travel document of the refugee.
Foreign citizens and persons without citizenship leave the Russian Federation on the basis of decision of deportation in case then this decision was taken.

Article 25. The cases for delivery to the foreign citizen of the visa are:
1) the invitation to entrance to the Russian Federation, according to the federal law in the order established by the Government of the Russian Federation. The invitation to entrance to the Russian Federation is given out by the federal enforcement authority, under the petition:
a) Federal bodies of the government;
b) Diplomatic representatives and consular establishments;
c) The international organizations and their representations in the Russian Federation, and also representations of the foreign states at the international organizations which are situated in the Russian Federation;
d) Bodies of the government of republics of the Russian Federation.
2) The decision taken by federal enforcement authority, diplomatic representatives either consular establishment of the Russian Federation or representation of the federal enforcement authority, situated within the limits of frontier territory, including in a check point through frontier of the Russian Federation, under the petition of foreign citizen staying outside the Russian Federation sent with necessity of entrance to the Russian Federation for emergency treatment or in case of heavy illness or death of the close relative;
3) The decision of the federal enforcement authority on delivery to the foreign citizen of the visa, directed to diplomatic representatives or consular establishment of the Russian Federation;
4) The decision of the head of diplomatic representatives or consular establishment of the Russian Federation on delivery to the foreign citizen of the visa, taken in unusual cases under the writing application of the foreign citizen;
5) The decision of territorial body of the federal enforcement authority on delivery to the foreign citizen of the sanction to time residing in the Russian Federation;
6) The agreement on rendering of services on tourist service and acknowledgement on reception of the foreign tourist by the organization which is carrying out tourist activity;
7) the decision of the federal enforcement authority, or his territorial body on a recognition of the foreign citizen or the person without citizenship the refugee under the application sent by the foreign citizen or the person without citizenship in diplomatic representatives or consular establishment of the Russian Federation.

Article 25.1. Depending on the purpose of entrance of the foreign citizen to the Russian Federation and the purpose of his stay in the Russian Federation the visa can be diplomatic, service, ordinary, transit and the visa of temporarily staying person.

Article 25.6. Depending on the purpose of entrance of the foreign citizen to the Russian Federation and the purpose of his stay in the Russian Federation ordinary visas are subdivided on private, business, tourist, educational, working, humanitarian and entry visa to the Russian Federation for reception of a refuge.
The ordinary private visa is given out for three months to the foreign citizen entering to the Russian Federation with guest visit, on the basis of the invitation to entrance to the Russian Federation.
The ordinary business visa is given out for the term of one year to the foreign citizen entering to the Russian Federation in case of business trips.
The ordinary tourist visa is given out for the term of one month to the foreign citizen entering to the Russian Federation as the tourist, if he has properly made out agreement on rendering of services on tourist service and acknowledgement on reception by the organization which is carrying out tourist activity.
The ordinary tourist group visa is given out for the term of one month to the foreign citizen entering to the Russian Federation as the tourist with the organized tourist group (not less than five person) with properly made out agreement on rendering of services on tourist service and acknowledgement on reception by the organization which is carrying out tourist activity.
The ordinary educational visa is given out for the term of one year to the foreign citizen entering to the Russian Federation for study in educational establishment.
The ordinary working visa is given out to the foreign citizen entering to the Russian Federation for realization of labour activity, for the term when the labour contract takes force, but no more than for one year.
The ordinary humanitarian visa is given out for the term of one year to the foreign citizen entering to the Russian Federation for realization scientific, cultural, political, sports, or religious communications and contacts, or pilgrimage, or charities, or delivery of the humanitarian help.
The ordinary entry visa to the Russian Federation for reception of a refuge is given out to the foreign citizen for the term of about three months if he has the decision of the federal enforcement authority about recognition this foreign citizen the refugee in territory of the Russian Federation.

Article 25.9. The foreign citizen or the person without citizenship at entrance to the Russian Federation are obliged to receive and fill in a migratory card (download file .pdf 48Kb). The migratory card must be returned in a check point in the frontier of the Russian Federation when the foreign citizen or the person citizenship leaves the Russian Federation.

MIGRATORY CARD (download file .pdf 48Kb)

A migratory card (download file .pdf 48Kb) - the document maintaining data on the foreign citizen, driving to the Russian Federation, and also it’s used for the surveillance of time stay of the foreign citizen in the Russian Federation.

It is required to put in the migration card personal data, terms of stay in Russia and purposes of visit and the prospective stay of residence. It will be a must to fill in the name of the inviting company and the address of the inviting company.

Everyone, who has not put a registration mark due to the address of prospective stay of residence within three days (in other words "visa registration"), will be considered illegal.

The migration card consists of two sections and the top portion is immediately collected by the passport/visa control officials, while the bottom part is collected when the person leaves the country to return home.

Thus, you now need to make sure that when arriving to Russia, you have the full name and address of the company that made your visa support letter (an invitation). This information is given on your visa support documents, please, copy it for further use.

Entry into the country and actual length of the permitted stay will now largely depend on information given in the card and during the "interview" with the visa officials.

The official reasoning behind such "migration cards" was given as "allowing officials to count the number of foreigners who remained in Russia after their visa expired, in other words determine the number of illegal immigrants". According to the officials, law-enforcement bodies will have the information on illegal migrants, because migration card contains all their provisional personal data: first and last name, date of birth, sex, passport number, citizenship, purpose of visit, temporary residence in Russia and the period of stay. Migration cards are numbered, but are printed and have no watermarks.

THE REGULATIONS ABOUT REPRESENTATION OF GUARANTEES OF MATERIAL, MEDICAL AND HOUSING MAINTENANCE OF FOREIGN CITIZENS AND STATELESS PERSONS FOR THE PERIOD OF THEIR STAY IN THE RUSSIAN FEDERATION

1. These regulations determines, according to article 16 of the Federal statute "About a legal status of foreign citizens in the Russian Federation" the order of representation by the inviting person of guarantees of material, medical and housing maintenance of the foreign citizen and the stateless person for the period of their stay in the Russian Federation.

2. The inviting party are:
a) Federal bodies of the government;
b) Diplomatic representatives and consular establishments of the foreign states in the Russian Federation;
c) The international organizations and their representations in the Russian Federation, and also representations of the foreign states at the international organizations which are situated in the Russian Federation;
d) Bodies of the government of republics of the Russian Federation;
e) Institutions of local government;
f) Legal persons;
g) Citizens of the Russian Federation and foreign citizens constantly staying in the Russian Federation.

3. Guarantees of material, medical and housing maintenance of the foreign citizen for the period of his stay in the Russian Federation are letters of guarantee of the inviting party on acceptance on themselves of the following obligations:
a) granting by the inviting party of money resources for residing the foreign citizen for the period of his stay in the Russian Federation in size is not lower than a living wage established in the republic of the Russian Federation, and also the money resources necessary for departure of the foreign citizen from the Russian Federation upon termination of term of his stay in the Russian Federation;
b) providing by the inviting party of the foreign citizen arriving to the Russian Federation for realization of labour activity with wages in size not less then minimal size of a payment established by the federal law;
c) providing by the inviting party of the foreign citizen with the insurance medical policy for the period of his stay in the Russian Federation, or granting to the foreign citizen money resources for medical aid if it is necessary.
d) granting the habitation for the foreign citizen for the period of his stay in the Russian Federation according to the social norm of the area of habitation established by body of the government of the republic of the Russian Federation.

5. The inviting party at the reference in the Ministry for Foreign Affairs of the Russian Federation or the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the Russian Federation (territorial law-enforcement body) with the petition for delivery of the invitation to entrance to the Russian Federation simultaneously represents guarantees of material, medical and housing maintenance of the foreign citizen for the period of his stay in the Russian Federation.

What is the Registration?

Every foreigner who comes to Russia should have his Russian visa registered within 72 hours upon arrival, excluding holidays and weekends. Before it is 72 hours after your arrival, your tickets (train, bus, plane tickets) to the place you're in (i.e. Moscow) is the document, which can confirm how long you've been staying there.

If registering in a travel agency, it may take 3 days, so it's better to come to register just after you arrive.

The registration is a little stamp in your passport on a paper attached to your visa and on the migration card. Be sure that BOTH are stamped. In fact, it's not your obligation to register your visa, it should be done by the landlord (with the help of the company that issued your invitation) or in the hotel you're staying in. Depending on where you have your visa registered, the registration stamp will look different. Generally, a tourist visa is the easiest to register, some restrictions apply to a business visa. If you're staying in a private apartment, the landlord (the owner of the apartment) should provide a special letter to the local police authorities that'll register your visa. In this letter he / she claims that he agrees to accommodate you for a certain period in his apartment.

We will explain how you can have your visa registered later, first we would like to show where the legal basis for this weird rule comes from.

Know Your Rights - Russian Registration Laws.

Effective as of 1 November 2002 the new law "On the Status of Foreign Citizens in Russian Federation" (Law #115-FZ, issued 25/07/02) regulates such issues as Russian visa registration, describes the proccess of applying for a permit of stay in Russia or for Russian citizenship.

Here we will only show what this law says about visa registration.

Specifically, Article 20-1 claims that "A foreign citizen, once entered the Russian Federation, must register during the first three working days after his arrival, at the order provided by this law and other federal laws". Article 20-2 claims that the children under 18, who entered Russian Federation with their parents, or with one of the parents, should be registered together with the parent.

The order of registration is defined in the Article 21. Specifically, the Article 23-3 says that a foreign citizen should register at the place of his arrival in Russian Federation. (e.g. if you arrived in Irkutsk, and plan to stay there for longer than 3 days, you should register, even if you're going elsewhere after). The Article 23-3 also says that if a foreign citizen changes the place of his stay, he should register in the new place during the first three working days after his arrival. (i.e. if you came to St. Petersburg for 4 days, and then plan to stay in Moscow for another 5 days, you should register twice - once in St. Petersburg, then in Moscow.)

Article 21-6 claims that if a foreign citizen lost his documents during his stay in Russian Federation, he should not register. In this case, he should leave Russia not later than 10 days (including holidays) after he obtained the temporary documents.

The documents needed for registration are listed in the Article 23: 1) a migration card with a stamp of passport control at the border; 2) passport or an identity document (it should be passport, because there's visa in the passport).

According to Article 24, a hotel must register a foreign citizen who is staying there, and forward all the information to the Russian immigration officials. When a foreigner leaves the hotel, the hotel must forward the date of leaving to immigration officials again.

The categories of foreigners who should not be registered are listed in the Article 25: 1) president of a state, head of international delegation, members of foreign government organisations, and members of their families; 2) (sic) foreign citizens, who arrived to Russia for the period not longer than 3 days, excluding those who stay in a hotel (in this case, the hotel will register this person anyway); 3) sailors, pilots; 4 and 5 lists other categories.

Where to Register Your Russian Visa.

According to the law #115-FZ and other regulations and laws, the company that made an invitation for you in Russia or a hotel you're staying in, must register your visa if it is valid for up to 3 months. If it's valid for more than 3 months (i.e. a business visa for 12 months) special rules apply.

If you're staying in a hotel: If you are staying at a hotel, the hotel must register your visa (according to the Law #115-FZ, Article 24). The hotel administration will ask you your Russian visa, passport, and migration card (if it was given to you at the Russian border). A small registration fee can be imposed (about 1 USD) and normally it takes a few minutes to have your visa registered (it's just a stamp, after all).

If you're not staying in a hotel: Only the company that issued the invitation for your visa can (and must!) register the visa for you if you're not staying in a hotel. That's why you should always check if the travel agency that looks after your visa support (invitation) has an office in all Russian cities you visit, and where you will NOT stay in hotels.