Russian Visa Support

The procedure for obtaining a Russian visa consists of three steps:

Step 1 - Getting the Visa Invitation to Russia;
Step 2 - Getting the visa issued by the Russian Consulate;
Step 3 - Registering your visa upon arrival in Russia.

Step 1: Getting an Invitation

To obtain a Russian visa you need to get an invitation or so-called visa-support letter. There are several types of invitations and visas but the most frequent are the tourist and business visas.

A tourist invitation (consists of a tourist voucher and a reservation confirmation) is needed to get a tourist visa. Tourist visas are valid for up to 30 days (one month) and are usually single-entry. We provide our tourists with tourist visa support letter for free once they book a hotel in a Russian city, though it may be provided without a hotel reservation.

A business invitation (an invitation letter) is needed to get a business visa. Business visas can be single, double, and multiple entry. Their validity ranges from 1 to 12 months.

Step 2: Getting a Visa

When you have an invitation, you need to submit it to the nearest Russian consulate and apply for a visa. The list of  diplomatic and consular missions of Russia you can find here: http://www.mid.ru/zu_r.nsf/strawebeng

To apply for a Russian visa, the following documents should be submitted to the nearest Russian consulate:

- your invitation (provided by our company),

- your valid (signed) passport which should have at least one clear page for a visa and the photocopy of the following pages of the passport: the first page, the pages showing your name, birth date, passport number, expiration date (the passport should be valid for at least 3 month after the visa expires),

- three photographs (passport size - 3 by 4 cm),

- a filled out visa application form (you can pick it up in the consulate or on the web site of the Russian Consulate).

All these documents should be submitted to the consulate along with a visa application fee (from $50 to $150, depending on the visa type and the processing time requested). If you are a male citizen age 16-45 you are required to fill out a supplement form 95 to the standard application form.

To apply for a Russian business visa, in addition to the mentioned documents, a consulate may require a travel insurance, HIV test (for stay exceeding 3 months, or multi-entry visas), and other documents.

After you submit all the documents and papers needed it should take the consulate from 1 to 21 days to make a visa.

Step 3: Getting your Visa Registered

Upon arrival to any Russian city you need to register your visa within three working days (72 hours). If you stay in a hotel, the hotel will register your visa for the whole period of your visa's validity (you will have a small stamp in your passport). Please note if you do not register your visa at the hotel or at our company, you may be fined by police or by passport control officers at the airport.

If you have any questions or you would like to order visa application please feel free to contact us at travel@r-tg.com