VISA SERVICES

What is a Russian Visa?

All foreign citizens visiting Russia need to have a valid Russian visa to enter and/or leave the country. A Russian visa is a special document either stamped to your passport or issued on a separate paper, that grants you a permit to enter and to leave the Russian Federation during a specified period of time.

There are six types of Russian visas: a tourist visa, a business visa, a student visa, a guest visa and a transit visa. Each visa type corresponds to the purpose of your visit. However, this is not followed very strictly and many people come for a short business trip with tourist visas, while other people come to visit their friends with business visas.

You can get a Russian visa in a Russian consulate at the country you are currently in. Uncertain about how to find your Russian consulate? Check out our Russian embassies list.

To apply for a Russian visa, you will need to submit certain documents to a Russian consulate, depending on the type of visa you require. One of the most important documents that you will need for any type of visa is an invitation (or visa support).

The invitation (visa support) is a special document issued by the party that invites you to Russia. The invitation is required by a Russian consulate to process your visa. For every type of visa, there is a different type of invitation (tourist, business, private, and student). The invitation can be issued by a Russian travel agency or by a company or organization authorized by the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA).

Children apply for separate visas if they travel on their own passports. Non-traveling parents must confirm in an affidavit their consent for their children's travel.

The validity and type of visa should be strictly adhered to. When in Russia, you cannot change your visa status (i.e. from tourist to business or from business to student and vice versa). To do that, you have to leave the country and return on a different visa.