Does a foreigner need a visa to Russia?

If you are going to visit the Russian Federation, you will definitely need a visa. The visa regime applies to anyone planning a trip to Russia, whether it is a tourist trip or a business trip. The visa application must be submitted in person by the applicant or through an accredited visa agency to a competent diplomatic mission abroad. You may need an invitation from Russia to complete your visa application. EU citizens can apply for a visa to Russia in any of the EU countries. In Germany, the Russian Embassy in Berlin and the Russian Consulate General are responsible for issuing entry permits and other documents for the Russian Federation.

In order to obtain a visa to Russia, citizens from other countries must issue an official invitation for foreigners, which is issued by the appropriate authority. Almost all foreign visitors wishing to visit Russia must obtain a visa depending on the purpose of their trip. Invitations for foreigners can be issued for different purposes, such as business, tourism, humanitarian visas, work visas and others. The validity period of the invitation as well as the period of stay in Russia may differ depending on the purpose of the trip. However, the speed of obtaining a visa for foreigners depends on the main purpose of the visit, period of stay, type of visa in the Russian Federation and promptness of the invitation. Our company provides competent and professional online visa support in obtaining invitations to Russia for various purposes, such as tourism, business, humanitarian visas, work visas and many others. Contact us through our website and we will help you to get visa to Russia quickly and without problems.

A tourist visa is required for foreign citizens who want to visit Russia as tourists. This can be a regular tourist vacation, individual tourism, hunting, fishing or simply walking around wonderful places. A tourist visa is provided for such purposes. Since 2021 the validity period of tourist visas for foreign citizens has been increased from 30 to 90 days, and there is an opportunity to issue a multiple-entry tourist visa with a corridor of 180 days, during which you can stay in Russia for up to 90 days. Now a single-entry or double-entry visa can be issued for a period of 90 days instead of 30. Issuing a tourist invitation is the fastest and easiest way to get a visa to Russia for 3 months.

In order to be able to stay in Russia for a year, it is necessary to apply for a business multiple entry visa. It is usually issued for 365 days and allows you to cross the border an unlimited number of times. Obtaining a long-term multi-visa for business purposes is one of the most complicated processes in the Russian visa legislation. In this case, the applicant's vetting will be carried out quite rigorously, and there are many reasons for refusal.

To apply for a visa to Russia, a foreign citizen needs to submit the following documents to the consulate:

• A passport, which must have at least two blank pages allocated for visas. In addition, the passport must be valid at the time of expiration of the visa, but not less than six months thereafter;
• an invitation issued by the inviting party in Russia (see above);
• two 3.5x4.5 cm photos.

A visa for tourists to Russia requires a tourist voucher and an invitation.

Also, a foreign citizen must fill out a visa application form and pay a state fee, the amount of which will depend on the country, multiplicity and urgency of the visa. When applying for a Russian visa, a foreigner should take into account that he/she may need medical insurance, confirmation of hotel reservation for the period of stay in Russia and other documents. If the foreigner is a citizen of a country on the list of migration-hazardous countries, he or she will need to provide additional guarantees.

The timeframe for issuing an invitation may vary depending on the FMS department, but according to the law, the timeframe for its issuance cannot exceed 30 days from the date of submission of documents. A person may receive an invitation for a visa with a validity period not exceeding 90 days. After receiving the invitation, the inviting party must send it to the foreigner through the FMS department. Accredited legal entities may issue a visa invitation for a longer period of time:

• for EU citizens - for up to 5 years;
• for US citizens - for up to 3 years;
• for citizens of other countries - for up to 1 year. Legal entities with appropriate accreditation can issue invitations for foreigners to Russia via Telex. In this case, an order will be received from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Russian Federation to the consulate of the Russian Federation abroad via a special communication channel to issue a visa.

You can order a visa online at our website. Specialists of our visa center will help you to get a visa, which will save your time to prepare for your trip. We make visas for everyone. To find out the cost, send an application. The cost depends on the urgency of production and the purpose of travel.

• Free consultations on how you can get a visa to Russia for everyone
• Up-to-date information on visa requirements for entering Russia
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• Full list of required documents for visa application
• No need to wait in line at Russian consulates
• Transparent pricing policy: no additional consular fees