Citizens of most non-CIS (Commonwealth of Independent States) countries must obtain a visa prior to arriving in Russia.

Citizens of most non-CIS (Commonwealth of Independent States) countries must obtain a visa prior to arriving in Russia. Citizens of Croatia and Serbia (3 months, invitation required), Israel (90 days), Montenegro (90 days), Cuba (30 days), Thailand (30 days) and Venezuela (90 days) do not need a visa. Obtaining a Russian visa is a costly, time-consuming, and often frustrating process. Most visitors should start the process at least two months in advance, but it can be done in a few weeks if you are willing to spend a little extra. There is also a way to get a visa in just a few days, but for citizens of some countries, this will cost a couple hundred dollars. For citizens of EU countries, this will cost €130 and take three days, instead of the usual 4-10 days.

The Invitation

There are number of ways to get a Russian visa, but first of all, you will need an official invitation. The type of visa you receive (see below) depends on the type of invitation that has been issued to you.

The tourist invitation is a letter of confirmation of booking and pre-payment of your accommodation and travel arrangements in Russia. It can be obtained from your tour operator if you book a package tour, a government approved hotel in Russia, an on-line hotel booking service or Russian travel agency. The sign of government approval is a so called "consular reference," the government registration number with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Russia. Only hotels and travel agencies that have consular reference can issue the confirmations valid for visa purposes. Using a local Visa Service to obtain a Russian Visa will streamline the process. They will double check your application and invitation, go to the embassy for you and return your passport to you. This saves time and frustration.

It should be noted that tricks such as booking one night in a hotel and getting a visa for 30 days with the paper received from the hotel won't work. Hotels only issue invitations for the length of time you are a guest with them, and the visa will be issued to match the dates of the invitation. However, some travel agencies will issue a confirmation for a fee, without actually collecting the accommodation pre-payment. The legality of such actions are in question and there is a bit of controversy about this. Travelers who plan to stay in more than one hotel would probably be best advised to seek an invitation through a travel agency rather than a hotel directly, in order for the invitation to cover all the dates of your proposed trip.

Russian Embassies and Consulates are inconsistent in whether they accept faxed/e-mailed copies of the invitation in lieu of the original, so it is best to check in advance, and plan far enough in advance that you have time to receive the original by mail if necessary.

If you have friends or relatives in Russia, you could ask them to sponsor you for a private/homestay visa. They would need to seek an invitation through their local Passport and Visa Division of the Federal Migration Service (formerly OVIR). The problem with such invitations is that they take at least a month to process. The inviting individual is solely responsible for all your activities while in Russia and can be penalized heavily if something goes wrong. So personal invitations are usually not available for a fee through the net.

Another type of invitation is required to obtain a business visa. Business invitations are issued by the government and for many Russian consulates the original hard copy is required (though some will accept a faxed copy, always check this before applying) Obtaining the business invitation is time consuming and costly. Any registered company in Russia can apply for the business invitation for a foreign national in the visa and passport office in Russia. It normally takes 4 to 6 weeks to get one. Some travel agencies in Russia can help obtaining a business invitation. Business visas are a lot flexible than tourist visas, since they can be valid for multiple entries for up to 12 months. However, see the important caveat below under Business Visas.

Invitations for student visas are issued by the educational institution where you plan to study. Most universities and language schools are familiar with the process.

Some Russian local governments have a right to invite foreigners for cultural exchanges by sending a TELEX to the Embassy or Consulate of Russia overseas, requesting the visa issue to a particular foreigner or group of foreigners. Such telex messages are used instead of invitation. This is normally the way to go if you are invited by the government.

Receiving the Visa

Once you have an invitation, you can apply for a visa. The standard price charged by the Russian Consulate for a visa is $100 in some countries ($130 for United States Citizens), plus (in some countries) $20 for returning your passport via FedEx. EU citizens pay €35 for most kinds of visas, thanks to a reciprocal visa agreement. In order to get a visa you will need a visa application, two passport-size photos, an invitation, and passport. In some countries, you will also need two money orders for $100 and $20, as some Russian Consulates do not accept credit cards or personal checks. In others, you will need a credit/debit card because the Russian consulates in these countries don't accept money orders, cash or cheques. In some countries, you will need to send all of these to any Russian consulate and wait for few weeks. In other countries, you will have to visit the consulate yourself to submit your application, wait for just one week and then pick it up in person at the consulate if the consulate doesn't allow mail applications (referring to a Russian law)[1].

In the United States, however, consulates have ceased accepting applications, requiring one to go through a visa processing firm to obtain a visa or apply in person at the Russian Embassy in Washington, D.C.

Alternatively, you could pay some visa processing firm an additional $50-150 for "expedited visa processing," which actually works. To find such firms just Google - visa to Russia. Some firms include visas in their tours and take care of visa hassles for you.

Once you have the visa in hand, check all the data to make sure your name and passport number are correct, and that the dates of your intended entry and exit are correct. It is easier to correct mistakes before you travel than after you arrive.

Arrival, Customs and Registration

When you arrive in Russia, non-Russian citizens will be expected to fill in two copies of the migration card, which is sometimes only available in Cyrillic characters (translations into English and German are available on Lufthansa and Aeroflot). Passport control will tear off one copy of the migration card, leaving you with one copy, and it should be stamped. Keep track of this card. It is vital to registering your visa and leaving Russia. Not being able to present a migration card when leaving Russia can result in fines and the possibility of your departure being delayed by several days while the authorities work out what to do with you.

Those who enter Russia with valuable electronic items or musical instruments (especially violins that look antique and expensive), antiques, large amounts of currency, or other such items are required to declare those items on the customs entry card and must insist on having the card stamped by a customs officer upon arrival. Even if the customs officer advises that it is not necessary to declare such items, the traveler does have the right to insist on a stamp on his declaration. Having this stamp may save one considerable hassle (fines, confiscation) upon departure from Russia should the customs agent at departure decide that an item should have been declared upon entry.

You must register your stay within three business days of arrival in country, and within three days of arriving in each new city. If you have an active itinerary and are not staying in any one place for three days, you must register at least once in the first city you visit. Your sponsor (the one who issued the invitation) is responsible for registering you. If you are staying in a hotel, the hotel is also obliged to register you, at least for the length of your stay with them.

Staying in Russia

While in Russia, law requires you to carry your passport and registration card with you at all times. Police on the streets will do random passport checks so you must have your passport on you at all times. But you're not alone — this goes for Russian citizens as well. It is also good to have a copy of the passport, visa, and migration card, in case a dishonest police officer asks for your documents, because it is much harder to ransom a copy than the original, and you can always make another copy.

Business visas have their own particular nuances about how long the visa holder may stay in Russia. Following the introduction of new rules on October 17, 2007, a 12-month Russian business visa (and some other types as well) will only entitle the holder to spend 90 days of the two 180-day periods of validity of the visa within Russia. In addition, should a visitor on a business visa spend 90 consecutive days within the RF, then they will not be allowed to re-enter Russia until a further period of 90 days has passed. This therefore limits the maximum time that may be spent in Russia on a one-year business visa (and some other types of visa), to just 180 days. Other rules were simultaneously introduced placing restrictions on where visas may be obtained by foreign nationals to enter Russia and how frequently the person must leave Russian territory and obtain a new registration on re-arrival.

Departure from Russia

Russian law is very strict about the amount of time one can stay in Russia on a visa. You may never arrive before the entry date on your visa (you can always arrive later), and you may not depart after the exit date on your visa (likewise, you can always leave earlier). If you overstay – even by a few minutes – you and your sponsor are subject to fines and perhaps further delays in departing. Be especially careful if your flight or train leaves after midnight, because the border guards will not let you depart if you're leaving even 10 minutes after your visa expires! Several travelers, for example, have had problems when they've boarded a Helsinki-bound train on their day their visa expires, but their train doesn't cross the Finnish border until after midnight. This is because Russia requires one to have an exit visa in order to leave the country. Normally, the exit visa is included in an entry visa for tourists and business... so long as the visa is valid. Other classes require a separate exit visa, and such can take up to three weeks to process.

You must present your passport, visa, and migration card at the border in order to depart. If you've lost your migration card, often you will be able to get by with just paying a nominal fine. If you've lost your passport, your embassy can replace that for you (maybe not instantly), and your sponsor, not your embassy, must apply to the Federal Migration Service to transfer your visa to your replacement passport. Having a copy of your old visa helps with this process, but it is not sufficient to let you depart.

Exit and reentry during the time of your visa requires permits. Getting these permits is a Kafkaesque bureaucratic nightmare best avoided entirely by spending more money in advance for a multiple entry visa.