Russian Visa FAQs
In case of any problem with a visa, you are recommended to contact immediately your Visa Sponsor. This is a legal entity (or individual) that invited you to Russia and whose name is indicated on your visa. Under the Russian law, only your Visa Sponsor can and must solve your visa problems in most cases. This is why prior to ordering a visa, you are strongly advised to ensure that your inviting company has an office in Russia (in particular, in the city where you are planning to stay) and you have its contact information.
Below are listed the most typical problems and common recommendations for their solving. Click on the question to view the answer.
Before entering Russia
- Do I need a visa?
- How can I change the data in my application for a Visa Invitation?
- Where is the nearest Consulate?
- What documents should I bring to the Russian Consulate in order to apply for a visa?
- Is it possible to send the documents and receive the visa back by post if I live far from the Consulate?
- I am not in my country at the moment. Is it possible to apply for a visa in other country or will I have to obtain it in the country of my citizenship?
Crossing the border
In Russia
- I have to change something in my visa.
- My visa was not registered within 7 days upon arrival to Russia.
- Visa Sponsor is located in another city.
- The Migration police refuses to register my visa.
- I am going to leave the country, but my visa has not been registered.
- My visa has expired.
- My passport and visa were lost or stolen.
- I am detained by the police.
- I cannot contact my Visa Sponsor.
- My Visa Sponsor refuses to help me.
- I cannot find a Russian organization able to help me.
- I would like to use VIP services at the airport.
Useful Hints – view
Before entering Russia
To enter Russia for any purpose, citizens of most countries must possess a valid visa. Visa is not required for citizens of some visa-free countries and a number of visa-free trips.
In case you’ve indicated the wrong data in your order for a Visa Invitation, please, contact us as soon as possible. The cost of the correction depends on the time elapsed since the order has been made and the type of chosen Invitation.
To find the contact information of the Russian Consulates including their telephone numbers and e-mail addresses, please, go to the Russian Consulates and Visa Centres. In some countries it is required to contact the Russian Visa Centre instead of the Consulate.
As a rule, to obtain a visa, you are required to submit a visa Invitation, passport, one or two photos (approximate size 3 x 4 cm), proof of medical insurance and to pay Consular (visa) fee. At the Visa Centre you will need to pay Service fee. Travelers applying for a visa to the Consulates in the United Kingdom, Denmark, Namibia and Myanmar will be obliged to provide their biometric data. For multiple-entry visas you may also be required to present an AIDS Test certificate (with test results issued within the previous 90 days). In any case, you are advised to get in touch with the Russian Consulate in order to check the latest update on the required documents. For further information, please see At the Consulate.
This is possible in certain Consulates. Please see the detailed information on the page At the Consulate and contact the appropriate Consulate. In any case, you will need to obtain a Visa Invitation.
Visa can be obtained by a foreigner only at the Consulate in the country of which citizen he/she is. Citizens of the Schengen countries can obtain a visa in any country-member of the Schengen Area. To receive a visa in a third country, one must submit a residence or work permit in this country. However, the final decision to grant a visa rests with the Consulate.
Crossing the border
Before ordering the tickets to Russia, please, check the start date of your visa. You will not be allowed to enter Russia before this date.
Passengers are strictly prohibited to import and export the following materials:
1) Printed, audio-visual and other information containing prohibited materials.
2) Civil and service weapons.
3) Hazardous waste containing any of the substances indicated in the customs documents.
4) Undercover surveillance and intelligence gathering equipment.
5) Poisonous substances that are not precursors of narcotic drugs and psychotropic substances from the list approved by the Russian Ministry of Health.
6) Narcotic drugs, psychotropic substances and their precursors, except for a certain amount of medicinal substances for personal use for medicinal purposes (in this case the necessary documents should be presented).
7) Human organs and/or tissues, blood and its components.
see full list
Once you have passed through the passport control, please, check the stamps on your passport and migration card.
The stamp must contain the current date with an arrow directed towards the date [DD MM YY D <], where DD means day, MM – month, YY – year, D – any digit, < – arrow.
In case you found a mistake, you are strongly recommended to immediately contact the customs officer to avoid problems with a visa registration or your following entry to Russia.
You will be informed of the reason. It is possible that:
- your visa has expired;
- the arrival stamp on your passport or visa is not correct;
- something else is wrong with your documents.
Please, contact your Visa Sponsor for help.
If you are departing from Sheremetyevo, Domodedovo, Vnukovo or Pulkovo Airport, it is possible to appeal for help to the Consular office there.
In Russia
It is not possible to make any correction in the visa when you are already in Russia.
To register a visa after 7 days upon your arrival, your Visa Sponsor should provide the Migration police with the Arrival Notification form (Uvedomleniye o Pribytii Inostrannogo Grazhdanina v Mesto Prebyvaniya) – the registration application form containing passport data of the landlord of the apartment where you are staying, his/her full address and telephone number. It will also be necessary to pay a penalty (2000 – 5000 RUR) in Police for violation of the visa regime.
The landlord of the apartment where you are staying may be able to register your visa at the Post Office by paying a fine.
If for any reason you cannot register your visa, you are advised to avoid the police, wherever possible. Otherwise, you may be subject to the penalty for violation of the visa regime (up to 5000 RUR) and will waste a lot of time and efforts to solve this problem.
As a rule, if the Visa Sponsor is unable to register your visa in the city where you are staying, you should:
- try to register your visa in a hotel; or
- ask the landlord of the apartment (where you are staying) to register your visa at the local Migration police office or at the Post Office; or
- find a local reliable company which will be able to help you; or
- avoid being stopped by the police.
It is possible that your Visa Sponsor did not fulfil any requirements of the local Migration police office. In this case, you can try to register your visa with the hotel or ask your Visa Sponsor to help you in any other way. In addition, a visa can be registered by the landlord of the apartment (where you are staying) at the Post Office.
If you did not register your visa within 7 days upon your arrival, please be aware that Russian police officer can stop you and request to pay a penalty (2000-5000 RUR) for violation of the visa regime.
While crossing the border, the Migration police officer or the frontier guard can ask you to present your registration application form.
In all cases, we recommend you to convince an official that you are not staying in any city of Russia for more than 7 working days and, accordingly, are not obliged to register the visa (it is desirable to present your tickets, hotel receipts of payment, etc.).
In case you did not depart Russia by your visa expiry date and overstayed its validity, the only way to leave the country is to be deported on a Court decision.
Violation of the departure term is an administrative offense which is punished by a fine of not less than 5000 RUR and threatens with an exclusion for up to 5 years.
You can get a new passport only at the Embassy or Consulate of your native country.
As a rule, it is impossible to replace a visa, so you will need to get an exit visa instead. The Visa Sponsor should provide the Migration police with your new passport, two photos, travel ticket with the fixed departure date, its letter of request and pay a state fee. In addition, it is necessary to contact the nearest police station in order to obtain a certificate confirming the loss of your passport and visa.
It is possible that your visa is not registered. In this case, the police officer can request you to pay a penalty (2000-5000 RUR) for violation of the visa regime.
It is possible that the police officer acts quite unprofessionally. Try to convince him that your visa was registered in due time or that you arrived in this Russian city less than 7 working days ago (present your ticket, etc.).
In other cases, try to contact your Visa Sponsor as soon as possible and ask for help.
Probably your Visa Sponsor was a fictitious company. Try to find another reliable company which will be able to help you.
Probably your Visa Sponsor has a lot of its own problems. It is practically impossible to force a Visa Sponsor to help you. Try to find a reliable company which will be able to help you and ask your present Visa Sponsor to render assistance.
Please contact the Embassy or the Consulate of your country and request a diplomatic note to be submitted on your behalf to the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs asking to grant you an exit visa or a Return-Home Certificate.
Many Russian airports have special waiting rooms and a special service upon passing passport and border controls. Visa House recommends to use the services of our longtime partner ARTIFICIAL HORIZON.
Useful Hints
In order to avoid possible visa problems, we strongly recommend you to observe the following rules:
- use the services of a reliable Visa Sponsor and always have its contact information on hand;
- order a visa which type and validity period answer the purpose of your trip;
- register your visa in time;
- make copies of your visa, passport and migration card and keep them in a safe place;
- staple the migration card and the registration form (if you have it) to a page on your passport;
- do not forget the expiry date of your visa. Before ordering tickets from Russia, please check the expiry date of your visa as you will not be allowed to leave Russia after this date.