Russian Visa Support:

You can apply for a Russian visa support online through our site. We will refer your visa support application to our partner company and they'll process the invitation for you. (all information is updated according to the new 2003 visa regulations)

• Tourist Invitation - (single entry, up to 1 month stay)
  $75 US / processing time: One week;
  (all taxes and faxing fees are included)

Below you can read how to obtain a Russian visa
in three simple steps:

Step 1: Getting an Invitation
  To obtain a Russian visa you first need to get an invitation. There are five types of invitations and visas: tourist, business, student, private, and transit. Unless you plan to stay in Russia less than 3 days, the most efficient options in terms of price and time are the tourist and business visas.

  A tourist invitation is needed to get a tourist visa. Tourist visas can be valid for up to 1 month and are usually single-entry. The invitation comprises a tourist voucher and a reservation confirmation, which can only be issued by a Russian travel agency, registred in the Russian Interior Affairs Monistry. So, a tourist visa is the best if you stay in Russia not longer than 1 month and need a single-entry visa only.

  A business invitation is needed to get a business visa. Business visas can be single / double / multiple entry and valid from 1 to 12 months. Business invitation is an invitation letter issued by the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA). Only certified Russian travel companies or organisations submit necessary data to the MFA, which issues the business invitation or sends a telex to the Russian consulate abroad, where you will apply. A business visa is the best choice if you need more flexibility in your travel, require a stay longer than 1 month, and / or need multiple entry visa.


Step 2: Getting a Visa
  When you have an invitation, you need to submit it to the Russian consulate and apply for a visa. It's better to check beforehand with the Russian consulate you will apply to if they accept copies of invitations or only originals. (See here a full list of Russian consulates abroad).

  To apply for a Russian visa, you need to bring the following: your invitation (a fax, in most of the consulates), your passport and the photocopy of the vital 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 photos (passport type - 3 by 4 cm), a filled-in visa application form (available in the consulate, you can download a sample here), a visa application fee (usually from $50 to $150 US, depends on the type of visa and the time of processing).
To apply for a Russian business visa, in addition to the documents and papers listed above, a consulate may require a travel insurance, HIV test (for stay exceeding 3 months, or multi-entry visas), and other documents. It's always better to check with the consulate beforehand what documents they need exactly.

  After you submit all the documents and papers needed it should take the consulate from 1 to 21 days to make a visa, depending on how much you pay. The total visa expenses include: payment for an invitation (paid to a travel agency), visa application fee (paid to a Russian consulate), visa registration fee (paid upon arrival to Russian authorities or the travel agency, which issued the invitation).


Step 3: Getting your Visa Registred
  You need to register your visa within three working days (72 hours) upon your arrival to any Russian city. The registration is a small stamp in your passport. If you don't register your visa, you may be fined by police (if they stop you) and by passport control officials when you leave Russia. The registration fee varies from $0.5 to $20 US and is less than possible fines (from $5 to police up to $1000 US to passport control), so we strongly recommend you to register your visa when you arrive.

  There are several ways to get your visa registred. If you stay in a hotel, the hotel can register your visa for the whole period of your visa's validity (but not more than 3 months).
If you stay somewhere else (in an apartment, with your friends, camping etc.), then the Russian company / organisation or the person that made the invitation for you should register your visa.
If you stay for more than 3 months in Russia, then the registration should be made in a local UVIR office, a company that issued your invitation can assist you in making such registration.
If you make a visa invitation through our website, our partner company will provide you with a registration if needed (for $20 US).