Entry Requirements for Foreign Citizens to Visit Russia

All foreign nationals are required to have a valid passport and entry visa to travel to the Russian Federation. Russian Visa is a document permitting to stay in the Russian Federation for a certain period of time. It lists entry/exit dates, your vital information, passport details, and has a photo stapled to it. In case you lose your visa or stay over your designated departure date, you may have serious problems, you may be subject to large fines, days of processing backlogs, and/or immediate deportation by route of entry (at own expense).

Russian entry visas except transit type are issued at Russian Embassy/Consulate in your home country based on a support letter (invitation letter) from a Russian individual or organization, e.g. "sponsor". It is very important to know your sponsor and how he/she can be contacted, as Russian law requires the sponsor to apply for extension, replacement or any other changes to visa. The Embassy reserves the right to request the original invitation.

The US Consulate General in Ekaterinburg (and Embassy in Moscow) cannot act as sponsor.

We, Ekaterinburg Travel agency, can act as your sponsor in obtaining a business visa to Russia, it doesn't matter which Russian city you are going to visit.

Click here to order an invitation letter

All travelers staying in Russia more than for 3 days must register their visa with the help of a hotel or their sponsor. They also can do it by themselves in official visa registration center called OVIR within 3 business days after arrival. Prior to visiting OVIR a small tax must be paid in any department of Savings Bank of Russian Federation (Sberbank). Receipt must be presented at OVIR.

Read more about registration your visa here

Visitors who overstay their visa's validity (even for one day), or neglect to register, may have problems, especially with leaving the country or they may be imposed to paying late registration fine at the customs when leaving from Russia. Thus, travelers who have not registered their visa during their visit run potential risk of missing their flight back home, as filling out forms and paying the fine takes some time.

Important: sometimes errors in dates or other information on visas occur. Therefore it would be helpful if you had someone who reads Russian to check your visa prior to your departure from your home country. In case you plan to travel to several Russian cities, have all points of entry and all itinerary points in Russia printed on visa to avoid potential difficulties in registering visas and/or lengthy delays in travel. Carry originals or copies of passports and registered visas because document checks by police take place from time to time. Failure to provide proper documents can result in detention, heavy fines or even cancellation of your visa resulting in your immediate deportation.

Travelers who intend to stay in Russia for more than 90 days must submit negative HIV Test Certificates.