Russian visa
Foreign citizens (except for citizens of Belorussia, Ukraine, Kazakhstan, Tadzhikistan, Kirghizia) visiting Russian Federation need an entree Visa valid for the entire period of stay. Documents - passport and visa - are subject to passport control on entrance to and departure from Russian Federation. You also require presenting the originals of your documents when checking in at the hotel, getting on the train / plane, and embarkation aboard ships on both domestic and international lines.
There are several types of Russian visas: a tourist visa, a business visa, a student visa, an employment visa, a personal visa, a transit visa - each type corresponds to the purpose of visit; there are more types of visas to be enumerated: diplomatic visas, visas for officials and their family members and so on.
Russian visas are also divided corresponding to the number of entries (single entry visa or a multiple visa) and the period of stay (from several days up to few years). During the stay foreigners are allowed to combine purposes of their visit. For example, presence of a business visa to Russian Federation does not contradict the fact of tourist trips or visiting relatives in Russia (private purpose of stay). Moreover, Russian tourist visa does not prohibit business visits to Russia (participating in trade fares, talks, attending conferences) but does not enable to work for hire – guests are not allowed to get salary on the territory of Russian Federation.
Russian visa is issued by Russian embassy or consulate in the country of your residence (citizenship) upon the presence of Letter of Invitation (visa support letter) issued by a travel agency registered as a tourist company in Russia and authorized in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA) with according reference number.
To obtain Russian visa the following documents shall be presented to the Consular Service Department of the Russian Embassy:
- filled in application form to apply for tourist visa; please specify “tourism” as a purpose of your visit
- Your national passport which should be valid for at least 6 months beyond intended stay and should contain at least two blank pages for Russian visa
- 3 x 4 cm or 1,5 x 2 inch size photo
- Visa support letter: confirmation and tourist voucher; Russian embassy reserves the right to require the original of your visa support letter.
The list of documents can be enlarged for citizens of migration risk countries: Algeria, Angola, Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Vietnam, Jordan, India, Iraq, Iran, China, Democratic People's Republic of Korea, Lebanon, Nepal, Nigeria, Pakistan, Ruanda, Syria, Somalia, Chad, Sri Lanka, Ethiopia, Turkey, Georgia and others.
Consular fee is to be paid at the Consular Service Department of the Russian Embassy; the amount to pay varies for each country and also depends on processing period for a visa.
According to the Russian law each foreign citizen being accommodated at the hotel on the territory of Russian Federation must register his visa within 24 hours upon arrival. Upon check in the guest shall provide his passport, valid visa and migration card (filled in on the plane / train or when passing passport control). Upon the receipt of these documents the hotel fills in the arrival notice and registers guest’s visa through Passport and Visa Service (PVS) of the Ministry of Internal Affairs. The hotel shall provide arrival notice (or its copy) approved by PVS to the guest within 24 hours upon his arrival to the hotel. On check out the guest shall obligatory hand in the original arrival notice back to the reception desk.
Violation of visa regulations, for example, loss of visa or departure out of Russia after expiration date of the Visa could be a subject to fine and could possibly cause complications on passport control.
Comfort Hotel recommends the guests to have the copy of the first page of the passport, Russian Visa and immigration card with them while staying in Russian Federation.
The visa support service fee (for single entry tourist visa up to 30 days) amounts to 600 rubles.
How to obtain visa support free of charge?
To fill in the application form for visa support.
You can find the contact information of all Russian Embassy/Consulate on the following web-link:
