Russian visa for EU citizens
Russia has long been visited by EU citizens on many purposes. If you’ve set your mind on traveling to Russia, you’ll get some of the most diverse, interesting and varied experiences here. But first, you might face the question:
Do EU citizens need a visa to Russia?
The answer is – Yes, they do.
But don’t let the dreary prospect of getting a visa make you drop your plans. It’s truly not as hard as it seems. Follow me in this article, and we’ll get you a visa in 5 simple steps.
Step 1. Know your travel dates and visa type
Buying tickets or making any prepaid booking arrangements is not necessary to get a visa, but you’ll need to select certain time for your travel. Depending on the duration of you trip, and the reason for traveling, you’ll need to apply for a specific type of visa. Below you’ll see the main Russian visa types and their characteristics to help you make your choice.
Russian Tourist visa for EU citizens
- Duration of trip: no longer than 30 days.
- Number of entries allowed: single/double.
Exception: Spanish citizens can apply for 180 days tourist visa with multiple entry but stay no longer than 90 days within visa validity.
- Purposes of travel:
- Vacations for sightseeing, taking photos, shooting amazing videos
- Visiting health or sports resorts to recharge your batteries
- Going on tours to the most famous Russian cities
- Exploring the hidden corners of the Far East by car, motorbike or just hiking (Auto Tourism purpose is required for travelers crossing the road borders on their vehicle)
- Visiting concerts, exhibitions, fairs, festivals
- Having medical consultations, attending brief business events (Aim Tourism purpose is required for suchlike)
- The inviting party: Registered Russian tour operator
Russian Private visa for EU citizens
- Duration of trip: no longer than 90 days.
- Number of entries allowed: single/double.
- Purposes of travel:
- Visiting your Russian relatives or friends
- Inviting party: Russian citizen or permanent resident of Russia
Russian Business and Humanitarian visa for EU citizens
- Duration of trip:
No longer than 90 days. A business visa can be issued for a period from 1 month up to 5 years. Normally, you can apply for 3-5 years visa, after having had several consequent 1-2 years business visas before. Still, you can stay only 90 days out of each 180 within the validity time of your visa.
- Number of entries allowed: single, double or multiple.
- Purposes of travel:
- Looking for business opportunities in Russia
- Researching the market, purchasing goods and services
- Negotiating with Russian partners, signing trade agreements
- Attending all sorts of business events (Sub-purpose Commercial required for active paid participation)
- Providing maintenance support or consultations on equipment installation and maintenance (Sub-purpose Technical Maintenance)
- Driving passenger and cargo vehicles (Sub-purpose Driver)
- Coming as part of air, railway, or marine vehicles crew (Sub-purpose – Crew member)
- An underage child accompanying a parent in a business trip (Sub-purpose Family member)
- Attending cultural, religious, scientific, sports, political, charity and other events (Humanitarian visa type)
Inviting party: Russian host organization
Russian Student visa for EU citizens
- Duration of trip:
From 90 days and over, depending on the duration of study course. A student visa is issued for 90 days but can be prolonged on the territory of Russia. It’s possible to stay in Russia uninterruptedly during the validity of student visa
- Number of entries allowed: single/double/ multiple
- Purposes of travel:
- Studying at a Russian school or university
- Inviting party: Russian educational institution
Russian Work visa for EU citizens
- Duration of trip:
From 90 days and over, depending on the duration of your employment contract. Highly Qualified Specialists get 3 years multiple visa at once. The rest obtain 90 days work visa with possibility of extension in Russia. It’s possible to stay in Russia uninterruptedly during the validity of work visa
- Number of entries allowed: single, double, multiple
- Purposes of travel:
- temporary work for a Russian employer under an official contract
- Inviting party: Russian employing organization
Russian Transit visa for EU citizens
- Duration of trip: up to 3 days for connections by air, up to 10 days for crossing borders by road or railway.
- Number of entries allowed: single
- Purposes of travel:
- Crossing Russian borders with the aim of entering another country.
- Inviting party: No invitation required. Tickets showing the route must be available.
Russian Electronic visa for EU citizens
An E-visa has been introduced just recently and allows entry to one of the three designated areas upon your choice: Saint Petersburg and Leningrad region, Kaliningrad and Kaliningrad region, Vladivostok and the Far East. Make sure you enter and leave through the same border point. Moving freely inside the entire country isn’t allowed. If you wish more freedom in your travel, consider getting a standard tourist visa.
- Duration of trip: no longer than 8 days. A visa itself is issued for 30 days starting from its issuance date.
- Number of entries allowed: single
- Purposes of travel:
- Visiting the specified regions for tourism, leisure purposes, as well as brief business and cultural visits
- Inviting party: no invitations required
Step 2. Collect the required documents for your visa.
After you have decided on the visa type you need, and figured out how long you are planning to stay in Russia and how many times you’ll enter it, it’s time to collect the list of documents for your visa application. It includes the following:
- Your original national passport, which must be valid at least 6 months beyond the expiry of your Russian visa, and have minimum 2 blank adjacent visa designated pages
- A completed visa application form found at visa.kdmid.ru The form should be printed out, signed and dated by you. In the specially parked area you should glue your recent color photograph 3.5×4.5 on the white background
E-visa applicants can use our professional help to fill in the form and avoid any mistakes. Get it here: Contact Visando
- Travel insurance policy. It must cover the entire period of your stay in Russia and be valid on the territory of the Russian Federation. You can obtain it in any local insurance company.
- Travel support/ Invitation from Russia.
- For Tourist visa you’ll need a confirmation from a registered Russian tour operator. Get it here in just 10 min in pdf ready to print and use: Get tourist invitation
- For Private visa you’ll need an official invitation issued by the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Russia upon request of your Russian friends or relatives. The process takes around 20 working days. The invitation is issued in e-format and you’ll receive it by email. If you consider it’s too complicated you might wish to go on a regular travel visa instead.
- For Business visa EU citizens can use either an invitation from a Russian organization, which you can get in 1 day in a scan,
Or an invitation issued by the Ministry of Internal Affairs upon request of the Russian inviting company (also known as EFMS made in 20 working days),
Or an invitation issued by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Russia, upon request of the Russian host company (also referred to as Telex made in 12 working days).
If your partner has no possibility to provide you with either type, you can use our service and order it here: Get business invitation
- For Student visa you’ll need an official invitation issued by the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Russia upon request of your Russian school. Processing might take 1 month and over. E-format is accepted.
- For Work visa you’ll require an official invitation issued by the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Russia upon request of your Russian employer. Processing might take up to 2 months. Only paper originals are accepted, please ask your employer for delivery.
- No invitations are required for either E-visa or Transit visa
- For Student and Work invitations also get medical certificate, proving you are HIV-negative. It shouldn’t be older than 3 months before application. Tests should be taken via blood samples in any local clinic.
Step 3. Apply for your visa and pay visa fees.
Russian visa applications are received by the Russian Consular divisions in foreign countries. You should find the nearest Russian consulate and make prior appointment on their website to be able to apply.
Alternatively, you can use licensed Russian visa centers to apply. Normally visa centers don’t require prior appointment to be made and some e.g. in Spain, offer application by mail, which makes your personal visit there unnecessary. Find the list of visa centers here: Russian Consulates and Embassies
| Application through Russian Consulate Pros & Cons | Application through licensed Russian Visa Center Pros & Cons |
| + You only have to pay consular fee, no extras for service – You should come in person and book an appointment – You will have to collect your passport also in person, no delivery is offered – you won’t get any help or advice with your documents, if something is wrong, your application won’t be accepted | + You can apply either in person or by mail (service offered in certain visa centers) + Your documents will be checked by the manager, and if something is incorrectly filled, the manager will point it out and help you get it right + You can order delivery back to your home or office + You can use extra services like photocopies, buying travel insurance, taking your color photo or even filling the form for you + You won’t need to book prior appointment, usually you can apply during regular working hours – You’ll need to pay service fee and extra fees for any additional services |
Visa centers have been created especially to facilitate the process of visa application and create more comfortable conditions for the applicants, but it’s up to you to choose, whether you want to apply through the Consulate or a Visa center.
Remember though, that the final decision is taken by the Consular officers, and Visa Center managers do not influence the decision of issuing a visa, they simply process your documents and submit them to the specified Consular division.
Visa fees and processing time
When applying for a visa you’ll need to pay visa fees which include Consular fee, normally a fixed amount given on the website of the Consulate, and service fees, which are indicated on the website of the chosen visa center.
Please check the websites of chosen divisions to ascertain the amount of visa fees and methods of payment available.
Standard processing normally takes 4 – 20 working days, and if you wish there’s also Urgent processing in 1-3 working days, for which you have to pay double Consular fee. For applicants ordering mail service, the process might take a bit longer. Please, contact visa center to know the exact processing time.
Important: E-visa applicants don’t need to pay any visa fees.
Step 4. Receive and check your visa.
After you have picked up your passport with visa in it, or received it through delivery, having ordered such service at the Visa Center, you will need to carefully examine the information in your visa. Check number of entries, validity dates, visa type, invitation company.
See a sample of Russian visa here:
E-visa applicants are recommended to also carefully check their applications. If something is incorrectly filled, you might be rejected entry at the border point.
If your visa suits your expectations, start packing your bags. Don’t forget to take your passport, travel insurance policy, hotel bookings and invitation with you. Be ready to answer simple questions on the purpose of your trip, inviting organisation, duration of visit and place of stay at the border. Have a safe journey!
Step 5. Two documents to get while in Russia
Once you have arrived to Russia you’ll need to collect two more documents for your stay:
- Migration Card
- Registration
Migration Card is normally distributed on board the plane by flight attendants, and can also be found at border points or given you by the immigration officer. It’s a document, consisting of two parts. You need to fill both with identical information in block letters in pen, in Russian or English. Write your passport details, dates of trip and inviting company. Immigration officer will stamp the document and save one part for himself. Another part will be left to you, and you’re supposed to return it after your visit is finished. Carry the migration card always with you.
Registration proves your legal stay in Russia at a certain address. It’s required if your visit exceeds 7 working days. It’s made by the hotel where you stay, or by the owner of the apartment if you stay in one. Please, contact the owner and make sure he’ll be able to provide you with this document. He’ll need to get it at the local post or police office. Airbnb owners normally charge you extras for this document. This document should also be carried along during your visit. Registration should be done during the first 7 business days of your stay.
Now you are all ready for your visit to Russia. Hope my guide helped you get your visa, and answered all main questions. If you still need to clarify some issues, contact us by email for your free consultation.