Russian visa for citizens of Portugal

Russia has always attracted a lot of visitors with different purposes of travel – tourism, business, guest visits or work. Whichever is your purpose you will find out that before you embark on your trip, you’ll need to get a visa.

Do Portuguese citizens need a visa to Russia?

Yes, they do

A visa process can sound like a lot of trouble with doing all paperwork, applying and paying some fees. In his article you will learn how to get a Russian visa in a fast and cost-effective way. You won’t need anybody’s help. You can get your visa on your own with our comprehensible step-by-step guide.

Step 1. Identify the visa type to suit your travel purpose

Among the most frequent Russian visas whose description you’ll find below, you should select the most appropriate for your trip.

Visa types	Period of stay	Travel purpose
Tourist visa	30 days	tourism and leisure
Private visa	90 days	private guest visits. Not recommendable: see why here
Business visa	30 -90 days (a visa can be valid for up to 5 years)	conducting business in Russia, looking for partners, negotiating, investing etc.
Transit visa	3 -10 days	crossing Russian territory on your way to another country
Student visa	90 days and above	studying a course in a Russian school or university
Work visa	90 days and above	working under contract for a Russian employer
Electronic visa	8 days	short tourist, business or humanitarian visits

Russian Tourist visa for Portuguese citizens

You need it if: 

• You want to visit the Russian landmarks, take tours and excursions, attend a concert, festival or exhibition etc;

• The duration of your trip will be no longer than 30 days. 

• The number of planned entries to Russia will be: single or double

• You have the visa support document: Tourist confirmation from a registered Russian tour operator. You can order this document in e-format from us here:  Get tourist confirmation Print it out and use

Russian Business or Humanitarian visa for Portuguese citizens

You need it if: 

• You are planning to take part in business meetings, conferences, seminars and other events, sign contracts and agreements, invest into business, conduct negotiations and short-time commercial activities; visit political, religious, cultural and other humanitarian events etc.

• Duration of your trip will be no longer than 90 days out of 180. Visas can be issued for 1 year and longer. To apply for a visa valid for 2-5 years you should have previous multiple Russian visas issued within the last year

• Number of entries will be: single, double or multiple 

• Your have the visa support document: An official invitation letter from a Russian company, or invitation issued by the MIA or MFA of Russia upon request of the Russian company. 

If your Russian partners cannot provide you with the required invitation, you can order it from us here: Get your business invitation

Russian Private visa for Portuguese citizens

You need it if: 

• You are going to spend some time with your Russian relatives or friends

• You will stay no longer than 90 days

• Number of entries will be: single, double

• Your Russian host can provide you with a visa support: an official invitation issued by the MIA Russia. The preparation of such invitation takes 20 working days and the host should provide his financial statements and guarantee he’ll take full responsibility for your stay in Russia. If your host can’t supply you with this, consider getting a standard tourist visa instead.

Russian Student visa for Portuguese citizens

You need it if: 

• You are going to study a course at a Russian school, college, university or institute

• Your stay can last 90 days or more. This visa is issued for 90 days with possibility to extend it while in Russia, if your course lasts longer.

• Number of entries will be: single, double, multiple

• Your school or university has provided you with the visa support – an official invitation issued by the MIA of Russia; or a direct invitation and a certificate of enrollment from the Russian university

Russian Work visa for Portuguese citizens

You need it if: 

• You are going to enter Russia on work purposes;

• You will stay 90 days and longer, depending on your labour contract conditions. A work visa can be issued for 90 days with possibility to extend it while in Russia. If the applicant is invited as a Highly Qualified Specialist he’s granted a 3 years multiple entry work visa at once, with possibility of further extension in Russia.

• Number of entries will be: single, multiple

• Your Russian employer has provided you with a visa support: an official invitation issued by the MIA of Russia in original

Russian E-Visa for Portuguese citizens

You need it if: 

• You are going on a brief tourist, business, humanitarian or private visit to one of the 3 regions of Russia: Saint Petersburg and Leningrad Region, Kaliningrad and Kaliningrad Region, the Far East and Vladivostok. You are allowed to enter and leave through the same border point. You cannot leave the region of entry.

• You will stay no longer than 8 days out of 30 days period of your visa validity

• Number of entries – single

• You have filled an electronic form on the MFA website and received a visa decision in e-form. The application should be filled correctly not later than 4 days before your trip. If you want to have professional assistance in filling the form, get it here: E-Visa form filling

Traveling on e-visa is still pretty limited, if you feel you want to travel without such limitations, consider applying for a standard tourist visa instead. 

Russian Transit visa for Portuguese citizens

You need it if:

• You are going to travel through Russia on your way to another state

• You will need to stay up to 3 days for connections by air, or up to 10 days for crossing Russia by road or railway

• Number of entries will be: single

• You have the tickets of entry and exit from Russia, showing your route

Important: If you make connection and stay at the airport transit zone, without passing passport and immigration control, you don’t need a visa. Otherwise, you require a transit visa.

If you travel to Kazakhstan or Belarus with connection in Russia you need a transit visa.

Step 2. Collect the documents required for the chosen visa type

The list of documents you’ll need to collect to be able to apply for a Russia visa includes:

• Your passport in original, valid 6 months beyond the exit date from Russia as minimum, containing at least two visa designated pages without any stamps

• Invitation you received from your Russian host. Check the inviting authorities in types of visa above, and contact them to get your visa support document. Nearly all invitations are accepted in copy, but for the work visa which requires an original paper invite

• Completed online application form. Fill the form at visa.kdmid.ru, print it on both sides, sign, and date. Don’t make any corrections with ink on the printed document. For multiple entry visa applications, prepare two copies of the form.

• Your recent professional color photo 3.5 x 4.5 cm on a white background. 

Read more about photo specifications here: Visa photo requirements. Glue the photo into the indicated field in the visa form

• Travel insurance policy in original or copy. Make sure it covers the period of your stay in full and its dates of validity correspond to those on your invitation and application form. It should be valid on the territory of the Russian Federation. The amount of insurance covering shouldn’t be less than 30.000 euro.

• For Work/ Student visa, if you are planning to stay over 90 days, you’ll also require an HIV-negative test certificate, obtained in any local clinic. It’s valid for 3 months and submitted in original.

Remember that you can start an application process not earlier than 3 months prior to your trip to Russia.

Step 3. Apply for your visa in the authorized Russian organs in Portugal

After you have all documents ready, you can choose the place of application out of:

• Russian Consular Section in Lisbon. Apply in person previously booking an appointment at http://attention.kdmid.ru/lisboa
• Russian Visa Center in Lisbon. Apply in person or by post

Find the contacts here: Russian Embassies and Consulates

If you choose to apply by post at the visa center, pack all documents into an envelope, include the receipt of visa fee payment, and send to:

Russian Visa Center

6th floor, unit D, Ave. dos Defensores de Chaves #15

1000-109, Saldanha, Lisbon, Portugal

When you submit documents for visa you are required to pay visa fees.

If you apply through the consulat, you only pay the Consular fees for processing your application

Visa type	Standard processing 4-10 days	Express processing 1-3 days
Short-term visa types	35 EUR	70 EUR
Work/student visa single entry	70 EUR	140 EUR
Work/student visa double entry	112 EUR	224 EUR
Work/student visa multiple entry	209 EUR	418 EUR

Visa fees are paid by a credit/debit card or in cash when submitting your documents. For Postal application visa fees are paid via a bank transfer in favour of the visa center.

Service fees

If you apply through the visa center, you are also requested to pay service fee of 30 EUR for standard processing and 60 EUR for expedited one. 

If you want to order courier delivery of your passport back with your visa in it, pay another 25 EUR for continental courier delivery.

Step 4. Receive your passport and examine the visa stamp

Once the process has finished and you get your passport with visa back, check carefully all details for mistakes. The stamp bears such info:

If you find anything which needs to be corrected, apply for correction as soon as possible.

In case it’s all right, you can get ready for your trip. Pack your luggage and don’t forget your travel insurance and visa invitation – they might be asked for on the border.

Step 5. Get your migrations card and registration in Russia

There are two more documents you’ll need to obtain after you arrive to Russia:

• Migration Card
• Registration

A migration card is given to travelers free of charge by either personnel of transport companies or the officers of immigration control. A traveler has to fill two identical parts in block letters with pen and hand them to the officer, who then stamps them with the date of entry to Russia and returns one part to the traveler. When you leave the country you’ll need to return the document at immigration control.

If you happen to lose it, you’ll need to turn to the local police or migration service office and ask for a duplicate.

Registration is required in case a traveler stays over 7 working days in Russia. You can get it at the hotel where you’ll be staying or ask your Russian host to make one for you at the local post or police office department. 

Both documents should be kept safe and carried along in your trip until you depart from Russia. 

I hope that you have learned how to get your Russian visa due to my article. In case there’s still some uncertainty left, or you need some advice, feel free to contact our email.

Enjoy your journey to the biggest country in the world!