Russian visa for citizens of Croatia

You can travel to Russia on various purposes from a simple tourist trip, to official employment there or studies at a Russian university. Whichever reason you choose, the first question that arises is:

Do Croatian citizens need a visa to enter Russia?

And the answer is – Yes.

Unless you are a holder of diplomatic passport or have special visa-free conditions as a member of international aircraft crew or someone of the sort.

Visa procedures can scare away some travelers though, especially simple tourists who just want to enjoy a week’s travel discovering the marvels of Russia, and don’t particularly wish to spend months collecting the documents applying for a visa, or paying commissions to visa agents. 

Good news is that the visa application process isn’t as complicated as it seems, and it can all be done on your own, without the need to order specialized visa services. Read our article to find out how to apply for your visa in 5 simple steps.

Step 1. Choose suitable travel dates and decide on the visa type you will need

Before you start any paperwork, you should determine when, what for and for how long you are going to travel. Read below and choose among the main Russian visa types.
Overview of Russian visa types:

Visa types	Validity period	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 (up to 5 years max)	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 Croatian citizens

Duration of stay in Russia: maximum 30 days

Number of entries: single, double

Travel purpose:

• tourism (sightseeing, excursions, visiting cultural events)
• attending exhibitions and auctions
• getting medical consultations, taking tests (aim tourism purpose is required) etc.

Inviting company: Russian registered tour operator

Russian Private visa for Croatian citizens

Duration of stay in Russia – not over 90 days

Number of entries – single or double

Purpose of trip – visiting family or friends living in Russia

Inviting organization – MIA (Ministry of Internal Affairs) of Russia upon request of the inviting Russian host

Note: If you are going to enter Russia in the company of your Russian relative, he/she can write a request for your visa directly to the Russian Consul in Croatia, it will serve you instead of the MIA issued invitation.

Russian Business and Humanitarian visa for Croatian citizens

Duration of stay in Russia – not over 90 days out of each 180. A visa can be issued for up to 1 year.

Number of entries – single, double or multiple

Purpose of trip:

– establishing business contacts and looking for partners

– attending meetings, conferences, fairs

– researching the market

– conducting trainings, maintenance work (sub-purpose Technical Maintenance)

– commercial activities (sub-purpose Commercial)

– driving cargo or passenger vehicle throughout Russia (sub-purpose Driver)

– flying aircraft (sub-purpose Crew Member)

– taking part in events related to sports, culture, politics, religion, charity, volunteer programs, or supplying humanitarian aid (Humanitarian type)

Inviting organization – a registered Russian company, or MIA of Russia upon request of the host Russian company, or a Russian MFA following a request of the host company

Russian Transit visa for Croatian citizens

Duration of stay in Russia – no longer than 3 days for air connections, no longer than 10 days for road travelers

Number of entries – single, double (for double entry transit visa validity won’t be longer than 1 month)

Purpose of trip – crossing Russia following to another state of destination.

Inviting organization – no invitation required. You should have the tickets showing entry/exit from Russia

NOTE: You don’t need any visa if you make connection at a Russian airport without leaving transit zone. You can inquire your airlines whether you’ll need to leave transit zone when connecting flights in Russia.

Russian Student visa for Croatian citizens

Duration of stay in Russia – 90 days and longer, if required by the study course. Initially, a visa is issued for 90 days, but can be extended in Russia depending on the duration of studies.

Number of entries – single, double or multiple

Purpose of trip – studying at a Russian university or attending short-term courses

Inviting organization – Ministry of Internal Affairs of Russia (MVD) upon request of the Russian School or University

Russian Work visa for Croatian citizens

Duration of stay in Russia – 90 days and longer, a visa can be extended in Russia^, depending on the labour contract terms. For Highly Qualified Experts a visa is issued for 3 years at once, and can also be extended in Russia.

Number of entries – single, double or multiple

Purpose of trip – official full-time employment in Russia

Inviting organization – Russian employer via the MIA of Russia 

Russian Electronic visa for Croatian citizens

Duration of stay in Russia – no longer than 8 days. Visa validity starts from the issuance date and lasts for 30 days. 

Number of entries – single 

Purpose of trip – tourism and leisure activities, or brief business or humanitarian visits to Russia

Inviting organization – no invitation required. You should present at the border a printed form, filled online at the MFA website in 4 days before the trip. Get professional help with filling the form here: E-visa form filling 

Step 2 Prepare documents for your visa application

Worried about the paperwork? We’ll cover your back here. Read about the documents you need to collect, and order our visa support below.

• International passport valid minimum 6 months beyond the visa expiry date, with 2 blank visa designated pages in it. 

• Duly completed online visa form from the website visa.kdmid.ru, printed on both sides, signed and dated. In the indicated space of the form you should glue your recent color photo 3×4 Read more on photo specifications here: https://visando.com/russian-visa-photo-specifications/ Ensure that the travel dates indicated in the form are within the dates of your invitation

• Travel support document/ Invitation

– For tourist visa you’ll need a tour confirmation issued by a registered Russian travel agency. Get it here in 10 min: Get Tourist Confirmation. Print and use.

– For private visa your Russian host should solicit an official invitation at the local MIA department and send it to you. It’s made in 20 working days and sent in e-format. If your host can’t provide you with such, consider coming on a tourist visa and get tour confirmation from us. 

– For Business/ Humanitarian visa your Russian host company must provide you either with a verified written statement of invitation in original, or solicit an invitation at the MIA of Russia (takes 20 working days, accepted in e-format), or MFA (Ministry of Foreign Affairs)  of Russia (known as Telex, takes around 12 working days). If your host company can’t make you a valid invitation, order your Business visa support here: Get Business invitation

– For Student visa your Russian school or university should solicit official invitation from the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Russia (takes 1- 1.5 months)

– For Work visa your Russian employer should solicit official invitation from the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Russia (takes 1- 2 months)

• Medical insurance policy valid on the territory of Russia during the entire period of your journey. 

• When applying for Work and Student visas you should submit a certificate proving you are HIV-certificate. Take it at any local clinic, giving a blood sample for testing. Bear in mind the certificate is valid for 3 months since the issuance date and should be submitted in original only

Step 3 Apply for a Russian visa with all your docs

Now that you have all documents prepared you are ready to apply for your visa. Remember one can apply not earlier than 3 months before the trip to Russia.

As a citizen of Croatia you can choose to apply at either:

• Russian consulate in Zagreb in person by prior appointment made on site
• Through the Russian visa center VHS-Global in Zagreb in person by prior appointment made on site or by phone call
• Through the Russian visa center Interlink Service in Zagreb in person by prior appointment or by post

Here you can find the websites and addresses of the Consular and visa centers: Russian embassies and consulates

Visa fees

When you apply for a visa you should also pay the corresponding visa fees.

• A consular fee is non-refundable and amounts to 35 EUR for standard processing in 4-20 days or 70 EUR for expedited processing in 1-3 days. You should pay the consular fee via RAIFFEISEN BANK using the invoice given to you at the consulate when applying for a visa. 

• If you choose to apply through the visa center you’ll need to pay service fee, as well. It amounts to 200 HRK at Interlink Service. If you choose to apply by post, you’ll also need to pay the postal fee of 130 HRK and another 80 HRK for delivery of your passport back to you upon completion of the visa process.

• VHS-Global accepts applications at 660 HRK including all fees for processing in 8 days or at 115 HRK for processing in 3 days.

When applying by post, put your documents into the envelope and address to:

Interlink Service d.o.o za savjetovanje

Ul. Andrije Hebranga 10

10000 Zagreb, Croatia

Step 4. Pick up your passport and check the visa info

Upon completion of your visa process, you will need to get your passport with visa back. If you applied directly at the consulate, you’ll need to return there, and presenting your receipt obtain your passport back.

If you applied at the visa center you collect your passport there, or wait until it gets delivered to you, in case you paid for the delivery service.

Thoroughly examine your visa stamp. All information should be correct. If you spot any mistakes, contact the issuing authority and apply for correction.

If you think everything is okay, start packing your bags. Remember to take your insurance policy, hotel and other bookings and the invitation letters from Russia.

Step 5. Final travel tips. Don’t forget about this in Russia.

Here are some final tips for your safe stay in Russia:

• Get Migration Card when crossing the border. You will be given the migration card to fill when passing the immigration control. Save it and carry in your passport during the trip. You’ll need to return it back when you depart. In case you lose it, contact the local immigration office or MIA office and ask for a new one.

• Get registered within 7 working days. If you are planning to stay longer than 7 days in Russia, it’s required that you get registered at the place of your stay. If you booked a room in a hotel, simply ask the receptionist to provide you with the registration. If you are staying with friends or book an apartment, ask the owner to have you registered at the local post/police office. Carry registration with you, along with migration card and passport.

• Plan your travel route in advance. Russia has a lot to see, so it’s best to draw your travel routes before the journey. Check on the schedules of the events you want to attend, and the hours of the places you want to visit. If you want to visit different cities, you can comfortably travel by train throughout Russia. Book your tickets in advance at rzd.ru. If you need to travel to some farther districts of Russia, buy your plane tickets in advance. You can use lowcosters such as Pobeda aero for internal flights.

• Learn to navigate independently. Not all Russian passers-by will be able to give you directions in English if you get lost. Download popular navigation apps to easily find your way in Russian cities. We recommend yandex maps, or an offline app 2gis

• Don’t order taxies in the streets. It’s safer and much more economical to book taxis with online apps such as yandex taxi. Uber also works in big cities. Online taxi services in Russia are fast and inexpensive.

• Buy a local sim card for speedy mobile internet. Wi-fi is available in most public places like malls, cafes, supermarkets, stations. However, if you don’t want to depend on those, you can buy a local sim card in any nearest office and enjoy fast mobile internet wherever you need it. Mobile internet is quite cheap here.

• Try to make friends with the locals. No one will show you around the hidden beautiful corners of the Russian cities better than the locals. Try to make contact, although not all of the Russians speak good English, but they are mostly friendly and eager to show their country to foreign guests. Russian people are quite hospitable and will most certainly invite you to a splendid homemade dinner.

That’s all I wanted to share with you here. Hope you have found your way to get a Russian visa with the help of our guide and tips. 

Discover Russia and enjoy your trip!