Russian visa for citizens of South Korea

Many travelers still believe Russia to be a difficult and inaccessible country, but it isn’t so. Tourism in Russia has been prospering for quite a long time now. Russia welcomes travelers from all over the world, and apart from tourism offers great opportunities to do business, work or study. 

Visa Free Regime

Citizens of South Korea are more than welcome, and even enjoy a visa-free regime for 60 days on touristic, private or transit purposes according to the agreements between our countries. You also have the chance to enter for another 30 days without a visa, but the total stay in Russia shouldn’t exceed 90 days out of 180.

Important: Visa-free regime still leaves the decision of letting you enter the country to a migration officer on the border. It’s best that you carry certain documents with you to avoid any problems entering Russia:

• Hotel bookings for the period of your stay
• Contact details of the inviting private persons or companies/ letters of guarantee signed by them
• Enough finances to cover the expenses during your stay

Bear in mind, that if you can’t prove that your purpose of visit is tourism or a guest visit, you can be denied entry. But how can you come on other purposes like business or study, work or humanitarian visits? Which visa should you get and how to obtain it? In this article you’ll find answers to these and other questions pertinent to a Russian visa application process. 

Russian visa types available for citizens of South Korea

There exist several popular visa types on which you can come to Russia, apart from visa-free entries for tourist or private purposes. See the overview below:

Visa types	Validity period	Travel purpose
Business visa	30 -90 days (up to 1 year max)	conducting business in Russia, looking for partners, negotiating, investing etc.
Humanitarian visa	90 days out of 180	Attending cultural, religious, political, charity and other events
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

Russian Business visa for citizens of South Korea

You should get this visa if:

• You are going to enter Russia with a business visit to attend business meetings, negotiate with partners, invest into business, purchase goods, provide maintenance or training etc.
• You are entering for no longer than 90 days. A visa can be issued for 1 year
• You are planning to enter once, twice or multiple times within the validity of your visa
• You have the letter of invitation from the Russian company in original; or an official invitation issued by MIA or MFA of Russia in e-form upon request of the Russian host company. 

If your Russian partners can’t provide you with such document, order it here: Get Visando visa support

Russian Humanitarian visa for citizens of South Korea

You should get this visa if:

• You are going to enter Russia with cultural, sports, religious, political purposes or provide humanitarian aid
• You are entering for no longer than 90 days. A visa can be issued for 1 year
• You are planning to enter once, twice or multiple times within the validity of your visa
• You have the official invitation issued by MIA or MFA of Russia in paper or e-form upon request of the Russian host company. 

Russian student visa for citizens of South Korea

You should get this visa if:

• You are going to enter Russia to study at a Russian University
• You are entering for 90 days or longer. A student visa can be extended on the territory of Russia if required by the duration of your academic course
• You are planning to enter once, twice or multiple times within the validity of your visa
• You have an official invitation issued by the MIA or a telex from the MFA of Russia upon request of the Russian host company. 

Russia work visa for citizens of South Korea

You should get this visa if:

• You are going to enter Russia for a full-time official employment
• You are entering for 90 days and more. A work visa can be extended in Russia. There exists a special type of visa for HQS -Highly Qualified Specialists which is issued for 3 years at once
• You are planning to enter once, twice or multiple times within the validity of your visa
• You have the original paper  invitation issued by the MIA of Russia upon request of the Russian employer. 

If you need any of these visa types, read on to know how and where to apply for them.

The documents needed to get a Russian visa

The list of documents to apply for a Russian visa consists of:

• Original passport valid at least 6 more months after your visa expiry (Count 18 months in case you apply for a long-term student/work visa). It should contain minimum 2 blank visa pages. 
• Visa support provided by the Russian host. See above where to get this document.

• Filled in visa application form. Open visa.kdmid.ru, complete and print out the form, sign and date. Glue your recent color photo into the marked field. Check out photo requirements here: Photo for the Russian visa
• HIV-negative certificate for those applying for Work/Student visa with stay in Russia over 90 days. The certificate is submitted in original, signed by the doctor, valid at least 15-30 days at the moment of application

Where to apply and how much it will cost

Citizens of South Korea can obtain their visa by applying at:

• Consular Section of the Russian Embassy in Seoul upon prior appointment booked at https://q.midpass.ru/en/
• Consulate General in Busan with appointment booked on the same website
• Russian VFS Global Visa center in Seoul on workdays from 9:00 until 15:00 without appointments

Visa center was created specifically to facilitate the visa process and for the convenience of customers, and offers a range of extra services like translations, courier, photocopies etc. Remember, that if you apply through the visa center, you’ll need to pay extra service charge, and additional fees for every extra service.

Consular fee, which you should pay for your visa in KRW by cash or bank transfer amounts to

Visa type	Regular processing 5-10 business days			Urgent processing 1-3 business days
	single	double	multiple	single	double	multiple
Business, Humanitarian, Work visas	96.000	154.000	288.000	192.000	307.000	576.000
Student, Humanitarian (Culture&Science tech. relations)	free	free	free	–	–	–

Service fee, which you pay to the visa center for the processing of your documents is another 36.000 KRW per passport (if you apply directly at the consulate, you pay only consular fee).

Which documents you should get in Russia upon arrival

After you arrive to Russia, don’t forget to obtain two more required documents:

• Migration card
• Registration

Migration card is given out free of charge on the border. You fill in it, give the migration officer for checking and stamping, and keep during your trip to Russia. When you leave, you have to return it. If you lose it, get another one at the local migration service office. 

Registration is required if you plan to stay longer than 7 working days in Russia. Get it from the hotel management, or ask the owner of your apartment to register you at the local post or police office.

I hope that on reading this article, you’ll have a clearer idea of how to organize your trip to Russia and which documents you’ll need for it. 

Travel safe and enjoy your visit!