Russian Visas

Most students who travel to Russia will require a visa. However, which visa you require will depend on your nationality and the length of your stay. Please note that the following is intended as a guide and we always strongly recommend that you contact your local Russian Consulate or Embassy with regards to specific visa requirements.

For all Russian visas you will require a letter of invitation, which will be sent to you upon receipt of your full payment. Please note that to produce your letter of invitation, the school will require some additional information from you. This varies slightly depending on the type of visa that you are applying for, please read on for further information.

There will be no additional charge to send you a letter of invitation, although if you require the original, you will need to pay the courier fees. Please ensure that you check with your Consulate whether a copy of the letter of invitation is sufficient (in which case this can be sent to you via email) or whether they will need to see the original copy (in which case this will need to be sent to you via courier). Usually, if you are applying for a student visa, you will require the original copy.

Schengen citizens

In order to work out which visa you will require, you will first need to know if you are a citizen of a Schengen area country.
As of 1st July 2013 the Schengen states are:

Please note that the United Kingdom and the Republic of Ireland are not Schengen states. Overseas departments and territories are normally excluded. For further information on the Schengen Area, you may like to view the European Commission’s website: http://ec.europa.eu

Tourist visa

This visa is suitable for most students from outside of the Schengen area who wish to study for 4 weeks or less. The visa is valid for one entry and for a maximum of 30 days. This type of visa cannot be extended.

The school will require the following in order to issue your letter of invitation:

• Your full name
• Nationality
• Date of birth
• Passport number and expiry date

Student visa (Schengen citizens)

If you are a citizen of a Schengen country and want to stay in Russia for no more than 90 days, then you should apply for a short-term student visa. This type of visa is valid for one entry and for a maximum of 90 days. This type of visa cannot be extended. You will require a letter of invitation which can be issued by the school upon receipt of your full payment by bank transfer. There is not usually an additional charge for arranging this type of visa, although please note that you will usually need to present the original letter of invitation to the Consulate.

The school will require the following in order to issue your letter of invitation:

• A clear copy of your passport with all the relevant personal data (including your full name, date and place of birth, nationality, passport number, passport issue and expiry date, issuing authority and country, as well as any prolongation remarks). You can send this to us by fax or email. Please note that your passport must remain valid for 6 months after the visa expiration date.
• Exact length of your stay (allowing for some extra days).
• The city and country in which you will apply for your visa.
• The exact address to which your letter of invitation should be sent via airmail.

Please check your student visa carefully upon receipt to make sure that the type of visa (should be “?????” for student’s invitations), travel dates, passport number and personal details are all correct.

Student visa – (Rest of the World or Schengen citizens staying for longer than 90 days)

For this type of visa the letter of invitation is issued by the Russian Federal Migration Service (UFMS). The visa is initially valid for 90 days (1-2 entries), although this can usually be extended to a maximum of 365 days. Understandably then, the process of arranging this visa does tend to take a bit longer, up to 4 weeks, in fact. As the school will need to send you the original letter of invitation, courier costs will usually apply.

The school will need the following in order to apply on your behalf to the Russian Federal Migration Service for your letter of invitation:

• A clear copy of your passport with all the relevant personal data (including your full name, date and place of birth, nationality, passport number, passport issue and expiry date, issuing authority and country, as well as any prolongation remarks). You can send this to us by fax or email. Please note that your passport must remain valid for 6 months after the visa expiration date.
• Exact length of your stay (allowing for some extra days).
• The city and country in which you will apply for your visa.
• Your permanent home address, as well as a contact telephone number.
• Your place of work/study, job title, position, exact address of work/school/university and contact telephone number.
• The exact address, name and telephone number for the person to whom the letter of invitation will be sent by courier.

To prolong the visa, you will usually need the following:

• Health insurance policy stating that you are covered for the entire duration that you will be in Russia.
• A HIV test certificate.
• 3 passport photographs.
• A document from the school stating when your course will be completed.

Arrival at the school

Upon arrival at the school, you will need to register your visa at the local office of the Ministry of the Interior. This normally takes 2 working days and our colleagues at the schools will assist you with this.

This information is correct at the time of writing. However, as we mentioned, we always strongly recommend that you consult your Consulate with regards to the specific visa requirements, as well as how long they expect the process to take (this is important if you wish to start your course fairly soon!).

We hope this information will give you a better idea of which visa you will need to arrange for your course, but if you do have any questions at all, please don’t hesitate to contact us!

Anne Marie