Visa support letter (invitation)

Virtually all travellers to Russia need an entry visa, which is a document stuck into the applicants passport. The earliest arrival and the latest departure dates are indicated on the visa and must be observed. Students have to apply for the visa at a visa department of a Russian Consulate or Embassy in their home country. The school will provide participants with a necessary letter of invitation.

Tourist visa: For students wishing to study four weeks or less, we will arrange a simple invitation which entitles the student to apply for a tourist visa. The tourist visa is valid for one entry and for maximum 30 days In order to proceed, we need to have the following information:

• Full name and last name
• Nationality
• Date of birth
• Passport number and expiry date

A tourist visa cannot be prolonged.

Short-term student visa: Students wishing to study more than four weeks need to apply for a student visa. The student visa is valid for one entry and for maximum 90 days. In this case the invitation will be issued by the Russian Ministry of Interior Affairs. This procedure takes up to four weeks. We need the following documents and information about the student to file the student letter of invitation:

• Clear passport copy with all relevant personal data (full name and first name, date and place of birth, nationality), passport number, passport issue and expiry dates, issuing authority and place of issue, any prolongation remarks. We need the copy either by fax or scanned and sent by e-mail. Please note that the passport must remain valid for six months beyond the Russian visa expiry date.
• Exact length of stay (allow for some extra-days).
• Place of application for the visa (city, country)
• Permanent home address, phone/fax number
• Place of work/study; job title, position, exact address of work or study, contact phone/fax

Long-term student visa: For students wishing to study more than 3 months (90 days) we will simply prolong the short-term student visa in Russia.

Visa application procedure

The visa-fee depends on the price policy of each consulate and on the applicant’s nationality. The following items are needed to file an application for a Russian visa:

• Filled-in visa application form (PDF downloads available in English, French, German, Spanish and Italian. US citizens need to fill in this form.
• Visa support letter1)
• One recent passport-sized foto
• Valid passport
• Health insurance policy (required only by some Russian consulates)
• HIV test certificate (for stays longer than three months only)

1) Please note that the visa support letter (student visa only) must be supplied as original (no fax, no scan) to Russian consulates in the following countries: France, Italy, Portugal, Spain, The Netherlands. In this case, we send the visa support letter by airmail either to the booking agent, or - when little time is left - directly to the student (should the agent wish so).

For your convenience we provide samples for completing the application form for tourist and student visas.

Russian Consulates

Following websites will help locate the nearest Russian consulate:

• http://www.russianembassy.net
• http://www.russianembassy.biz
• http://www.russian-embassy.info
• http://www.waytorussia.net/RussianVisa/RussianConsulates.html
• http://www.ln.mid.ru/zu_r.nsf/stracons (in Russian only)

Some embassies and consulates maintain their own website:

• Australia
• Austria
• Brazil
• Bulgaria
• Canada
• Czech Republic
• Denmark
• Estonia
• Finland
• France
• Germany
• India
• Ireland
• Israel
• Italy
• Japan
• Lithuania
• Netherlands
• Norway
• Poland
• Slovakia
• Slovenia
• Spain - Madrid
• Spain - Barcelona
• South Africa
• South Korea
• Sweden
• Switzerland
• UK
• USA

Whenever you deal with officials at a Russian consulate: Please stay friendly and polite, however lousy you think their services are. With a new generation of younger diplomats in charge, the situation is steadily improving in many places.

Visa registration

The school must register all students within three days after arrival at the local office of the Ministry of the Interior. Registration of a visa normally takes two working days. We always hand out passport and visa copies during the registration process. Students can use these copies as valid documents while changing money, traveller’s cheques (at some places), etc. Visa registration costs are included in the enrolment fee and payable together with the course and accommodation fees.

Visa period of validity and extension

A tourist visa is valid for maximum four weeks (30 days) and it is impossible to extend it. Tourist visas are only valid for one entry.

A short-term student visa is valid for one entry and maximum 3 months (90 days).

A long-term student visa is valid for maximum one year (365 days). Russian authorities require an HIV test for all visitors staying longer than three months.