Invitations for foreign residents to Russia
Letter of invitation to Russia is a document confirming a foreign national's right to obtain a Russian visa. Letter of invitation for a foreign national to Russia is the main and only basis for issuing a Russian visa to a foreign resident.
Each type of a Russian visa requires proper invitation.
Two types of letters of invitation, i.e. tourist and business ones, are available for issue at our company.
Tourist letter of invitation - grants your friends or relatives from abroad the right to process a Russian tourist visa valid for up to 30 days.
Required information about a person to be invited:
- Photocopy of a passport (first page)
- Dates of a scheduled trip
Rate
For citizens of non-migration risk countries – 1000 rubles
For citizens of migration risk countries – 2500 rubles
Turnaround time 10 minutes.
Business letter of invitation - grants your foreign partners or employees the right to process a Russian business / work visa valid from 1 to 12 months.
Required information about a person to be invited:
- Photocopy of a passport (first page)
- Application form download
Rate
For single entry and double entry visas – 3000 rubles
For multiple entry visa – 4000 rubles
Turnaround time 30 days.
Useful information
In accordance with visa requirements set by and between the Russian Federation and foreign states, foreign residents who have a Letter of Invitation for entry into the Russian Federation have the right to obtain a visa. In accordance with Federal Law No. 115-ФЗ on Foreign Residents Legal Status in the Russian Federation, this document constitutes grounds for the Russian visa issue to a foreign state national.
Letters of Invitation are issued by a federal state body in charge of foreign affairs (Ministry of Foreign Affairs), as well as by an authorized unit of the Federal Migration Service or its local office. A host party: university, travel agency, employer, etc., shall issue a letter of invitation to each individual foreign resident on case by case basis.
The letter of invitation type is based on the visa type that a foreign national intends to obtain (tourist, student, work, business, visitor, transit one, to enter the country of destination by invitation). In some cases, a Russian organization or company must be accredited by a relevant competent authority (for example, a travel agency accredited by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs) in order to issue a document.
Visa types of and authorities issuing relevant letters of invitation:
- Student visa. A foreign national must receive a letter of invitation from an educational institution to obtain this visa type. In view of this, a university (or another educational institution) must submit all necessary data for document registration with a local office of the Federal Migration Service. The document shall be prepared within 7-10 days. The issued letter of invitation shall be sent to the Embassy of the Russian Federation in a relevant state by mail, telex or fax.
- Work visa. A letter of invitation to obtain this visa type shall be issued by a local office of the Federal Migration Service together with other document: a work permit. For this purpose, an employer must provide the Federal Migration Service Directorate with all necessary documents for each employee, as well as a permit to engage foreign labour.
- Business visa. For residents of the United States of America and Western Europe (European Union, Norway, Switzerland), apart from the United Kingdom and Ireland, a letter of invitation for a visa may be issued on a host organization letterhead or on a form of the Federal Migration Service Directorate, while the host company must be accredited by the Federal Migration Service. A business visa does not entitle its holder to be employed in the Russian Federation.
- Tourist visa. A letter of invitation consisting of two documents shall be issued to obtain this visa type as follows: tourist voucher and Confirmation. The authorized body is an inviting travel agency which must be accredited by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, be registered with the Russian Federal Agency for Tourism and have its own registry number in the Unified Federal Register of Tour Operators.
- Private visa. A host party being a private person shall issue a visitor letter of invitation or a Notice to obtain this visa type. The document shall be issued in the Federal Migration Service Directorate or a Visa and Registration Department. A significant disadvantage of the procedure is that to obtain a visa at home, a foreign resident must present an original document. To avoid routine and loss of time, we recommend a more effective alternative for a private visit: a tourist visa.
- Transit visa. In this case, an invitation is not required: while being on the territory of the Russian Federation, a foreign national must have a permit to enter the country of destination and tickets confirming their transit route.