How to get the Russian visa?

Would you like to vacation in Russia and do not know what are the requirements you need? First of all, if you are one of those people who want to venture to one of the largest and oldest countries in the world, whether with your family, friends or partner, you have to take into account whatever your destination, there are 3 fundamental requirements: passport (current), of course tickets, entry or travel documents and the Russian visa.

You may wonder, what is the Russian visa? How do I get it? Is it complicated to process it? Let me give you some small tips in a clear, concrete and concise way.

The visa as such is a document that allows entry to the Russian federation that people from other nationalities must have. It is essential to have it both when arriving and when leaving.

In the following annex, you can see the elements that the Russian visa possesses, as you can see it is similar to a passport.

Annex N ° 1: Parts that make up the Russian visa.

Source: https://www.rusalia.com/tramitar-visado-viajar-rusia/

The visa contains the following information about a foreign citizen:

• Name and surname
  Birthdate
  Sex
  Citizenship
  Passport number
  The date of issuance of the visa, its validity and the multiplicity (number of entries) of a visa to Russia
  The period of stay allowed in the Russian Federation
  Purpose of the trip
  Inviting organization data
  Invitation number to Russia

This document integrates various data or information about the traveler, including the passport and basic information of the person. You should always have it at hand in case any entity in the country requests it, and the same if it is lost you must report it within the first 3 days to the most competent competent body.

However, there are countries that have agreements, which do not require processing, then I show you the following annex as a reference, where you can clearly see those nations that fall into this category, therefore, I invite you to see the following link for you to search for your country and thus check if it enters these countries: http://www.centraldevisadosrusos.com/pdf/Paises_que_no_necesitan_visado.pdf

The cost of a visa ($ 10) depends on the type and citizenship of the visa recipient. The cost of a visa is determined by international agreements between the Russian Federation and the country of which the tourist is a citizen.
In the event that the tourist refuses to apply for a visa, the consular fee cannot be refunded.
Visa processing takes about 14 days. The consulate also offers urgent visa processing for an additional charge. The urgent visa process takes about 3 days.
For children under 16 traveling with their parents and enrolled in their passport, a visa and a separate invitation are not required. In the event that children travel with their own passport, it is necessary to obtain a separate visa for each of them. Minor children can only travel with the permission of their parents, certified by a notary. (For more information, see the section on visa waivers)
Cruise passengers do not need a Russian visa if their stay at the port is less than 72 hours. (For more information, see Visa free entry)

On the other hand, it should be noted that there are different visas (tourist, business, studies, work, humanitarian, private and transit trips); Now, in this article we will focus on talking a little about the tourist-type visa, which is the most commonly used to visit and enjoy those majestic and amazing places offered by the great Russian Federation, and if you don’t believe me you can See the growing annual tourism index of the last years of the graph that I show you below:

Annex N ° 2: Annual international tourism index in Russia (year 1996 to 2015)

Source: https: //datos.bancomundial.org/indicador/ST.INT.ARVL? Contextual = default & end = 2015 & locations = RU & start = 1995

Something very important and that should not be overlooked, is that this visa is issued within 30 days. To get it, there are three ways that I will now mention:

1. The Russian embassy of your country.
   The Russian Visa Central.
   The services of specialized agencies

For your part, if you prefer to obtain a visa in the most economical way, I suggest processing it in the consular offices of your country. The visa appointment is unique per person, you cannot do several procedures unless each person does it individually.

If in some way you cannot carry out this process in person, you can do it through the Russian visa center, and if you want the process to be faster, you can use the services of private agencies, however, it will be more expensive.

Speaking of prices, in addition to adding the cost for the visa process, you should also consider adding the corresponding expenses to the medical insurance as well as that of the invitation letter.

To start the visa process, first of all you must do it well in advance, since it takes some time (approximately 1 month), additionally these are not processed more than 6 months old, what do I mean by that? If, for example, you plan to go to Russia in the month of September, you should start with these procedures in the month of March.

Understanding the above, in this next section I will tell you that you must have on hand to make the visa application, for this, you must have the original passport (not copy) with a validity of at least 6 months, then you must develop an itinerary of the sites and hotels (this includes the dates of entry and exit on the visa), once this is accomplished, the next step is to obtain the invitation letter or failing visa support, which you can obtain directly from the hotel or process it on your own (this option does not require you to stay at the hotel), however, if you are staying in a private or family apartment, you can request the invitation letter through the Hotels Pro or similar services. Subsequently, it is necessary and fundamental to have travel insurance, this must cover the trip stay specifying the date of the trip and the people who will be insured. Following the step by step, the visa application form is filled in with all the necessary information and travel requirements, where you can access this link: https://visa.kdmid.ru/PetitionChoice.aspx

Finally, you print the form, sign it and attach a photo, make the payment of fees (transfer, cash or TDC) in order to take each collection to the Russian visa center or consular office.

If you go by plane, you will have to go through the airport in the passport and visa control section, which, you will have to wait on average approximately 1 hour (it may be less if the travel season is low), then arrive at customs .

On the other hand, when you are already in Russia, you must obtain the immigration card, this is made up of two sections (it is really a paper) of the passport size, so it is mandatory to register in the first 7 business days once you have arrived .

In summary, obtaining a Russian visa is not really complicated, but you must make sure that you perform each of the steps shown in this article in an orderly manner and always taking into account the start dates of the procedure which must match the date of the trip, This is of the utmost importance, likewise, you must formalize every necessary collection, if you want more information you must contact the Russian consulate of your country, at the Russian visa center or simply look for a private agency to help you process this type of documents .

Additional Information:

This article is aimed at citizens of nations of any kind, and focuses on the tourist visa giving a general description of the process.
When you travel to Russia to vacation and hire a travel agency, the agencies usually carry out the visa process, unlike when you travel on your own.
If you want more information you can contact by phone or go personally to the Russian embassy in your country.
It is forbidden to remove antiques from the country unless you have a written permission from the Ministry of Culture.
Any type of item you buy always asks for a stamp receipt from the store where you purchased it.

Last but not least, I am going to show you some links where you can see some places offered by the Russian Federation as well as the tours we offer for your delight and maximum enjoyment, so I invite you to see our websites:

Guiarus

Tour gratis Rusia

https://toursenrusia.com/

http://boletosrusia.com/

http://toursgratissanpetersburgo.com/

http://tourgratismoscu.com/