Tourist Visa

To apply for a tourist visa an applicant should submit to the Consular section:

1. Completed visa application, a national passport, one passport size photo, paid travel insurance (see points 1-4 of the General Information);

In order to avoid any misunderstanding when applying for a Russian visa we would like to draw your attention to the following. Medical insurance (travel insurance) needs to be presented only by the citizens of the Schengen states (Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Hungary, Germany, Greece, Denmark, Iceland, Spain, Italy, Cyprus, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxemburg, Malta, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Finland, France, Czechia, Sweden, Switzerland and Estonia), Israel and Ireland (on the basis of reciprocity). There is no such requirement at the moment that the medical insurance policy is to be issued by Russian insurers only. It can be your local company as well. The only thing is that the policy has to state that it covers possible medical expenses on the territory of Russia for the period of your stay there. All other nationalities can apply for their Russian visas without having medical insurance at all.

2. Standard tourist confirmation from an authorized hosting Russian travel agency or hotel. The confirmation must contain a full name of an Applicant, the date of his birth, a passport number, the dates of entry/departure, the itinerary, the agency's reference and registration number, the official seal and the signature of an authorized person.

Hotel reservation alone is not valid for obtaining a tourist visa. The hotel should be fully prepaid for the whole period of stay in Russia before applying for visa (hotel booking confirmation cannot serve as the ground for issuing a visa).

Important! Tourist visa can be issued for no longer than 30 days or up to 6 months on the basis of reciprocity (Austria, Hungary, Greece, India and Spain). When entering Russia with a tourist visa, you may be asked at the border checkpoint to present also your tourist confirmation and a return ticket with a fixed date of departure from Russia. You also may have to prove that you have sufficient funds for your travel.

REGARDING A TOURIST VISA (only for citizens of Bahrain, Brunei, India, Indonesia, Iran, Cambodia, China, Democratic People's Republic of Korea, Kuwait, Laos, Malaysia, Mexico, Myanmar, Oman, Saudi Arabia, Serbia, Thailand, Turkey, Philippines).

A single or double-entry tourist visa for up to 3 months or a multiple-entry tourist visa for up to 6 months can be issued on the basis of the tourist «Confirmation» (which goes along with the «Voucher»). The total period of stay of a foreign tourist on the territory of the Russian Federation on a multiple-entry tourist visa cannot exceed 90 days within each period of 180 days.

In addition the new Federal Law (Articles 25, 25.6 of the Federal Law "On the procedure for leaving the Russian Federation and entering the Russian Federation" No.501-ФЗ dated 5 December 2022, amendments to the mentioned Articles entered into force on 6 March 2023) provides for the possibility of obtaining a tourist visa on the basis of a booking in a hotel or other accommodation (Attention! Only for citizens of the following countries: Bahrain, Brunei, India, Indonesia, Iran, Cambodia, China, Democratic People's Republic of Korea, Kuwait, Laos, Malaysia, Mexico, Myanmar, Oman, Saudi Arabia, Serbia, Thailand, Turkey, Philippines).

This hotel/ accommodation should be on the unified list of classified hotels, ski slopes and beaches. A tourist visa issued on the basis of such a booking can only be single-entry and its validity period is limited to the dates of the booking. In case there are several hotel bookings in different cities during one trip to the Russian Federation, the visa is issued on the basis of the first hotel along the route and information on other hotel bookings.

The document confirming the booking should be in Russian or English, signed by an authorized hotel employee and stamped by the hotel. This document should contain the following information:

1. the name of the document "Confirmation of booking a place in the hotel", its number and date of issue.
2. the licensed name of the hotel, its actual address and registration number in the unified list of classified hotels, ski slopes and beaches.
3. Information about the foreign tourist (surname, first name (s), date of birth, gender, citizenship, passport number or other travel document recognized by the Russian Federation as ID).
4. dates of arrival/departure from the hotel.
5. other information about the conditions of booking (at the discretion of the hotel).

If necessary you can check the details of the hotel which issued the booking confirmation by using the registration number of the hotel on the Rostourism website (классификация-туризм.рф).

Please note when submitting documents for a tourist visa on a booking confirmation, you should keep in mind that the registration at the place of stay of a foreign citizen on the territory of the Russian Federation will be carried out by the hotel which issued this document. The hotel has to put on the migration register all invited foreign citizens. If the necessary information is not received by the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Russia in time, the foreign citizen will be breaching the law. In case of cancellation of the booking, but obtaining a visa and staying on the territory of the Russian Federation without registering at the hotel, an administrative penalty will follow, the visa will be canceled and the person will be placed under entry ban.