RUSSIAN VISA
To apply for a Russian Tourist Visa to the Russian Consulate you need to have a visa support letter (invitation) from a Russian Tourist Company or Hotel. We can provide you with Visa Support. Our Russian visa support is valid for travel all over Russia. Our company is officially registered with the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and our visa support is recognized by every Russian Consulate in the world.
A Russian Visa is a passport-sized document.
We can send you your visa support by mail. Russian Consulates accepts a copy of your visa support invitation.
You should register your visa within 3 working days after your arrival in Russia to avoid late registration fees.
If you leave the country with an unregistered visa, you may be fined by the Russian customs officials. The fine is totally subjective. They may fine you or not and the amount of the fine is subject to their discretion.
You will not be allowed to leave the country with an expired visa. Russian customs officials will send you back and you will have to pay a fine to get an exit permit.
only at visa@moshostel.com
REGISTRATION
Once in Russia, Register Your Visa
So you obtained the Russian visa, finalized your travel arrangements, and now arrived to Russia. You have 3 business days (excluding weekends and holidays) to register your visa.
Visa registration is a stupid rule dating back to the Soviet time designed to make sure you're not going to occupy the valuable Russian soil without authorities' permission.
Every foreigner who comes to Russia should have his/her Russian visa registered within 72 hours upon arrival, excluding holidays and weekends. Before it is 72 hours after your arrival, your tickets (train, bus, plane tickets) to the place you're in (e.g. Moscow) is the document, which can confirm how long you've been staying there.
The registration used to be a little stamp in your passport on a paper attached to your visa and/or on the new migration card (if it was given to you) before 2007. However, in 2007 the laws have changed and now you get a special piece of paper that confirms your registration has been submitted.
HOW TO GET REGISTRATION
All hostels in Russia will charge a fee to register your visa as it involves a lot of paperwork and the documents must be couriered, processed and returned to the visa holder. At Moscow Home Hostel we charge 500 roubles for the visa registration in hostel and it takes one business day to process.
To get the visa registration you should provide us with the following documents:
- passport with your Russian visa
- migration card (Please REQUIRE the card when entering Russia to escape problems with registration of your visas)
We will make copies of these documens and within 1 business day you will get a special registration document from the Central Registration Department at our reception desk. Please have this document with you during whole your stay in Russia.
WHAT IF YOU DON'T REGISTER
First, you might have problems with the police (if they stop you to check your passport), second, you might have problems with immigration officials when you're leaving Russia: from having to pay a fine, to being deported.
The fines that you might pay (about $50-$100 US) in both cases are higher than the registration fee. In the worst case, you may even be deported from Russia, if you don't have your registration.
If you are deported, you can't enter Russia for 5 years after the deportation.
Recent reports suggest that if you were fined twice for breaching the Russian visa registration rules, you significantly lessen your future chances of getting a Russian visa (for 5 years).
If you leave the country with an unregistered visa, you may be fined by the Russian customs officials. The fine is totally subjective. They may fine you or not and the amount of the fine is subject to their discretion.