2. Step-by-step instruction to obtain Russian visa

Step 3 - Receipt of an invitation letter (visa support letter) issued by the PDMI or by the Russian Federal Migration Service

a) For nationals of the countries listed here the letter of invitation is issued by the PDMI/EIMI staff on the base of your registration form as a participant of a conference/scientific program. It takes up to 6 days to issue an invitation plus about 10 days to deliver the original to your address by post.

The original invitation is written in Russian as it is addressed to the Russian Consulate, you can use the English language version to find information that can be needed to fill out a visa application form.

b) For nationals of the countries listed here the letter of invitation is issued by the Russian Federal Migration Service (FMS) at the request of the PDMI. To submit to the FMS a request for an invitation we need your registration form, a scan of your passport (first two pages) and, if you will apply for a visa not in the country of your citizenship, a scan of your residence permit.

Usually receiving an invitation from the Migration Service takes about 6 weeks, but it happens that this process lasts up to 10 weeks. The Migration Service issues the invitation in electronic form and sends it directly to the Russian consulate, which you indicated in your registration form. We will notify you when this happens and send you an electronic form of your invitation.

The sample of electronic invitation issued by the Migration Service you can see here.

Step 4 - Apply for a visa at the Russian Consulate in the country of residence When applying for a visa please follow the instructions and recommendations on the website of the Russian Consulate in your country of residence. You will find there an electronic online application form for a visa, the time and the cost of obtaining a visa, the visa department schedules.

Recently most of the Russian Consulates organized Russian Visa Centers to which they transferred the functions of accepting and processing visa applications. In this case, you will need to apply for a visa to the Visa Center, and not to the Consulate. Please clarify the matter at the Russian Consulate in advance.

Normal visa processing time at the Consulates is 10 working days. Urgent visa processing time may be 5 or 3 working days for extra money. Specify it at the Consulate in the country of residence.