Frequent asked questions Russia visa

If you have not received an e-mail from us within an hour after paying for your visa, please check your junk mail folder (spam box) first. Did you not receive an e-mail there either? Then contact us by phone or email via the contact page.

The visa application process for Russia begins online. To do so, open the online application form . After filling in all the details of the particular traveler(s), the application can be paid very easily. This can be done with iDeal, Bancontact, Paypal or with Credit Card. When the payment is completed, you will receive (within a maximum of 1 hour) an e-mail from us with instructions on how to submit the required documents. To deliver these documents, you can choose to drop them off at our office, send them by registered mail or courier, and you can also use our secure pick-up service.
Once the documents arrive at our Hoofddorp office, we thoroughly check the package for you. We adjust the data that we can do ourselves where necessary. Should any data be missing, we will contact you by phone or e-mail.
As soon as the package is ready and conforms to the conditions, we take the application to The Hague. When we deliver the documents, we are informed whether additional documents are requested. Again, we will contact you directly.
After granting the visa, we will return the passport with the visa for Russia to you. You can select the return method in the application form, namely; Registered mail, DHL courier, personal pickup at our office or ready at Schiphol Airport.

The visa application for Russia can be processed between 90 days and about a week before departure, depending on the type of visa you have chosen. To ensure that the visa is issued on time, we recommend that you submit the application six weeks before departure. More information can be found on the delivery times page.
Please note: There may be a maximum of 1 valid visa for Russia in your passport, if you still have a current visa in your (second) passport, it must first be canceled so that the validity of this old visa expires before you can apply for an extension.

Yes, there is a rush procedure for applying for Russian visas. The rush application for the tourist visa takes 6 business days instead of the normal 10 business days. The business rush application takes 4 days instead of the normal 6 or 9 (depending on the type of visa). The cost of the rush procedure is €14.50 for the tourist visa and €149.95 for business visas.
It is good to know that in case of urgency this should also be clearly stated in the invitation letter.
If you would like to know more about the costs and delivery time of the various urgent procedures, please see the page on costs and delivery times.

Yes, it is possible to add multiple travelers traveling together to Russia on one application form. Since many details only need to be entered once, this can save a lot of input work. Ask us about the possibilities.

After submitting the online application form, you must make payment. You can do this with: iDeal, Paypal, Bancontact or credit card. If there is a surcharge for your chosen pickup and/or shipping method, it will be added directly to the total amount.
If you use a custom courier (for pickup and/or return), the cost will be billed afterwards.

No, it is not possible to extend a visa. Also note that any new visa application to Russia immediately invalidates any old visa to Russia. So only submit a new visa application if you no longer wish to use previously issued visas.

No. There is a visa waiver for a transfer, where the traveler may not stay in the transit zone at the airport for more than 24 hours. You may not leave the transit zone at the airport or travel through the following areas:

Khabarovsk
Krasnodar
Yuzhno
Sakalinsk
Vladivostok
If your transfer takes longer, if you arrive in one of the non-visa-free zones, if you check in at a new gate or airline, or if you plan to leave the transit zone at the airport, you must apply for a visa in advance.

Travelers with Dutch and Belgian nationality need a visa to enter Russia.
The only exception where a visa is not required is for a transfer in Russia, where one does not leave the terminal and the stay in the terminal lasts no longer than 24 hours. If you have to switch to another terminal within the same airport or check-in again, you will have to apply for a visa.

Yes, everyone traveling, regardless of age, must be able to present a visa when entering Russia. This means that everyone must therefore also have their own passport (i.e. children may not be credited in a parent/guardian's passport), which will contain the visa.

Since November 1, 2019, it has been possible to apply for an electronic visa for Russia. However, it is valid only in certain areas and under the following conditions:

With the electronic visa, you may only travel to St. Petersburg, Leningrad Oblast and Kalingrad Oblast. Are you traveling (also) to other cities in Russia, such as Moscow? Then you need to apply for a regular visa in advance. You can find these on our website.
The trip should not exceed 8 days. Will you stay longer? Then you must also apply for a regular visa and the electronic visa does not apply to you.
During your stay in Russia, you are not allowed to leave the city borders with the electronic visa. Thus, you must stay in St. Petersburg, Kalingrad Oblast or Leningrad Oblast. Are you crossing city borders with an electronic visa? Then you run the risk of being deported from the country and receiving a high fine for doing so. In addition, it can lead to land denial and this will affect future visa applications, including outside Russia.

You must arrive and depart from the same point. For example, are you arriving at the Moscow airport and transferring to a flight to St. Petersburg? Even then, the e-visa is not valid.
The electronic visa is not yet available for travelers coming to Russia by car or train.
The purpose of your trip determines the type of visa you should apply for. If you are not sure which visa is most applicable to your situation, do not hesitate to contact us! Our staff can advise you on this.

If you are applying for a tourist visa to go on vacation, you may stay in Russia for a maximum of 30 consecutive days. If you are applying for a double-entry or multiple-entry variant (with a total validity of 180 days), each individual stay may also be for a maximum of 30 consecutive days.

If you are applying for a business visa , you may stay in Russia for a maximum of 90 consecutive days. If you are applying for a double or multiple entry visa with a validity of 6 or 12 months, you may stay in Russia for a maximum of 90 days in a continuous period of 180 days

There are several visas available for Russia. The type of visa depends on your destination. The most common are a visa for tourist reasons or a visa for business purposes. However, you also have a visa for journalists, a visa for humanitarian purposes, a work visa, a transit visa to Russia (transfer) and a visa by personal invitation.

No, after obtaining your first visa it is possible to apply for a multiple entry visa, which allows you to travel in and out of the country several times. However, this does require that you can provide a copy of an old visa (not older than 12 months), including the travel stamps you received at the border upon entering and leaving Russia.
In all other cases it is possible to apply for a double entry, but you must be able to prove by means of a flight confirmation when you will enter the country both times.

There are 3 options for the number of entries: both tourist and business visas are available in single, double and multiple entries. This allows entry into Russia once, twice and an unlimited number of times, provided all visa requirements are met within the visa validity period.

A multiple entry annual visa will only be issued if you can provide an old business visa from no more than 12 months ago. Are you unable to do so? Then you are only eligible for a double entry visa with a validity of 90 days. You must then enter and exit Russia twice within those 90 days. A one-year visa has a processing time of at least 10 working days. Is your old visa older than 12 months? We may be able to convert it in Belgium for a fee of 150 euros, which means you may still be eligible for a multiple entry. Contact us for the possibilities.
A multiple entry visa for Russia can also become a 3-year visa. For this we charge an additional fee of 250 euro per visa.

Please note! Tourist applicants can only obtain a multiple entry visa if they are invited by a private person from Russia, such as a family member. This invitation must be obtained by the inviter through the Russian government.

No, you don't have to.

Note: You may only travel within the validity dates listed on the visa for Russia. If you have changed your trip and it is no longer within the visa validity dates, you must apply for a new visa.

The cost for the Russian tourist visa is €109.95 per traveler.

This includes processing fee, consular fee, transaction fee (for iDeal/bancontact payment) and VAT. If you wish to have data and/or documents picked up or delivered to your home, you will pay additional shipping costs. You can also use an urgent procedure for which a surcharge will also be charged. The amount of these surcharges depends on the desired delivery time and the type of visa.

To obtain a visa to Russia, you must provide a letter of invitation.

If you are vacationing to Russia through a travel agency, you can usually have your invitation letter prepared by them, the tour operator or the accommodation where you are staying in Russia. If this is not possible, we can take care of the invitation letter for you, for which there is an additional charge. If you want to use this service, all you have to do is to check this on the online application form, further processing will be done correctly automatically.
If you are going to Russia on business, you can have this invitation letter prepared by the organization you are visiting. The Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Federal Migration Service can provide this. It is worth noting that in case of urgency, this should also be clearly stated in the invitation letter. If you cannot obtain this letter in time, you can outsource this to our visa experts. The price of this service is upon request and depends on the type of visa and the urgency required. Please contact us by phone.

In all cases, Traveldocs can help you with an invitation. Both tourist and business. Please note! We cannot send you an invitation if you are traveling to:
Dagestan
Chechnya
North Ossetia
Cast in

After you submit the online application form and payment is completed, you will receive the embassy form by email. This form will be completed for you by a visa expert with the information you entered on the online form. All you need to do is sign this form and submit it to us along with the other documents (passport photo, passport, etc.).

The passport photo must be hardcopy (on paper and not digital), taken within the last 3 months and delivered in the size 35x45mm. The passport photo must be of high quality and in color with a white background . Head covering is only allowed on the passport photo if it is for religious reasons: The visibility of the entire face is then a requirement.
The passport photo must be loose (i.e. not attached to the application form in any way) and free of glue/staple residue.

An emergency passport will not be accepted.

The passport must be valid for at least six months after the date of departure from Russia, entered on the online application form.
If a multiple-entry visa (for 3 entries or more) is applied for, the above requirement is tightened and the passport must still be valid for at least 12 months on each arrival in Russia.
In addition to the passport validity requirement, it is also required that at least 2 facing pages remain empty in the passport. The passport must also not come with a cover.

Document numbers in the Netherlands never contain the letter “O,” but may contain the digit “0.” Even if it looks like there is a letter O in your passport, it will be the number 0. It is also important to know that document numbers in the Netherlands are 9 characters long.
Belgian document numbers may contain the letter(s) “O” and/or the digit “0.” Belgian document numbers are 8 characters long and always begin with 2 letters followed by 6 digits.

Document numbers in the Netherlands never contain the letter “O,” but may contain the digit “0.” Even if it looks like there is a letter O in your passport, it will be the number 0. It is also important to know that document numbers in the Netherlands are 9 characters long.
Belgian document numbers may contain the letter(s) “O” and/or the digit “0.” Belgian document numbers are 8 characters long and always begin with 2 letters followed by 6 digits.

An employer statement is required only if you are applying for a business visa to Russia. After you complete the online form, you will receive a sample by email, which only needs to be completed and signed by your employer.

There are a number of delivery methods, namely; delivery to our office in Hoofddorp, sending it yourself (registered mail or courier), having it picked up by us (the next day or in case of emergency the same day).
Sometimes our pick-up service can be used the same day. The possibility and cost depend on the pickup location, time and how busy our courier service is. The cost for next day pickup also depends on the pickup location.
You can contact us by phone for our pickup service options.

The information and documents you need to provide will depend on your destination (tourist or business), the number of entries required into Russia and the desired visa validity period. After you submit the online visa application for Russia, you will receive a personal email from us with instructions on how to submit the required documents for your situation.

Booking accommodation in advance is only necessary if the organization issuing your invitation makes this requirement. If we provide the invitation letter for you, you do not need to book accommodations before applying for the visa.
Booking flights in advance is required only if you are applying for a double (2 entries) or a multiple-entry visa for Russia (3 or more entries). In this case, you must provide confirmation of the bookings.

A Russia declaration is provided by your travel insurance and is a statement that you are insured during your stay in Russia. Because there are specific requirements for this declaration, it is also called a Russia declaration. If you ask your insurer for this declaration, a standard document is usually provided that you can use with your visa application. Usually you can download it directly from your insurer's website. In some cases, however, you will have to ask for it over the phone. Keep in mind that this procedure can take up to 7 business days, depending on your insurance company.

There are several ways to return the passport with the visa Russia. In the application form you fill out online, you can indicate which option you prefer: pick up at our office in Hoofddorp, pick up yourself at Schiphol Airport or have it sent by mail. Inquire by telephone about the possibilities and rates.