The visa for Russia
Travelers to Russia are required to have a valid Russia visa before departure. You can apply for the Russia visa from € 39.95. including consular fees.
How does it work?
1. Apply
Simply apply for a visa, ESTA or eTA by filling in the required information online.
2. Checkout online
You can safely pay online with iDEAL, Bancontact, PayPal or credit card.
3. Receive your visa
You will receive the official visa, ESTA or eTA by e-mail (often within 15 minutes). This way you can travel with confidence.
Visa requirements
Russia
Passport
Your original passport with a validity of at least 6 months after the expiry date of your visa.
It is also important that your passport contains at least 2 empty visa pages that are opposite each other.
Passport photograph
An official, color passport photo that meets the following conditions:
- Photo is less than 3 months old
- Background is white or light gray in color
- Dimensions are 3.5 x 4.5 cm
- There are no damages to the passport photo
- Passport photo is not stapled to the visa application form
- Person in the photo is looking straight into the camera
- No glasses are worn in the photo
Invitation Letter
A Tourist Voucher from the inviting organization in Russia. This is usually provided by the hotel or a local tour operator.
The Tourist Voucher consists of 2 parts: a voucher and a confirmation.
If you want us to provide your Tourist Voucher, you can select the Russia Invitation service when placing your online application on our website.
Entering by car or motorcycle
If you are traveling overland Russia, the following additional documents are required:
- Registration certificate
- Insurance certificate car / motorcycle
- Copy of driver’s license
- An itinerary with the planned route
- The Tourist Voucher must state “Auto Tourism”
Insurance certificate
An insurance statement on the letterhead of the insurer.
This must state the following information:
- The full name of the traveler
- The commencement and expiry date of the insurance (These dates must cover the entire travel period)
- Indicate that the insurance is valid in Russia or worldwide
- A signature of the insurer
Born in the former Soviet Union before 1991
If you were born before 1991 in Russia, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Estonia, Georgia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Latvia, Lithuania, Moldova, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Ukraine or Uzbekistan then the following additional documents are required:
- An official waiver of your then citizenship
- If you do not have an official waiver then a completed questionnaire is required (you will receive this on your personal page)
- A copy of your then passport
- A copy of your birth certificate
Why a Visa Russia application and when do I need it?
What is a visa Russia application?
A Russian visa is a consular authorization document which allows you to enter the Russian Federation. This permission document is a (digital or a paper) document, which must be placed in your passport before you can enter the country. This document is also referred to as an (e-) visa and in almost all cases you must apply in advance of the trip. There are different types of visas. On our website you can see exactly which visa applies to your trip or situation. In addition to standard business and tourist visas, we can also arrange visas for Medical or Journalistic purposes. If you are unsure which visa applies to your situation, we request that you contact us in advance by telephone.
You can initiate the application by filling in the application form on our website. You will then receive a personal e-mail from us containing an overview of the documents to be supplied by you and also the consular form. Once you have collected all the necessary documents, you must deliver them – depending on the type of visa – to us physically or by email. Is your application for an e-visa? Then you need to provide this online. Are you applying for a regular visa? Then you must physically deliver all necessary documents to us in addition to your passport. This is not possible via email.
You no longer have to go to the consulate yourself.
Previously, the applicant himself had to travel to the consulate to issue the passport and documents and to pick it up again when the visa is ready at the Visa Application Center in The Hague. Traveldocs can take the trouble off your hands by doing this for you. You can also use our Pick-up and drop-off courier service. At an additional cost, we can send a private courier to your home or office address, who will collect the passport and documents from you and bring them to us. Of course we also offer the possibility to receive the passport back through a courier. For this you pay additional costs of €23.95 including VAT. If you have other wishes regarding the return of your passport, we offer various services. The costs of the courier service can be found on our website and, if desired, processed immediately when placing your application. We will contact you upon collection to agree when and where our courier can report and of course also inform you by telephone as soon as the passport with visa is ready. Do you not yet know what your wishes are? That is not a problem at all. You can always make your wishes known to us later in the process and make the payment via an online link. Please contact us for the possibilities or visit our website.
Business or tourist, an invitation letter is mandatory.
All travelers must provide an invitation letter from the Russian organization with the application, which will be visited by the traveler. Tourists can often obtain an invitation letter from their travel agency or overnight stop in Russia. What if you do not have an invitation letter? You can have the invitation letter arranged by Traveldocs for an additional fee.
To make this possible, you must check this when placing the order on our website. We will then add the letter to the application as soon as we have received all necessary documents from you. The rates of the letters may differ per destination. You can check the exact pricing on our website.
What types of Russia visas are there?
Which variant of the visa to apply for Russia depends on your destination. You can find this below. More explanation per visa type and the conditions thereof can be found on our visa Russia page.
Tourist or Business
The most common visas are tourist and business. We also provide medical visas and visas for journalists. If you wish to use the last two options, we request that you contact us in advance by telephone or email. The documents to be supplied may then differ.
All tourist and business visas can be arranged through our website.
Processing time
On average it takes between 7 and 10 working days after the moment of submission, before you can get the passport with visa back. Is your application in a hurry? Then in many cases we also offer an emergency visa, where the processing time is only 4 days from the time of submission to the consulate. You do pay a surcharge for this.
Attention! Not all possible combinations and visa validities can always be applied for just like that. It differs per visa type which conditions are attached to this and which documents you need to provide. You can find all about this on our Russia visa page.
It is also not allowed to have multiple (valid) Russia visas in your passport(s). If you still have a valid Russia visa in your current (or second) passport, we must first cancel this visa for you before we can apply for a new one.
Are you arriving in St. Petersburg and your stay is no less than 8 days? Then you may be eligible for the e-visa Russia. More information can be found on our E-visa Russia page.
Apply for the Russian visa
It is possible to take care of the application yourself by placing the application on our website and answering all necessary questions.
You can do this 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. We will guide you step by step through the process and support where necessary. Are you having trouble finding something our website? Then you can contact us for this. We’d love to help you out!
The cost for the visa for Russia.
The cost of the visa is €111.95 per person, including VAT. Depending on the visa type, delivery time and urgency you have chosen, a surcharge may be added. If you want your passport to be returned by standard courier after pasting your visa for Russia, you pay an additional cost of €23.95.- If you want a faster delivery, an additional cost can be charged, depending on your wishes. Of course we also offer the possibility to prepare the passport at Schiphol, where you can collect it immediately before departure. You pay an additional €45.00,- for this, including VAT.
Apply for Russia visa now!
Do you want to apply for the visa Russia directly? Then proceed directly to the online application form. Would you like to know more about the visa and the procedure first? Read our FAQ visa Russia page, or contact us via the online contact form.
