Visa support service
The Visa Support service (processing time) refers to a number of working days (excluding weekends and the day of order) that it will take us to issue your visa support documents once we have submitted your application to the Russian authorities. Depending on the number of entries requested, this may take between 8 and 18 working days.
Remember, we can only start processing your application once you have paid and sent us a clear scan of your passport photo page.
While we endeavour to process the orders as quickly as possible, you should note that orders made after 14.00 GMT will be processed the following working day only.
Consular service
The Consular service (processing time) refers to a number of working days that it will take to obtain your visa once you have submitted your fingerprints to the Russian visa application centre.
Depending upon the service you select, this will be between 4 and 21 working days (some exceptions apply depending on your nationality, type of invitation used and cities to be visited).
Once your visa support documents (if we are arranging these for you) have been issued and received by the Russian Consulate, your application can be submitted to the Russian Visa Application Centre the next consular working day provided that we have got your documents, they are all in order and you are able to visit the visa centre to give your biometric data (fingerprints) – please click here for more information.
How to work out how long your visa will take
So, to work out how many days your visa will take to process and obtain, add the visa support service and the consular service processing time together.
The visa due dates indicated on the order form (when you move your mouse over the price) account for UK and Russian public holidays.
How soon can I apply?
The Russian authorities will not process business visa support applications earlier than 90 calendar days before the requested visa start date. Today we are able to submit for processing the visa support documents that have a start date on or before [date]
If you submit your order earlier, then we will hold your application and apply for your business visa support documents at the earliest opportunity. Alternatively, you may change your visa start date to an earlier date to be able to apply for your visa sooner.
Are there any external issues which may affect my visa processing?
Be aware that the Russian authorities as well as the Russian Consulate may occasionally experience delays when issuing the visa support documents and visas (especially during peak season such as spring, summer, leading up to festive period - Christmas and New Year, as well as around Russian national holidays). For that reason, the visa due dates indicated on the order form are only provisional and by no means definitive. In any event, we do not recommend booking your flight or making other travel arrangements until you have got your passport and visa with you.
Please see the following link to our service status page. for any processing issues which may be affecting the Russian business visa service.
How long will you need my passport for?
When processing your visa support documents, we only require a scanned copy of your passport information page. We will need your original passport when preparing your visa application for submission to the Russian Visa Application Centre. The Russian consulate will then keep your passport for the whole duration of the visa processing.