Follow these steps to order your Russian visa Letter of Invitation: 

We offer several levels of service dependent upon what type of invitation you need (subject to your nationality), how quickly you need your visa support documents to be issued, and how many times you are planning to travel to Russia (single, double or multiple entry visit). Prices start from £38.25.

The Real Russia visa support service cost is “all inclusive” and covers everything we need to generate your visa support documents and get them to you, including:

• Preparation and management of your official letter of invitation at the Russian Federal Migration Authorities.

• Russian Federal Migration Authorities processing charges.

• Local taxes (including VAT of 20%!).

If you wish to apply for your Russian business visa Letter of Invitation with us, you do not need to:

• Book a flight or hotel through us.

• Travelling on business with our company.

• Purchase anything else from us at all.

• Or provide any other details than those we ask for on our simple online form.

The price you see is the price you pay!

Visa support processing time

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 and purpose of visit, this normally takes between 8 and 18 working days. As stipulated further above, eligible nationalities can obtain an invitation in one working day. To see what services are available to you, please select your nationality.

Remember, we can only start processing your application once you have paid in full and sent us a clear scan of your passport information page.

While we endeavour to process the orders as quickly as possible, you should note that orders made after 14.00pm (GMT) will be processed the following working day only.

What happens once my visa support has been issued?

Standard Visa Support Documents

Once your electronic invitation has been issued, you will receive confirmation of the relevant details via email.

Applying for visa: You can then submit your visa application to the Consulate that you indicated when placing your order with us.

Exclusive Visa Support Documents

Once your invitation has been issued, it will be emailed to you. If you requested the original, we would post it to you using the delivery method that you selected when submitting your order. Please allow approximately 3 working days for delivery depending on the country of destination.

Applying for visa: Single and double entry ИНН/TIN business visa supports are generally a single page document allowing you to apply for your visa at any Russian Consulate of your choice. However Russian Consulates in certain countries or cities may require the original ИНН/TIN letter of invitation even when applying for single or double entry visa. Multiple entry ИНН/TIN letter of invitations have to be submitted as original.

Please note:  Visa requirements may differ depending on which Russian Consulate you apply for your visa at. To ensure that you are eligible to apply for your visa in certain country (usually dependent upon your residency status), that you have the correct type of invitation (electronic, ИНН/TIN) in the required format (copy, original), we would recommend you to check the local consular requirements before ordering your visa support.

How soon can I apply?

The Russian Federal Migration Authorities will not process business visa support applications earlier than 90 calendar days before the requested visa start 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 Federal Migration 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 support 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 (unless this is the explicit requirement of the Consulate that you wish to apply for your visa at) 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 support visa service.

Will you need my original passport while processing my invitation?

When processing your visa support documents, we only require a scanned copy of your passport information page. You will need to submit your original passport when applying for your visa.

Once your electronic invitation (visa support) has been issued and received by the Russian Consulate that you select at the time of submitting your order with us, you will be able to apply for your visa any time within the requested validity period. Your visa will start from the date it is issued by the Consulate and the end date will correspond with the visa expiry date as stipulated on your invitation.

You are required to provide your biometric data (fingerprints) when applying for a Russian visa. 

See our Russian biometrics page for more information on how the Russian visa biometric process works and where to submit your fingerprints.

Generally, you will only be able to stay in Russia up to the maximum validity period of the visa.

All nationalities are restricted to a maximum of 90 days in a 180-day period when using a multiple-entry visa.

Besides, certain nationalities may be restricted on how long their citizens can stay in Russia within specific periods. If this applies to you, it will be written on your visa within the “Additional Information” section.

The purpose of visit requested for your visa should generally correspond with your initial visit intentions. The purpose of visit will be written on the visa support documents and encoded into your visa. However, this does not restrict you to this purpose and you may, for example, use a business visa to also visit family or friends. If you are only considering a single trip of up to 30 days within a twelve-month period, you should consider a tourist visa with a purpose of visit business tourism.

In most cases, a child can get an ‘accompanying family member’ visa based on a parent's business visa. Please review the following information on taking a child to Russia.

To order your business visa support on-line, simply click on the level of service you want from the options above.

• When you select the visa support type and service level you want from the options above we will ask you to fill in a simple online form with details about yourself, your trip and finally you will have the option to pay using your credit or debit card through our secure servers.
• You fax or email to us the last page of your passport (and residency proof if you are not applying for the visa in the country where you are a national) so that we may start to generate your visa support documents. For processing your multiple entry visa support we may also ask for a clear fax or scan of your last Russian visa.
  
  That's it, that's all you have to do!
• We will complete all the necessary forms and submit your application to the Russian authorities. During the processing of your application, we will be on hand to answer any queries the authorities may have and to ensure that your application is dealt with in a timely and efficient manner.
• The day your visa support document is ready we will collect it in person, confirm that it is correct and either email it to you, send it by courier or hold it for your collection if required. In the case of Telexes, you will receive confirmation of the details once the order has been accepted by the Russian authorities, so that you can submit your application at your chosen Consulate at the appropriate time.

You can follow the progress of your order through our online order tracking system which will detail the steps taken and the steps remaining to obtain your Russian visa Letter of Invitation.

Remember, when you are in Russia, please ensure that you register your visa.

If you’re in need of assistance whilst travelling, we offer a dedicated 24-hour telephone support service.

For all emergencies you can call us on +44 (0) 207 100 4981 where our operators are available to provide help 7 days a week, 365 days a year.

If you are a Real Russia TravelSim user, then calls to our helpline are free for the first three minutes. Click here for more information on the Real Russia TravelSim.

If you experience problems whilst away, our team can offer guidance and support. If for example you have mislaid your passport, you are experiencing difficulty boarding a train or any number of other travel issues, call our emergency helpline for immediate assistance.

We try to give you as much information as we can to help you choose the service you need, though if you still have questions please feel free to look at our Frequently Asked Questions or contact us directly and we will be happy to help.