General Information

    Most foreigners need a visa in order to travel to Russia. Please read the following information carefully in order to avoid any possible delays. If you fail to follow the listed requirements, your visa application will not be accepted.

    The Consulate General accepts visa applications from 9 am till 12 pm Monday through Friday. The pick-up hours are from 4 pm till 5:30 pm.

 Effective from November 1, 2008 in order to streamline and improve visa issuance procedures, as well as relevant security measures, the Consulate General would like to encourage visa applicants unable to submit their documents at our office in person to channel their applications and related inquiries through the following recommended visa processing service agencies: 

 Any Russian visa requires some form of visa support documents and it is always issued only for the period of stay specified by such documents. Please note that Russian visas cannot be adjusted or extended. All paperwork once submitted is not subject to any changes of the announced visa processing period, the period of stay in Russia, or number of entries indicated by visa support documents available at the moment of submission. If applicants need to make changes in submitted paperwork, all documentation will be returned to them for resubmission. The visa fee is not refundable. 

Visa is a courtesy of the State and in certain cases the Consulate General reserves the right to consider your visa applications for as long as it seems necessary or require additional documents. Any visa applicant may be interviewed by a consular officer if deemed necessary.

 According to the Russian Law on Citizenship Russian citizens, regardless of any other citizenship they have, remain Russian citizens unless they complete the official procedure of renouncing Russian citizenship (please visit the Russian language section of our website for additional information on citizenship issues). Therefore applicants who used to be citizens of the USSR or of the Russian Federation must submit additional documents which confirm that they are no longer (or have never been) citizens of the Russian Federation (for example «Visa to Israel», or stamp in their passport proving that they left for "permanent residence abroad" before February 6th, 1992, or an official document certifying that their Russian citizenship was renounced), otherwise such applications will not be accepted. (Если Вы иммигрировали с территории бывшего СССР или Российской Федерации, Вам необходимо представить документальное подтверждение того, что Вы не состоите в гражданстве Российской Федерации. В соответствии с российским законодательством, за гражданами Российской Федерации не признается гражданство другого государства и они должны въезжать в Россию и выезжать из России по действительному российскому загранпаспорту.)

When you receive your visa please check it for any mistakes (passport number, date of birth, validity, etc.) and, if necessary, return it to the Consulate General for corrections. The Consulate General will not be responsible for any mistakes in the visas, which were not brought to our attention prior to your departure from the United States.

 Processing time, requirements and fees are subject to change without notice.

 Upon your arrival in Russia your visa must be registered with the respective Russian authorities.

 Currently citizens of the following countries can travel to Russia without a visa:

 Argentina (up to 90 days in every 6 months); Armenia; Azerbaijan; Belarus; Bosnia and Herzegovina (up to 30 days for tourists and up to 90 days for other visitors with original tourist vouchers or letters of invitation); Cuba; Hong Kong (up to 14 days); Israel (up to 90 days in every 6 months); Kazakhstan; Kyrgyzstan; Macedonia (up to 30 days for tourist and up to 90 days for other visitors with original tourist vouchers or letters of invitation); Moldova; Montenegro (up to 30 days); Serbia (up to 30 days for holders of Serbian biometric passports issued after April 9th, 2008); Tajikistan; Thailand (up to 30 days); Uzbekistan; Ukraine; Venezuela (up to 90 days in every 6 months).

 For additional information contact the Visa Desk.