Russian visa process

Teacher’s Visa You will be provided with a Visa Letter (called a Letter of Invitation) for obtaining single-entry Work Visa. The Visa will be changed to one year multy-entry Teacher’s Visa after your arriving in Moscow. It allows you to cross the Russian border as many times as you want during the year without any additional paperwork.

Letter of Invitation The whole Visa process can take up to a month. During this time, our Visa Manager will contact you with detailed instructions and requests for information. To apply for a Letter of Invitation for your Visa, we will need a scanned copy of your passport details page(s) as well as the location (city) in which you will be applying for your Russian Visa, also your permanent adress and a reference of the previous employer. A passport has to be valid for 6 months after the Visa finishes. With all the information and the copy of your Passport, we will apply for the official Letter of Invitation from the Passport and Visa Department of the Ministry of Interior Affairs. The Letter of Invitation is normally ready within 17 working days after the application is made. When the Invitation is ready, the Original Letter of Invitation or its scan copy will be sent to you. Before applying for the Visa, we suggest that you should find out all the requirements at the Consulate where you are going to apply for the Visa ie AIDS test certificate, insurance policy etc. You should also find out about the Consulate fee and the time it takes for the Visa to be processed. It is your responsibility to organize the Visa application process, including obtaining an AIDS test certificate if it is required.

Russian Consulate You can apply for your Visa either in person or by post. With regard to this, there is one important rule to remember: Letters of invitation are Consulate specific. That is to say, the applicant must designate the location of the Consulate where the Visa will be processed. With few exceptions, you can process your visa at any Russian Consulate provided you have specified that Consulate and provided you go in person. If you wish to process your Visa by post, restrictions normally apply. By way of example, in large countries such as the US, the State to which the Visa is return-posted must be in the jurisdiction of the Consulate processing the Visa. Proximity to a Russian Consulate is not a guarantee of jurisdiction. Therefore, it is best to check for jurisdiction by visiting the website of the Russian Consulate nearest you. Americans living abroad may also be banned from using the post to process their Visas, such as in the UK where Americans must process their Visas either in person or via an agency that specialises in processing Visas. In order to apply for a Visa, the following items should be taken or posted to the designated Russian Consulate:

• Application Form
• Passport with at least one clear page
• Letter of Invitation (the original)
• AIDS certificate
• Letter of Support /Covering Letter (upon request, but generally not required)
• Health Insurance Certificate (upon request)
• One passport size photo (black & white or coloured)
• The applicable fee

NOTE : Your questionnaire should be either printed or filled in by pen, but not both at the same time. The photos should be glued or stapled to the questionnaire. Please confirm with the Consulate that they have the same questionnaire form as the one we sent you as they may vary from Consulate to Consulate. Should you have any questions about filling in the Application Form, please do not hesitate to contact our Visa Manager. Before going to the Consulate, please check you have all the required paperwork completed according to the instructions you have receive from the Manager. Before leaving the Consulate, please make sure that the Visa has no mistakes and is filled in as the instructions say.

RUSSIAN CONSULATES AUSTRALIA Russian consulate in Sydney: 7-9, Fullerton St., Woollahra NSW 2025 Phone: +61 (2) 9326-1866 Fax: +61 (2) 9327-5065 Email:ruscon@dingoblue.net.au, russcon@one.net.au http://www.sydneyrussianconsulate.com/

CANADA Russian consulate in Ottawa: 52, Range Road, Ottawa, Ontario, K1N 8J5 Phone: + 1204 (613) 236-7220, 236-6215 Fax: + 1204 (613) 238-6158 E-mail: otconsul@intranet.ca Open Hours: Mon-Fri 9:00am-12:30pm

Russian consulate in Montreal: 3655, Avenue du Musee, Montreal, Quebec H3G 2E1 Phone: +1204 (514) 843-5901, 842-5343 Fax: +1204 (514) 842-2012

CHINA Russian consulate in Beijing: 4, Baizhongjie, Beijing, 100600 Phone: +86 (10) 532-2051, visa section (10) 532-1267 Email: ruscons@pub.sy.lnpta.net.cn, rusemb@public3.bta.net.cn

Russian consulate in Shanghai: 20, Huangpu Lu, Shanghai, 200080 Phone: +86 (21) 324-2682, (6?)324-8383 Fax: +86 (21) (6?)306-9982 Email: consul@online.sh.cn

IRELAND Russian consulate in Dublin: 186, Orwell Road, Rathgar, Dublin Phone: +353 (01) 492-3525, 492-2048 Fax: +353 (01) 492-3525 Email (embassy): russiane@indigo.ie

KOREA (SOUTH) Russian consulate in Seoul: 15, Daechi-Dong, Kangnam-Ku, 1001-13, Seoul Phone: +82 (2) 555-8051, 552-7095, 552-7096 Fax: +82 (2) 552-7098 Email: ruscons@uriel.net

LITHUANIA Russian consulate in Vilnius: 11, Juozapavicviaus gatve, LT-2000, Vilnius Phone: +370 (2) 351-763 Fax: +370 (2) 353-877 http://www.lithuania.mid.ru/ Email: rusemb@rusemb.lt

NEW ZEALAND Russian consulate in Wellington: 57, Messines Road, Wellington Phone: +64 (04) 476-6113 Fax: +64 (04) 476-3843 Email: eor@netlink.co.nz

UNITED KINGDOM Russian consulate in London: 5, Kensington Palace Gardens, London, W8 4QS Phone: +44 ((0)207) 229-8027, 229-2666, 229-9362 Fax: +44 ((0)207) 229-3215http://www.rusemblon.org Open hours: mon-fri from 09.00 to 11.30

Russian consulate in Edinburgh: 58, Melville Street, Edinburgh, EH3 7HF, Scotland Phone: +44 ((0)131) 225-7098 Fax: +44 ((0)131) 225-9587 Open hours: mon – fri 09.00-12.30

USA Russian consulate in Washington DC: 2641 Tunlaw Road, N.W. Washington, D.C. 20007 Telephone: (202) 939-8907, 939-8913, 939-8918 Fax: (202) 483-7579 Office hours: Monday – Friday 9:00 a.m.-12:30 p.m. and 2:30 p.m.-6:00 p.m. 
Open to public: Monday – Friday 9:00 a.m.-12:30 p.m. 
Head of the Consular Division: Sergey K. Ovsyannikov 
Jurisdiction: Alabama, Arkansas, Delaware, District of Columbia, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Indiana, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maryland, Mississippi, Missouri, Michigan, Ohio, Oklahoma, North Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, South Carolina, Virginia and West Virginia Web:www.russianembassy.org

Russian consulate in New York: 9, East 91 St., New York, NY 10128 Phone: +1 (212) 348-0926 Fax: +1 (212) 831-9162 Web: http://www.ruscon.com/ Open hours: mon-fri 9.00-1.00pm Jurisdiction: Vermont, Connecticut, Maine, New Jersey, New Hampshire, New York, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island

Russian consulate in San Francisco: 2790 Green St., (in Pacific Heights near Presidio Park between Baker St. and Broderick St. and Vallejo St. and Union St), San Francisco, CA 94123 Phone: +1 (415) 928-6878 (24 hours), 202-9800 (reference & answering machine) Fax: +1 (415) 929-0306 Open hours: 9am – 12 (noon) mon-fri, except Russian and US national holidays. Jurisdiction: Arizona, Hawaii, California, Colorado, Nevada, New Mexico, Oregon, Utah

Russian consulate in Seattle: 2323 Westin Building, 2001 Sixth Avenue, Seattle, WA 98121-2617 Phone: +1 (206) 728-1910 Fax: +1 (206) 728-187 Fax-Back Service: +1 (800) 634-4296 Open hours: 9.00-12.30pm Jurisdiction: Idaho, Iowa, Alaska, Wyoming, Washington, Wisconsin, Minnesota, Montana, Nebraska, North Dakota, South Dakota

At Customs Migration Card: All foreign citizens are required to carry a Migration Card while staying in Russia. You will be given the Migration Card upon entry to Russia. Complete both parts and present it to Passport Control. The border guard will put a stamp (the same as in the passport) on your Card and remove the top portion.

ATTENTION : Do not forget to take and stamp the Migration Card every time you are crossing the border. No one can be registered without a Migration Card.

Registration According to Russian Migration Laws, your Passport and Visa have to be registered within 7 working days upon arrival. Our Manager will contact you personally on the first working day following your arrival. He must submit your Passport, Visa and Migration Card to PVU for registration. At the time of Registration, your Visa sponsor will have to submit the appropriate paper work detailing the address at which you will be living during your stay in Russia. The result is that you will get a red stamp in your Passport and on the Migration Card as well. Please check with the Visa Manager that there is an address on the stamp and an expiry date. While your Passport and Visa are being registered, we will issue you with a “Spravka” – this is a photocopy of the relevant Passport pages, together with a stamped letter. You should carry this with you at all times.

Visa Costs Your Consular fees will be reimbursed on successful completion of your contract. In case of early termination, the Consular fees will be reimbursed on a pro-rata basis.