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Visa support letter (invitation)

Virtually all travellers to Russia need an entry visa, which is a document stuck into the applicants passport. The earliest arrival and the latest departure dates are indicated on the visa and must be observed. Students have to apply for the visa at a visa department of a Russian Consulate or Embassy in their home country. The school will provide participants with a necessary letter of invitation.

Depending on your nationality and the duration of your language course with Liden & Denz, you either apply for a (short-term) student visa for Schengen citizens, a more flexible student visa, valid for any nationality or a simple tourist visa.

Student visa – issued to citizen of Schengen countries only: A short-term student visa for Schengen citizens is valid for one entry and for maximum 90 days. The invitation letter is issued by Liden & Denz and sent by airmail to the student. This visa is usually issued free of charge but will only be granted upon presentation of the original of this invitation to the local Russian consulate or embassy. In order to issue the invitation letter, Liden & Denz requires following information from the student:

• Clear passport copy with all relevant personal data (full name and first name, date and place of birth, nationality), passport number, passport issue and expiry dates, issuing authority and place of issue, any prolongation remarks. We need the copy either by fax or scanned and sent by e-mail.Please note that the passport must remain valid for six months beyond the Russian visa expiry date.
• Exact length of stay (allow for some extra-days).
• Place of application for the visa (city, country).
• Exact address of the contact person, who receives the letter of invitation by airmail

Prolongation: this visa type cannot be prolonged!

Student visa – issued to the Rest of the World (and Schengen citizens staying over 90 days): In this case the invitation will be issued by the Russian Federal Migration Service (UFMS). This procedure takes up to four weeks and courier costs apply. We need the following documents and information to file an application with the Federal Migration Service:

• Clear passport copy with all relevant personal data (full name and first name, date and place of birth, nationality), passport number, passport issue and expiry dates, issuing authority and place of issue, any prolongation remarks. We need the copy either by fax or scanned and sent by e-mail.Please note that the passport must remain valid for six months beyond the Russian visa expiry date.
• Exact length of stay (allow for some extra-days).
• Place of application for the visa (city, country).
• Permanent home address, phone/fax number.
• Place of work/study; job title, position, exact address of work or study, contact phone/fax.
• Exact address, name and phone number of the contact person, who is receiving the letter of invitation by courier.

Prolongation: The initial visa will be issued for 90 days, but can be prolonged inside Russia to maximum 365 days.

Tourist visa: For students outside the Schengen area, who wish to study four weeks or less, we will arrange a simple invitation which entitles the student to apply for a tourist visa. This invitation or tourist voucher will be sent by email to the student within 24 hours of a booking. The tourist visa is valid for one entry and for maximum 30 days In order to proceed, we need to have the following information:

• Full name and last name
• Nationality
• Date of birth
• Passport number and expiry date

Prolongation: tourist visas cannot be prolonged.

Students travelling with a visa, not sponsored by Liden & Denz: Extra charges apply if a student obtains a visa via a tour-operator or any other facilitator. The fee, which is currently EUR 40, will be collected upon arrival and only if the student needs our assistance to register this visa. The fee does not apply if the student registers the visa with the company which sponsored it in the first place.

Visa application procedure

The visa-fee depends on the price policy of each consulate and on the applicant’s nationality. The following items are needed to file an application for a Russian visa:

• Filled-in visa application form (available in English, German, French, Italian and Spanish. US citizens need to fill in this form.
• Visa support letter*)
• One recent passport-sized foto
• Valid passport
• Health insurance policy (required only by some Russian consulates)
• HIV test certificate (for stays longer than three months only)

*) Please note that the visa support letter (student visa only) must be supplied as original. Depending on how much time is left before the course starts, we will send the support letter by airmail (no charge) or by courier service (courier charges apply).

For your convenience we provide samples for completing the application form for tourist and student visa. If you combine St.Petersburg and Moscow, please use the form of the first city you are visiting.

• Sample application form tourist visa for St.Petersburg
• Sample application form tourist visa for Moscow
• Sample application form student visa for St.Petersburg
• Sample application form student visa for Moscow

The Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs MID maintains an up-to-date list with addresses and websites of Russian embassies and consulates around the world.

It is the sole responsibility of the student to check the issued visa for the correct visa type, correct entry and exit dates and all personal information on the visa. Liden & Denz cannot be held responsible for any mistakes made by the Russian authorities. Students are asked to check the validity of their visa right away! The same accounts for visa prolongations in Russia. 

Visa registration

The school must register all students within one week after arrival at the local office of the Ministry of the Interior. Registration of a visa normally takes two working days. We always hand out passport and visa copies during the registration process. Students can use these copies as valid documents while changing money, traveller’s cheques (at some places), etc. Visa registration costs are included in the enrolment fee and payable together with the course and accommodation fees. Liden & Denz requires that all students hand in their passport and visa on the first school day to our front-desk.

As mentioned above, visas not sponsored by Liden & Denz, must be either registered by the organisation who issued the invitation or – if registered by Liden & Denz – will involve costs of EUR 40!