The issuance of a visa is one of the conditions of a legal entry to Russia. Issuance is carried out by the consular authorities of the RF. You can obtain a visa only in the case you have provided the invitation to Russia.
What is an invitation and what do you need it for?
The procedure of a visa issuance consists of several stages and the first one is to get an invitation to Russia. That’s the legal ground for the beginning of your documents’ verification.
Why do you need an invitation? The employee of the consular department needs it to check the purposes of your alleged trip. In the case your country has a visa-free regime with Russia, the invitation is a formal ground for a visit.
The invitation is necessary in the following cases:
- Tourist trip to Russia
- Studying in Russian educational institutions
- Working in a Russian company
- Business visits to Russia
- Private visits to Russia
The invitation is different in each of the cases above. It can vary by purposes and duration of a visit. For example, an invitation for a work visa issued by a legal person is one of the stages of hiring.
Pay attention! The visa invitation to Russia is issued after the verification of your request carried out by a migration body of the MIA.
In order to request and get an invitation in the AFMS, the receiving party has to know the minimal information about the foreigner.
Here is a sample of a tourist invitation:
Documents for an invitation to Russia
What documents do you have to provide and would it vary depending on the purposes of the trip? There are special demands for documents only in the case of issuance of a work invitation. The rest types of visa require a standard package of documents:
- Filled form of a request to the AFMS
- Foreigner’s passport copy (in order to know the personal data)
- The approximate route and a purpose of a trip (in the case a trip is initiated by the foreigner himself)
- Letter(s) of guarantee from the receiving party
- Documents confirming the level of education (in the case of a study visa)
- Information about the receiving company/private personal
- Receipt confirming the payment of a government royalty
Besides an invitation for a business trip can require special documents confirming a qualification for some categories of citizens (for example, for technical specialists).
Pay attention! You can use the portal of the government services in order to request to the AFMS and to send the documents for an invitation.
The documents for an invitation can be sent by foreigners in a form of usual copy (by email); there is no need to send the original form. After obtaining the invitation, the foreign national has to provide the copy or the original form of the invitation to a consular authority or to the Visa Center.
Here is a sample of a business invitation:
Documents for an invitation are considered by the AFMS of the MIA within 20 days. There are special cases of reduced duration:
- 5 days in the case of the emergency situation (for example, urgent medical treatment is required)
- 14 days in the case a foreign citizen belongs to the category of highly qualified specialists
The invitation from a private person is issued by a standard procedure after the proper request. The citizens can save money using the portal of government services: in this case, the government royalty amounts 560 rubles instead of 800 rubles.
You can download the template of the invitation from our web.
The invitation from a legal person
The invitation can be issued by a legal person:
- interested in business contacts with the foreigner
- hiring the foreigner
- carrying out a medical treatment
- carrying out a tourist services
The company planning to hire a foreign national will have many difficulties. The procedure implies that a Russian organization will do the following steps:
- Agree on a quota for external specialists
- Notify the local employment agency
- Get a permission to hire an external specialist in the migration authorities of the MIA
- Arrange a work permit (plastic card) in the Department of the labor migration of the FMS
- Register in this authority as a company hiring external specialists
Only after all these actions, the legal authority has a right to request an invitation for a potential employee.
Pay attention! Registration in the FMS means that you notify the migration authorities that you hire a foreigner under an employment contract.
The contract is sent to the potential employee or to the consular body that issues a visa.
In order to avoid troubles while issuing an invitation, we recommend you to use our specialists’ services. We will check all the documents and data provided by the foreign national and send an invitation form as soon as possible.