Types of Russian visas
Currently foreign citizens intending to visit Russia need an entry permit, i.e. a visa. To issue it a letter of invitation is required.
Please note that the procedure of getting Russian business visas slightly differs from similar procedures in other countries. The main difference is related to the fact that an invitation (to be submitted to a consulate) must be granted by Russia's Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MID) in Moscow. At present there are four types of entry visas required for visiting the Russian Federation:
1. A Business Visa
A business visa is issued if the purpose of your visit to Russia is training, a study tour, negotiations, consultations, work etc. An invitation for a business visa to Russia can only be granted by the Consulate Service of the RF MID (Ministry of Foreign Affairs). Just the organizations duly registered in the MID are empowered to issue these letters of invitation.
Business visas may be single-entry, double-entry and multi-entry. Russian consulates view business visas as first priority.
Single-entry and double-entry visas are issued for the period from 1 to 3 months. Multi-entry visas are most convenient as they grant the right to visit the Russian Federation for a practically unlimited number of times within the whole validity period of the visa. Multi-entry visas are granted for the period from 3 to 12 months. Children's names are not included in a multi-entry visa, and they require separate visas.
2. A Tourist Visa
A tourist visa is only issued for tourists that confirm their intention to reside in Russia by hotel reservations. This visa is issued just for short-term single trips. A tourist visa is issued as a single-entry visa for the term not exceeding 21 days. The invitations for tourist visas are provided to foreign travel agencies only.
3. An Individual Visa
To get an individual visa you need an original invitation (the so called 'notification'), your Russian relatives or friends need to get it from the Regional Department of Visas and Registration ('OVIR') under Russia's Ministry of Internal Affairs (MVD). This procedure takes 45 days. Please note that individual visas are only issued for single trips to Russia and are valid just for the place where a notification is granted.
4. A Transit Visa
Russian transit visa is valid within 72 hours and is granted to the individuals travelling transit via Russia to a third country.
Visa registration
A visa is a document permitting entrance to Russia, however, it is not enough to legalise your stay in the Russian Federation. Any visa needs to be registered in the course of three days starting from the moment of arrival.
A. Single-entry and double-entry visas
1. If you are staying at a hotel, the hotel will be in charge of registering your visa.
2. If you are staying in a residential block or a cottage, we will register your visa in our office within 10 minutes. For this we require your visa and passport. We value your time, therefore we would suggest that you should use our courier service for transporting your documents.
B. Multi-entry visas
1. You can register your visa and specify a hotel as a place of accommodation for the period not exceeding 90 days.
2. In case you are intending to stay in Russia (without going outside) for 90 days, we will register your visa at the Division of Visas and Registration ('UVIR') under RF Ministry of Internal affairs (MVD) for the term equal to the visa validity period. For registration you need to submit your visa and passport to our company's office.
3. The visas not registered or overdue may cause serious problems. This might cost you a lot of money and nerves.
Arranging new documents in case your entry visa is lost (overdue)
In case your visa documents have been lost, spoilt or so, you need to arrange an exit visa. For this purpose we would require your passport, a certificate from a police department confirming the date of departing from Russia. This procedure would normally take from 2 to 3 weekdays. In case a departure date is delayed (but for no longer than 30 days!) a passport, a visa and a ticket confirming this date are to be submitted.
Assistance and consultations in Resolving Non-standard Situations
Due to a considerable experience in this field we provide consulting services in the visa registration and arranging exit documents issued by other companies; also we can arrange exit documents.
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The French version 
