Visa

To enter Russia you need to have a valid visa!

All foreign nationals are required to have entry visas to travel to the Russian Federation. A visa to the Russian Federation is a document, permitting stay in Russia for a specific period of time. A visa lists entry/exit dates, your vital information, passport details and some information about the inviting party. Please note that your Russian visa is an exit permit just like it’s an entry permit.

To apply for a visa at your local Russian Consulate or Embassy, you will need an official invitation letter, which will be issued by the hotel you have booked. Please note that the symposium secretariat cannot provide visa support separately from accommodation reservation.

Visa Application Instructions

To attend the conference in St Petersburg, you will need a tourist visa, as the purpose of your travel is tourism. In the visa application form you will have to indicate as Purpose of your trip "tourism" and as Inviting organisation "Holiday Inn St. Petersburg-Moskovskye".

Tourist visas are issued for up to 30 days for travelers who have booked an accommodation in Russia. To be able to apply for this type of visa you have to know exactly where and how long you will be staying without diverting from your planned itinerary. You and/or your accompanying person (if any) will need the visa support documentation (invitation letter and the hotel voucher sent by the hotel where you are staying) which will allow you to apply for a tourist visa at your local Russian Consulate or Embassy. Please make your accommodation reservation at the Holiday Inn St. Petersburg-Moskovskye Hotel. The official invitation letter in Russian and the hotel voucher will be faxed to you within 3-4 days after the hotel reservation is confirmed. If you are not staying at the Holiday Inn St. Petersburg-Moskovskye, the invitation for Russian visa can be issued by travel agency Demlink Travel http://www.demlink.com/ Please contact Demlink Travel for the price for this service.

Please note that the Russian consulates located in Europe take 3 to 10 business days for the visa processing. In addition, Russian visas issued by the consulates in Europe now have a five day "waiting period" on entering Russia, i.e. the person can not travel to Russia for at least 5 days after the visa is issued.

Business visas can be issued for travelers who visit Russia on official business and/or do not know their exact itineraries, want to stay in Russia longer than 30 days or need to enter Russia frequently. If you are planning to travel with business visa please contact travel agency Demlink Travel at http://www.demlink.com/.They will issue and send you the visa support documentation. Please allow at least 2-3 weeks for processing. The Demlink website also provides the price list for this service.

Local Russian Embassy or Consulate

Please include the visa support documentation received from Russia, along with the completed visa application form and the rest of the documentation when you apply for visa at your local Russian embassy/consulate. Please contact your local Russian embassy/consulate for the complete set of documentation or download the Russian visa application form here. Please note that your passport must be valid for 6 months beyond intended stay.

For online visa application, please visit the website www.visatorussia.com

Example of visa application form page 1
Example of visa application form page 2

Please note that in case of cancellation of your hotel reservation you will be charged $50 for visa paper handling per person.