Private invitation to Russia

Issuing an invitation for a foreign citizen to Russia from a private person

Those Russians who have friends or family abroad often get into a predicament when the question arises of how to invite them over to Russia.

Before you start with the application, it is necessary to answer a few important questions:

• For how long do you want your guest to stay?
• Where will they be staying?
• How much time do you have to prepare the paperwork?
• How many times would they like to enter the country in the period when their visa is valid?

A private visa to Russia is given to foreign citizens who are going to visit the country upon an invitation from a private person, issued on a special form of the Ministry of Internal affairs at the place of residence of the inviting citizen of the Russian Federation. To issue a private invitation, a Russian citizen who has a permanent or temporary registration has to personally apply at the Ministry of Internal affairs and provide necessary documents.

With a private visa the guests can remain in the Russian Federation up to 90 days, however, the application takes time and requires a large amount of paperwork from the inviting person. For a short single trip, a tourist visa is more fitting, as it is fairly quick to apply for, and doesn’t require a large amount of documents. If a foreigner were planning to visit the country several times and for longer periods, then they would need a business visa.

The process of issuing an invitation for different types of Russian visas

We have prepared a convenient table to compare a private, tourist and business invitations. 

Thus, a tourist visa is an inexpensive, quick and convenient alternative to a private visa. Moreover, if you require a visa for a longer period of time and with the possibility of multiple entries, you can apply for a business visa.