Arrival

 At the Pulkovo airport     

📍Moskovskaya metro station

• We recommend to check out Pulkovo airport website to be more prepared for your flight.
• There is a COVID-19 Testing Centre in the airport. If you need to take PCR test, we recommend to do it there in order to get your results in 24 hours.
• You can also change money in the Currency exchange point (first floor) or take some cash in the ATM.

How to get to Moskovskaya metro station from Pulkovo airport

• You can take a taxi in the airport but it can be very expensive. It is better and cheaper to use taxi apps but only with cash as Visa and MasterCard don’t operate on the territory of Russia. We strongly do not recommend to take a private taxi outside the airport.
• If you want to use public transport, you can take buses №39, 39Э (buses operate from 5:10 to 0:44). Bus stop is on the first floor of the airport in front of the exit from the arrivals hall. One ride costs 65 RUB. 
• At the metro station you can buy Podorozhnik travel card to use during the first few weeks in the city. It works as an electronic wallet, all citizens use it and you can top its balance up at any subway station. It is cheaper to use Podorozhnik than to buy ordinary tickets. Later you will get a student transport card (1305 RUB per month).
• We recommend you to apply for a Buddy in order to ask a Russian-speaking student to meet you at the airport and help you to navigate through the city during your first hours in Saint Petersburg.

Tips

• To estimate the exact time between metro stations you can use Interactive metro map 
• The best way to navigate around the city is to use Yandex Maps (Яндекс Карты) app 

• All international students must be registered in the Russian Federation in 7 working days upon their arrival at their actual place of residence.
• After registration you will receive a registration slip. It is a document confirming a foreign citizen’s legal stay in the Russian Federation.
• You must be legally registered every time you enter Russia or change the place of your temporary stay (hotel/hostel/hospital/changing the apartment).
• If you're staying in the HSE dormitory, our Centre for Visa & Immigration Support will apply for a registration for you. In the first two days after arrival you have to bring copies of all passport pages (including the Russian visa and the entry stamp) and a copy of the migration card to the Centre for Visa & Immigration Support (Kanala Griboedova Embankment, 123, office 304).
• If you're staying in a private apartment, it is responsibility of your landlord to secure your FIS Registration in that apartment each time it is required (check-in, after visa extension and each re-entry to Russia). 
• All hotels and hostels in Russia are legally mandated to register foreign guests with the migration authorities, even if they are staying for just one night. As such, if you stay in a hotel or hostel, your registration at a dormitory or privately rented apartment will be automatically cancelled. Upon returning, you will need to get registered again.
• If you require hospitalization, certain medical institutions will register you there as your temporary place of residence. Prior to leaving the hospital, confirm with its staff whether you have been registered there – you should be provided with a new registration slip. After being discharged, you will need to get registered again at your subsequent place of residence.
• If you fail to get registered in time, your Russian study visa will not be extended.
• The service is free of charge.

Please read carefully all information about FIS-registration here.

Orientation session usually takes place at the beginning of each semester. In order to adjust to student life, it is essential that you participate in the Orientation Session as it will provide you with information on studying at HSE University – Saint Petersburg, visa and migration control, student social life, living in Saint Petersburg as well as other useful tips to help you better enjoy your experience in Russia. Event dates will be sent out by email closer to the start of the semester.

📍  Kantemirovskaya St., 3A, building 1 (Petrogradskaya and Lesnaya metro stations) 

📍  Kanala Griboedova Embankment, 123 (Sennaya Sq., Sadovaya, Spasskaya metro stations) - International Office is here!

📍  Sedova St., 55A, building 2 (Lomonosovskaya metro station)

📍  Promyshlennaya St., 17, building 1 (Narvskaya metro station)

📍  Souza Pechatnikov St., 16 (Sennaya Sq., Sadovaya, Spasskaya metro stations)

Each building has a wi-fi access, canteen, cafes, study open-spaces and a library. All the courses might take place in different buldings, in one week before the start of the module addresses are uploaded to the schedule in RUZ.

You can find more information about study buildings and dormitories here.

Check out our Virtual Tour around HSE University - Saint Petersburg campus!

According to the federal law ‘On the legal status of foreign citizens in the Russian Federation’, international students staying in Russia for more than 90 days are required to undergo medical examination, fingerprinting, and photographing. These procedures must be done within 30 days after your arrival as you will need the results for visa extension. Usually it takes 2-3 weeks to get the final certificate.

Detailed step-by-step instruction for students of HSE University - Saint Petersburg is available here. 

Before arrival to Russia you will initially get a single-entry Russain study visa which is valid for 90 days. Upon your arrival to Saint Petersburg, we will guide you through the process of getting a multi-entry visa that usually is issued in November for the Autumn semester and full year students and in March for the Spring semester students.

Please DO NOT plan any trips outside of Russia until you receive your multi-entry visa, i.e. for the first 3 months of your studies!

List of the documents for visa extension:

1. Your passport 
2. Printed copies of all passport pages (even blank)
3. One color portrait photo 3x4 size
4. Printed copy of a migration card (you will receive one at the border when you arrive in Russia)
5. Printed copy of the current valid FIS Registration under the actual address of stay in Saint Petersburg
6. Visa extension fee payment receipt (1600 RUB) - you will receive the instruction for payment process via email in due time
7.  Signed Educational Agreement (will be prepared by International Office)
8. Green certificate issued after medical examination, fingerprinting and photographing procedures

Do not forget to print copies before visiting Centre for Visa & Immigration Support. Without these copies documents for extending your stay in Russia will not be accepted. 

The whole process of visa extension will take about 4-6 weeks.

More information can be found here.

HSE SPb Centre for Visa & Immigration Support:
📍 room 304, 123 Griboyedova Canal Embankment
Tel.: +7 812 644-59-11 ext. 61238, 61577
Email: migrationspb@hse.ru