Invitation
International Office will provide the Invitation Letter for your Russian study visa. In order for us to do that, you have to follow the instructions from the Incoming coordinator and meet all the deadlines of submitting documents.
After the end of Application period, we start collecting the package of the documents for your Invitation Letter which is later sent to the Russian Ministry of Internal Affairs. The process takes approximately a month. As soon as it is ready, you receive a digital copy of your Invitation Letter on your email address by the middle of July for the Autumn semester students and by the beginning of December for the Spring semester students. As the Russian Ministry of Internal Affairs is a governmental organization, the process cannot be speeded up.
As soon as you get Invitation Letter, you can apply for a study visa.
Visa
Before applying for a Russian study visa, please consult the Embassy/Consulate General of the Russian Federation in your country (or an authorised visa centre) in order to get the correct list of required documents.
Russian study visa is initially a single-entry visa and is valid for 90 days. It lets you enter the Russian Federation only once. If you leave the country while having a single-entry visa, you are not allowed to enter Russia before you receive a new single-entry visa.
Be prepared to stay in Russia without leaving for the first 3 months after your arrival, until you receive a multiple-entry visa.
As soon as you get your Russian study visa, please send us the scan to incomingspb@hse.ru.
Migration card
Upon entering Russia, you must fill in a migration card. Please indicate "study" as the purpose of your stay in Russia.
Migration card is an importnat document and is required for FIS-registration application and visa extension. The migration card should be presented at passport control when you leave.
Always keep the original migration card with you.
Important information!
- Your passport must be valid for at least 18 months from the proposed start date of the visa and contain at least 4 blank pages for the visa and border stamps.
- We recommend to apply for a visa in the country of your citizenship. If you plan to apply in another country, we might need more documents for the Invitation Letter.
- Please do not buy your travel tickets until you get your Russian study visa.
- Students from Azerbaijan, Southern Ossetia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Moldova, Tajikistan, Ukraine, Armenia and Uzbekistan do not need a visa.
Check out our Immigration & Visa Guideline and remember that the process is easy if you follow our instructions and meet deadlines.
For more information about all migration procedures please visit our Visa & Immigration Support website.