Pre-arrival information

For Spring Semester: August 25 – October 1 
For Autumn Semester: March 15 – May 15

If you are an exchange student from Partner University, you can be nominated for a mobility programme by International Office at your Home University. There you will receive information about the requirements, terms and conditions for an exchange programme with HSE University - Saint Petersburg. After being nominated, you will receive an email from us with all the further details about your exchange period and an automatic email with the link to the application in Applicant's Online Account (ASAV). You must fill in the form in Applicant's Online Account and upload your documents (see the list below in Application process).

If you are a free mover student, you are to fill in the Nomination form. After that you will receive an email from us with all the further details about you exchange period and an automatic email with the link to the application in Applicant's Online Account (ASAV). You must fill in the form in Applicant's Online Account and upload your documents (see the list below in Application process).

As soon as the Nomination period is closed, we start the selection (Application period). We kindly ask you to double check the accuracy of the data which you put in the Applicant's Online Account and to upload the high-quality scan (not a photo!!) of your travel passport. The application forms with the low-quality scans or photo will be declined.

• GPA of 3 (4.0 scale) or higher
• English language proficiency level: B2 level according to CEFRL or higher (for studying in English)
• Russian language proficiency level: B2 according to CEFRL or higher (for studying in Russian)

All nominated students will be contacted by International Student Mobility Office and provided with instructions on the application process. 

The nominee is to fill out Applicant's Online Account till June 1 for Autumn Semester and October 15 for Spring Semester. If students need to apply for a Russian visa, we strongly recommend to submit the application before the deadline.

Documents to be uploaded into Applicant's Online Account:

• Passport (Double page spread, no watermarks or drawings are allowed. Your passport must be valid for at least 18 months from the proposed start date of the visa)
• 1 picture 3x4 (Your face takes up 70% to 80% of the photo, head is centered in the image and you look directly at the camera and show your full face. If you normally wear glasses, your eyes are clearly visible in the photo. Photo must have sharp focus and a good color balance. The photo is color with white or off-white background that is not patterned or busy)

• Motivation Letter (Written in English or Russian only; 300-500 words long)

• Transcript of records (An official document issued by your Home University with a sign and a stamp. Submitted in English or Russian only) - free mover students can substitute it with a scan of diploma
• *Reference Letter (Written by a person who is familiar with your academic performance (a professor/a research supervisor/a teaching assistant). Submitting Reference Letter is optional, however, students are sometimes asked for it when enrolling for courses) 
• *English Language Certificate for students who will study in English (IELTS 6.0, TOEFL iBT 87, Cambridge FCE or higher. It may be substituted with equivalent proof document approved by Home University. The Certificate must be sent to incomingspb@hse.ru)
• *Russian Language Certificate for students who will study in Russian (Confirmation document from you Home University is sufficient. The Certificate must be sent to incomingspb@hse.ru) 

At the end of Application process you will receive a letter from us with the results of selection period.

Invitation

International Student Mobility Office will apply for the Invitation Letter for your Russian study visa. In order for us to do that, your application in Applicant's Online Account has to be completed till June 1 for the Autumn Semester and October 15 for the Spring Semester (including an uploaded readable scan of your travel passport).

After you upload the documents to the Applicant's Online Account, we will 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. You will 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 middle 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 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 will not be 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 the Russian Federation, you must fill in a migration card. If applicable, visitors will be required to indicate their visa information on the migration card. Please indicate "study" as the purpose of your stay in Russia.

Upon arriving at your destination in Russia, the migration card should be presented to respective authorities to get registered. 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.
• We recommend to apply for a visa in the country of your citizenship. If you plan to apply in another country, we will need more documents for the Invitation Letter. 
• Please do not buy your travel tickets until you get your Russian study visa.
• Students from Azerbaijan, Abkhazia, Southern Ossetia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Moldova, Tajikistan, Ukraine, Armenia and Uzbekistan do not need a visa.

For more information visit our Immigration & Visa Support. 

According to Russian migration laws, all foreign citizens must have medical insurance while entering Russia valid for the entire period of their stay. Repatriation must be included. Moreover, a student will not be able to extend a Russian study visa without valid medical insurance. You can purchase health insurance for a short period of time before arriving to Russia and then buy a new Russian one in Saint Petersburg.

HSE University - Saint Petersburg reserves the right to expell exchange students who refuse to get medical insurance.

We recommend to save the emergency number of your insurance company in your mobile phone.

For more information please consult Medical Aid & Insurance.

At HSE University - Saint Petersburg we do our best to ensure that your daily life in Saint Petersburg is comfortable. We offer a variety of options for students to choose from, please check the information below.

1. Private housing via the partner real-estate agency service, types of rooms: various
2. HSE University - Saint Petersburg dormitory on Zaporozhskaya st.,  types of rooms: 2 or 4 beds; number of places is limited

To apply for the dormitory, please tick the required box while you submit the infoirmation in Applicant's Online Account. Due to the limited amount of places in the dormitory on Zaporozhskaya st., the selection will be done on the first come-first served basis.

If you consider the option of the private housing, before signing a Tenancy Contract and paying the rental fee it is crucial to make sure that your landlord agrees to do a FIS Registration for you. Without FIS registration it won’t be possible to extend your visa.

For the students who stay in the dormitory the FIS-registration will be done by HSE University.

Some of the points listed below are mandatory, some depend on the financial capabilities and preferences of the student.

Before visiting the International Office please make sure to prepare the following documents: 

1. Valid passport with a Russian study visa (you should send a scan of all passport pages to migrationspb@hse.ru and incomingspb@hse.ru)
2. Migration card (you should send a scan or a photo of it to migrationspb@hse.ru and incomingspb@hse.ru)
3. Copy of the negative PCR-test, which is done in 72 hours upon arrival (you should send it to isso@hse.ru)
4. FIS-registration for students who stay in the private apartments (should be done in 7 days upon arrival)
5. For students who stay in the dormitory: to bring copies of all passport pages including the Russian visa and the entry stamp + copy of the migration card to the Visa and Migration Office (123 Kanala Griboedova Embankment, 123, office 304)
6. Medical insurance 
7. 2 passport-size (3x4) photos on a matte paper 

Also, before the arrival it is important to check the following information:

1. Contact details of the Embassy/Consulate General or diplomatic mission of your country in Russia
2. Contacts of your exchange coordinators: Ms. Dasha Sanochkina, Head of Student Academic Mobility Office, and Ms. Valeria Konyaeva, Incoming Mobility Coordinator
3. Emergency number for HSE SPb International students: +7 (981) 830 15 40
4. Contacts of your buddy

Documents for the dormitory check-in:

1. Valid passport with Russian study visa + a copy of all passport pages
2. Migration card  + a copy
3. Negative PCR test which is done in 72 hours upon your arrival 
4. Copy of COVID-19 vaccination certificate (all vaccines are acceptable)
5. Copy of your medical insurance
6. General Good Health certificate (in Russia it is called "О86-У" health certificate) translated into Russian, signed and stamped by a physician (could be obtained in 5 working days upon arrival)
7. Fluorography certificate (lung X-ray) translated into Russian (could be obtained in 5 working days upon arrival)
8. 2 passport-size photos (3x4, preferably on matte paper)

Dates:

In June - for Modules 1 - 2 (Autumn semester and Full year applicants)

In December - for Modules 3 - 4 (Spring semester applicants) 

Before the abovementioned dates you will recieve your HSE Learning Management System (LMS) credentials for the course selection process.

You can visit our Course Catalogue beforehand to find the most suitable courses for you. 

How to apply for the courses:

1. Access your LMS account.

2. In the mid left part of the screen, click on "Selective Courses" button. You will access the course catalogue in both in-campus and inter-campus courses.

3. You should apply the filters  (course title, faculty, department, language, modules, mode of studies, academic year etc) and click on the "Select" button. To drop the course from the selected courses, click the "Remove" button.

4. To complete the application, click the "Send a Request".

The full instruction on how to sign up for the courses can be found here.

Please note that the number of places in each course is limited and disseminated on "first come - first served" basis. 

Erasmus Student Network buddies are HSE volunteers here to help international students to adapt to life in Saint Petersburg and on campus.
Learn more about buddies and apply here.