Business invitation for a visit to Russia: how to obtain

A business invitation to Russia is a document that is required to obtain a business visa to enter Russia. You can get such a visa for up to 5 years, but at the same time, a foreigner can continuously stay on this visa in Russia for up to 90 days for every 180 days.


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What are the types of business invitation?

1. Letter of invitation from the organization

The invitation is issued in free form on the official organization's letterhead. It must indicate all the foreigner's data, as well as the purpose of arrival and the period of stay

The invitation must contain such information as: full name of the invited foreigner (or group of foreigners), date and place of birth, gender, information about the citizenship of the invited person and the state of his residence, number and date of issue of the identity document, purpose of the trip, expected duration of stay in Russia, the intended route of travel (if you plan to visit more than one city), the name of the inviting organization and its location, the validity period of the invitation.

Attention: such an invitation will only be accepted at the consulate that you originally indicated in the invitation.

A Russian issuing an invitation for a visa in the state and English languages ​​undertakes to transfer it to a foreigner by express mail.

Attention: this invitation format is not available only for the EU countries, the USA, China and India.

2. An invitation from the Ministry of Internal Affairs

An invitation for a business visa is issued on the FMS state form. For foreigners living on the territory of migration-dangerous states, this method is the only one.

The issuance of a business letter is carried out after application  consideration and verification that the applicant has no law violation in Russia. If a foreigner is prohibited from entering the territory of Russia, the person who has issued a business invitation is given a refusal containing an objective reason. An objective reason for the refusal may be a violation of the migration legislation of the Russian Federation. If a foreign citizen has gone through the deportation procedure from Russia, it will also impossible to issue an invitation.

Attention: the turnaround time for issuing such an invitation can be up to 21 days from the date of the application submission

An electronic invitation with all personal data is sent via the internal communication system (Telex) directly to the consulate. A voucher is sent to you by mail, which you can send by e-mail, print and bring to the consulate.

If the choice was made in favor of Telex, then a business invitation to Russia is issued exclusively by a Russian company. It, in turn, must pass timely registration at the Consular Department of the Russian Ministry of Internal Affairs.

The turnaround time for issuing an invitation letter for single and double entry visas is three working days. On average, you can make an invitation to Russia for a multiple-entry visa two weeks in advance.

What purposes of visit can be specified in a business invitation?

• business: if a foreigner is going to hold business negotiations, visit an exhibition or conference
• commercial: if a foreigner is going to Russia to meet with suppliers or conclude an agreement with a Russian company
• maintenance: if a foreigner plans to come to Russia to install, adjust or repair equipment that was purchased by a Russian company from foreign suppliers
• crew member: if the foreigner is a member of the crew of a sea or river vessel, train, regular or charter flight
• accompanying family member: if a foreigner is going to come to Russia as a family member of a foreign citizen holding a business visa