Before Arrival

Before Arrival

When entering the Russian Federation or leaving the Russian Federation, a foreign citizen and stateless person has to submit a valid photo ID recognized by the Russian Federation as such and his/her visa.
In case of a foreign citizen, his/her person is identified on the basis of his/her national passport or any other document recognized as the identity card in accordance with an international agreement of the Russian Federation.
In case of a stateless person, the following documents may be submitted as an identity card:
identity card issued by a foreign state and recognized as such in accordance with an international agreement of the Russian Federation;
temporary residence permit;
permanent resident card.

If you are staying in Russia less than 30 days
The entry to the territory of the Russian Federation without a visa is only allowed to citizens of the following countries for a period not more than 30 days: Bosnia and Herzegovina, Cuba, Macedonia, Serbia, Thailand, Turkey, Montenegro.
Citizens of countries listed above, wishing to study more than 30 days have to apply for an invitation and get a student visa.
If you are staying in Russia less than 90 days
The entry to the territory of the Russian Federation without a visa is only allowed to citizens of the states with which the Russian Federation has entered into international agreements regarding mutual trips that stipulate entering and leaving the Russian Federation, moving within, passing through, and staying in the Russian Federation without a visa.
The RF Government has entered into agreements about trips without visas with Abkhazia, Republic of Azerbaijan, Argentina, Armenia, Belarus, Brazil, Venezuela, Columbia, Moldova, Nicaragua, Peru, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, the Ukraine, Israel, Uruguay, and Chili.
Citizens of countries listed above, wishing to study more than 90 days have to apply for an invitation and get a student visa.
Citizens of the countries for whom a visa is needed may enter into the Russian Federation upon submission of a regular student visa.
Such visas are issued by a diplomatic mission or a consulate of the Russian Federation.
A regular student visa may be issued to a foreign citizen on the basis of an invitation for entry to the Russian Federation filed in accordance with federal law.
There is a list of countries, with which Russia has a simplified regime: Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Hungary, Germany, Greece, Greenland, Denmark, Iceland, Spain, Italy, Ireland, Cyprus, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, the Netherlands, Portugal, Poland, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Finland, France, Czech Republic, Sweden, Estonia.
If you want to stay in Russia less than 90 days you should get a visa. The university will issue an invitation for you on the university’s letterhead. To get an invitation you have to send a copy of your passport to your coordinator.

If you are staying in Russia MORE than 90 days
Citizens of all countries, who are coming to Russia to study during a period, more than 90 days have to get a student visa. Visa is issued by a diplomatic mission or a consulate of the Russian Federation.
In order to get an invitation students have to send to the International office coordinator:
the copy of their national passport with the following information:
Name, Last name
Date of Birth
Place of birth
Passport No.
Date of passport expire
the filled in application form for visa support
After that all the documents will be sent to the Federal Migration Service office. The official invitation will be ready in about 1 month.
Your coordinator will post the official invitation to you and after that you can apply for a visa to Russian Federation. The list of the documents needed you can find on the
website of Russian Consulate in your home country.

Medical insurance
All citizens coming to study in Russia must have medical insurance valid on the territory of Russian Federation. You can buy it in your home country or in Russia upon your arrival. Here you can find the cost of medical insurance certificate:
Period Cost in rubles Period Cost in rubles Period Cost in rubles Period Cost in rubles Period Cost in rubles Period Cost in rubles
1 month 700 3 months 1600 5 months 2000 7 months 2500 9 months 3100 11 months 3500
2 month 1100 4 months 1800 6 months 2300 8 months 2700 10 months 3300 12 months 3700