Entry Regulations

Entry Regulations
Migration card
When travelling to Russian Federation you will get a migration card, which you have to fill in. The forms of migration cards are handed free of charge to foreign citizens on their arrival to the Russian Federation by the officials of the immigration authorities (border services) or the representatives of the organizations rendering transport services for foreigners arriving to Russia. The forms of migration cards should be filled in the Russian language. In case you do not know Russian, it is allowed to fill in the information about yourself in Latin letters according to the data of you document, proving your identity. At the border the officer will put a stamp on it with the date and place of crossing the border. According to the Russian legislation, a non-Russian citizen cannot be registered without A STAMPED MIGRATION CARD received at the border. This paper is a very important document which you have to keep during the whole period of your stay in Russia. You will need it to register your documents, to prolong your visa, etc.
Visa
Visa is a permission issued by an authorized government agency to enter the Russian Federation or pass through the Russian Federation on the basis of a document identifying the person of a foreign citizen or a stateless person or recognized by the Russian Federation as such. Each visa contains the following data: family name and given name (in Latin and Cyrillic characters), date of birth, gender, nationality (citizenship), number of the main document identifying the foreign citizen or the stateless person, visa issuance date, allowed duration of stay in the Russian Federation, number of the invitation to enter the Russian Federation, validity period of the visa, purpose of the trip, data about the inviting organization, and number of entries (one entry, two entries, multiple entries). A foreign citizen with a one-entry visa may cross the state border of the Russian Federation once when entering the Russian Federation and once when leaving the Russian Federation. A foreign citizen with a two-entry visa may enter the Russian Federation twice. A foreign citizen with a multiple-entry visa may enter the Russian Federation several times (more than twice).
A regular student visa is issued for a time period of up to one year to a foreign citizen entering the Russian Federation for being trained in an educational institution.
Such visa is initially issued for a time period for up to 3 months and may be extended by the territorial agency of the Federal Migration Service serving the location where the foreign citizen resides. The extension period equals duration of the contract on training but may not exceed 1 year for each subsequent visa. The visa is extended in the form of issuance of a multiple visa.
Registration
In accordance with the legislation of the Russian Federation you are obliged to register within 3 working days after the date of crossing the Russian border (you can find this date on the stamp in your migration card and in the visa in passport). If you have a multiple visa you should register every time you enter Russia.
In order to register you have to hand in the following documents to your coordinator at the International office:
Passport
Visa
Migration card
If you don’t bring all required documents within 3 working days after the date of crossing the Russian border, you will have to pay a fine.
Visa prolongation
A student visa is initially issued for a time period for up to 3 months and if your study period is longer than 3 months you can get a multiple prolonged visa. The validity period of a visa may only be extended if the visa category, type, number of allowed entries, and the purposes of the foreign citizen's trip are not changed. Example: a foreign citizen arrived to study at the Russian language courses for a time period of up to three months with a "regular student" visa and the purpose of his/her trip is indicated as "courses". After having graduated from these courses this foreign student wishes to continue his/her training at another education institution on the basis of a training contract. This student must leave the Russian Federation and enter into the country with the "training" purpose and the "regular student" visa issued on the basis of the invitation from the educational institution where he/she wishes to study.
In order to get a new multiple visa you have to give your International office coordinator the following documents:
Passport
Visa
Migration card
Pay 1000 rubles to the bank
4 photos (size:3x4, mat, black and white)
Registration