What is the Invitation and How to Get It

The invitation (also called visa support or tourist confirmation or tourist voucher) is a special document issued by the party that invites you to Russia. The invitation is required by a Russian consulate to be able to process your visa. For every type of visa, there exists a different type of invitation (tourist, business, private, student). For example, to apply for a tourist visa, you'll need a tourist invitation (a tourist visa support).

The invitation (visa support) can only be issued by a company or organisation authorized by the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA).

After you receive the invitation, you should bring it along with the other documents needed (see a comprehensive list of the documents needed for every type of visa at Visa Types section) to the consulate and apply for your Russian visa. It's always better to ask the Russian consulate first whether they accept copies of invitations or only originals and to specify it when applying for an invitation to facilitate processing.

A tourist invitation is needed to get a tourist visa. The tourist invitation comprises two papers: tourist confirmation and tourist voucher. It usually costs from USD 30 to USD 45 and takes from 1 hour to 1 day to be issued. Usually, a copy of the invitation is acceptable to the consulate (a fax, a printed out scanned copy), but sometimes they require originals (can be sent by post). When you receive this invitation, you can take it along with the other documents to the consulate and apply for your Russian visa.

A business invitation is more expensive, because it requires some fees to be paid to the Russian Interior Ministry and takes longer to issue. At the same time, a business visa, that can be obtained with this type of invitation, allows a longer stay (up to 12 months) and multiple entries (which is not possible with a tourist visa). With a business visa, a foreigner can continiously stay in Russia for not longer than 90 days within a 180-day period (new law implemented in October 2007).