Russian Tourist Visa from Bulgaria
If a Bulgarian national plans a trip to Russia for tourist purposes such as sightseeing, he/she should have a letter of invitation available in support of his/her visa application. This type of invitation to visit Russia for Bulgarians can be made within 1 working day by a travel company that is officially registered with the Register of Russian tour operators and has its own reference number.
Read more: Russian Tourist Visa
Appearance of the letter is undirected. However, there are common characteristics which must be observed when issuing an invitation for tourist visa: it must include the travel company’s reference number and its official name as well as personal data taken from the tourist’s passport, his/her travel itinerary, entry date and departure date and number of entries desired. Usually, that type of invitation letter is printed on the travel company’s headed paper. It consists of two parts: tourist acceptance confirmation and tourist voucher.
The Embassy officials may also request that health insurance card, hotel booking confirmation and printed boarding pass be provided. Even if the invitation letter is in place, the tourist visa application may be denied if a background check finds that the citizen of Bulgaria in question is known to have violated laws of the Russian Federation or, even worse, has been deported from the country on his/her prior visits.
A 30 days Russian tourist visa may be obtained if the application comes back approved by the Consular office. Tourist visas can be valid for a single or double entry.
Get a Tourist Invitation to Russia from Bulgaria
Go to Issuing a Tourist Invitation Price €13.44
Russian Private Visa for Bulgarian citizens
Citizens of Bulgaria willing to visit relatives or friends in Russia must obtain a private visa that requires a ‘private’ invitation letter. Handling the application process to obtain this type of invitation takes more time and effort than preparing the tourist visa would. This is why many foreign applicants favor the tourist visa in lieu of the visitor visa.
Find out why: Why not apply for a private visa?
Read more: Russian Private Visa
Both individuals and legal entities can prepare an invitation for private visa and have it mailed to Bulgaria. To do that, they must apply at the local FMS office. Individuals are expected to contact the immigration authorities at the place of their residence, while legal entities should file an application at the place of their registration). The application must have a photocopy of the visitor’s passport attached to it. Additional personal information regarding the inviting party must be included as well. The documents will be reviewed within several weeks resulting in either an approval or denial. The application may be rejected in case the foreign citizen is found to have broken laws of the Russian Federation during his/her previous stays.
Private visa is valid for 90 days. It can be either single-entry or double-entry.
Get of a Private (Visitor) Invitation to Russia for Bulgarian citizens
Russian Business Visa from Bulgaria
A Bulgarian citizen who plans to come to Russia for such purposes as building or expanding business relationships, signing contracts or engaging in other business-related activities should apply for a business visa at the Russian Embassy. This requires the inviting party to handle the process of issuance of a letter of invitation in support of visa and arrange forwarding it via mail to Bulgaria.
Read more: Russian Business Visa
The business visa invitation letter can be obtained by either of these ways:
- Russian Business Invitation Letter from organization (possible to get Online);
- Russian Invitation Letter from FMS;
- Telex Russian Invitation;
Invitation in the form of letter can be sent by selected organizations that are officially approved by the designated Russian authorities. This type of invitation can be processed within 1 day. The letter is essentially an inquiry made by a Russian-based organization to the Russian Consular office requesting that a visa be granted to a citizen of Bulgaria.
- Issuing an invitation letter is cheaper than arranging an invitation by Telex or at the FMS.
- It can be issued online in 5 minutes and will be sent to you by email immediately after payment.
- Also, it is not required to submit the original invitation to the Consulate, which saves you the money you will otherwise have to spend on postal services for sending the original invitation.
- A 3-year visa invitation and visa can be obtained with this type of invitation if the applicant has previously held two or more Russian business visas.
Consider taking these three simple steps:
- Step 1: Fill out the form
- Step 2: Pay €49 by credit card or via PayPal
- Step 3: Receive your invitation on your email instantly after payment
Get your invitation letter online! Price from: €49.28
An application for ‘business’ invitation letter issued on the government-approved form can take from 12 to 17 days to complete. It is given after the citizen has been background checked to see if he/she has any record of prior convictions or charges. The letter can be issued following an application submitted by the inviting party.
The convenience of arranging an application in the form of Telex message is that it does not involve express mail service. The foreign citizen is given a number, which he/she should indicate when submitting the package of documents at the Embassy.
Read more: What is the difference between Telex and the original invitation?
Business visa for citizens of Bulgaria is valid for a period of up to 5 years. It can be single, double or multiple.
Get a Russian Business Invitation from Bulgaria on the letterhead of an accredited company
Go to Issuing a Business Invitation
Issuing of a Business Invitation to Russia for Bulgarian citizens on the FMS form
Go to Issuing a Business Invitation
Get a Business Invitation to Russia for Bulgarian citizens by a Telex
Go to Issuing a Business Invitation
Work visa for Bulgarian citizens
In order to legally work in Russia and be placed on payroll, a Bulgarian citizen must have a work visa on hand. The employing company is obliged to assist him/her in the process of obtaining the visa.
Read more: Russian Work Visa
First, the employer must obtain a work permit to employ foreign workers. Next, a permit for a particular jobseeker must be validated, followed by issuance of a work permit which allows him/her to work in the Russian Federation. After that, the whole package of documents must be sent to Bulgaria where the applicant should complete the work visa application process.
Upon arrival in the Russian Federation, the foreign worker must register with the Immigration Office (called FMS). After that, he/she is required to extend his/her visa for the period until the end of his/her work permit and then follow Russian immigration regulations by notifying the authorities that he/she plans to stay in Russia for the period until the expiry date of his/her renewed visa. The employer is urged to supervise all necessary legal procedures by advising and assisting on all activities involved.
Work visa has many peculiarities and advantages. For instance, it does not require the foreign citizen to leave the Russian Federation in order to extend his/her visa. However, if a Bulgarian citizen decides to become employed by some other Russian company, he/she must leave Russia and repeat the visa application procedure all over again.
The initial work visa is issued with a validity period of up to 90 days. Within that period the citizen of Bulgaria must come to Russia. The visa can be extended for up to 1 year (for the period until the expiry date of his/her work permit). The number of times a work visa can be extended is not limited.
Get Work Visa to Russia for Bulgarian citizens
Russian Electronic Visa from Bulgaria
An electronic visa (hereinafter referred to as "e-visa") is a new type of a visa document. A visa invitation to Russia is not required for obtaining an e-visa. To obtain an e-visa to Russia use our “E-visa to Russia” service.
An e-visa can be only single-entry. The permitted stay in Russia on an e-visa is up to 8 days from the date of entry within its validity period.
The validity period and/ or permitted stay on an e-visa cannot be extended. To obtain an e-visa a foreign citizen needs a digital passport photo and a completed application form containing full and valid data at the official website of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Russian Federation.
Read more: Electronic visa to Russia for foreigners
Apply for e-visa Cost €10.00
Russian consulate in Bulgaria:
Bulgarian citizens may obtain Russian visa in these Consular centers of the Russian Federation:
Current Addresses of Russian Embassies in Bulgaria
-
Consular Section of the Embassy of the Russian Federation in the Republic of Bulgaria
- Address: 1113, Sofia, bul. Dragan Tsankov. 28
- Phone: (8-10-359-2) 963-40-21
- Fax: (8-10-359-2) 963-41-16
- E-mail: info@russia.bg
- Working hours: from Monday to Friday — from 09.00 to 12.00.
Frequently Asked Questions
- Tourist Visa - e.g.: tourism, sightseeing;
- Business Visa - e.g.: conferences, business negotiations;
- E-Visa - e.g.: short-term visits;
- Work Visa - e.g.: employment in a Russian company;
- Private Visa - e.g.: visiting friends in Russia (though a tourist visa is cheaper and more effecient??).
To obtain a Russian visa you need:
- Fill in our online order form and get a Visa invitation to Russia
- Refer to our Complete Step-by-Step Guide to Russian Visa Application, use your personal data and information from the Invitation to Russia
