British passport

Russian Tourist Visa from UK

A tourist visa is issued for those citizens of United Kingdom who come to Russia for a holiday, to visit sports events or sightseeing. The invitation for a Tourist Visa is issued by a travel company which must be registered in the United Federal Register of the Tour Operators. This type of invitation to visit Russia for British can be made within 1 working day.

Read more: Russian Tourist Visa

Issuing of a tourist invitation for foreign citizens is the quickest way to obtain an invitation. A Tourist Visa Invitation has two parts – a tourist voucher and a confirmation of acceptance of a tourist.

Such tourist invitation from a travel company for a citizen of Great Britain should have:

  • Full information about a travel company which issues an invitation;
  • A reference-number of a travel company;
  • Full name of a tourist and his/her passport information;
  • Cities he/she is planning to visit;
  • A hotel information where a tourist will be accommodated;
  • A time period for the visit, number of entries of a foreign citizen on this visa;
  • A purpose of a visit should be stated as “tourism”.

A Tourist Visa (single and double entry) is issued for citizens of the UK for a maximum period of 30 days.

Get a Tourist Invitation to Russia from UK

Go to Issuing a Tourist Invitation     Price $15.00


Russian Private Visa for British citizens

Foreigners who want to visit friends or relatives who live in the RF have to apply for a Private (Guest) Visa. Private Visa can be single or double and is issued for a period not longer than 90 days.

An Invitation which is necessary to have in order to obtain a Private Visa is issued by a branch of the Federal Migration Service (the FMS). Such an invitation can be issued after an individual or a juridical person has applied for it (wherein such juridical person should be accredited at the FMS).

Please note! We do not recommend using a private visa!
Find out why: Why not apply for a private visa?

Read more: Russian Private Visa

The order of issuing of a private invitation by an individual is as follows: The inviting person applies at his/her local branch of the FMS at the place of residence, submitting a completed application, his/her passport, a copy of the passport of the person invited, an income statement, a receipt on the state tax paid and all other necessary documents. When a private invitation for British citizens is issued by an organization its representatives should address the FMS department where the company was accredited.

If the application is successful, the inviting party receives a special form of the Federal Migration Service, which will contain information about the inviting party, the British citizen’s passport data, the validity of the visa, the number of estimated entries, an individual number, a signature of an authorized person and a stamp of an appropriate territorial body of the FMS.

Get of a Private (Visitor) Invitation to Russia for British citizens

Go to Issuing an Invitation


Russian Business Visa from UK

Foreign citizens who are planning to enter Russia in order to conduct business development affairs, to look for new partners, to participate in exhibitions and auctions, to sign contracts, etc. must apply for a business visa.

Read more: Russian Business Visa

The business visa invitation letter can be obtained by either of these ways:

A business invitation by telex doesn’t have any standard form. It is a directive from the Department of Consulate Service at the Ministry for Foreign Affairs into a consulate of the RF. When applying for a visa with a telex invitation, the applicant should come to a consulate of the RF and quote the number of telex.

A Business invitation on a form from the FMS is a state approved document. It takes 12 working days to obtain a single entry visa and 17 working days to obtain a double entry visa. During this period of time checks are made as to whether a foreign citizen has incurred any violations, penalties or deportations. If any such violations or penalties are discovered the applicant will be denied an invitation and the reason for this will be indicated.

Read more: What is the difference between a telex and the original invitation

Business visas for citizens of Great Britain can be either single or double entry (to enter Russia for a period up to 3 months) or multi-entry (unlimited number of entries to Russia within a period from 6 months up to 1 year).

Business Visa for citizens of the UK can be issued for a period from 1 month (30 days) to 1 year. It can be single, double-entry or multi-entry.

Please, note that according to Russian visa policy maximum stay in Russia without leave is 90 days in 180-period days.

Issuing of a Business Invitation to Russia for British citizens on the FMS form

Go to Issuing a Business Invitation

Get a Business Invitation to Russia for British citizens by a Telex

Go to Issuing a Business Invitation


Work visa for British citizens

Foreign citizens who want to enter the Russian Federation to work for a juridical person (a representative office of a foreign company in Russia or a Russian company) on a contract have to apply for a Work Visa. The application for a work visa has to be done by a company or employer who must also provide a foreign citizen with a work permit.

Read more: Russian Work Visa

In order to receive a work visa it is necessary to:

  1. Provide a foreign citizen with a work permit (a company/employer should be in charge of this);
  2. Obtain a short-term work visa (for the period of 90 days) and to put a foreign citizen on a migration register after his arrival in the RF;
  3. Extend the work visa term (for the period of a work permit) and extend the registration.

The specifics of a Russian Work Visa is that it allows a foreign citizen to stay in the RF for the whole period of its validity. If a foreign citizen comes to Russia with a work visa members of his family can also receive work visas. In this case the purpose of the visit would be indicated as: “an accompanying member of a family”.

Get Work Visa to Russia for British citizens

Go to Issuing an Invitation


Russian Electronic Visa from UK

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

At present citizens of UK are not eligible for obtaining an e-visa to Russia. According to the Government of the Russian Federation, e-visa processing for the citizens of UK shall become available starting January 1st, 2021.

We recommend citizens of UK obtaining a common tourist visa for a stay up to 30 days.

Get Russian Visa Invitation


Russian consulate in UK:

British citizens may obtain Russian visa in these Consular centers of the Russian Federation:

Current Addresses of Russian Embassies in UK​ (translated version)

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:

  1. Fill in our online order form and get a Visa invitation to Russia
  2. Refer to our Complete Step-by-Step Guide to Russian Visa Application, use your personal data and information from the Invitation to Russia
You can obtain a visa to Russia in any of the Consulates of the Russian Federation located in UK. See the list of Russian Consulates in UK, along with their phone numbers and location indicated on this page below.
The invitation for a Tourist Visa is issued by a travel company which must be registered in the United Federal Register of the Tour Operators.
A Tourist Visa is issued for citizens of the UK for a maximum period of 30 days.

Comments  

# Ellie McGear 2019-08-12 09:52
I am a British citizen but a full-time resident of France - where would I apply for a tourist visa?

 
 
 
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