The laws of the Russian Federation divide foreign citizens into three categories:
1. Foreign citizens who entered with a visa and are temporarily residing in Russia;
2. Foreign citizens who received a temporary residence permit;
3. Foreign citizens who received a permanent residence permit;
Foreign citizens are also differentiated based upon their citizenship
1. Foreign citizens from countries which are members of the CIS (Commonwealth of Independent States);
2. Foreign citizens from all other countries.
Foreign citizens must understand which category he/she belongs to since rights and obligations of foreign citizens depend on the above categories.
Please note this table for reference:
Upon the arrival in the Russian Federation, foreign citizens must fill out a migration card, which must be filled out in Russian.
Within 3 business days of arrival in Russia, foreign citizens must notify the Federal Migration Service (FMS) of their arrival. This corresponds to the obligation of the hosting party to inform the authorities of his\her arrival. As a confirmation of the right to be in Russia foreign citizen will receive a notification of arrival.
On the departure foreign citizens are required to “deregister”.
GENERAL INFORMATION ABOUT RUSSIAN VISAS:
Tdivide F entered with a and are temporarily residing in RussiaF a ceFa ircitizenshipwhichb areall Fs must sincesthe P note is for reference enteria ily residing”
There are five different types of visas:
- Private visa;
- Business visa;
- Work visa;
- Transit visa;
- Student visa.
In order to obtain a visa, foreign citizens must obtain an invitation from the hosting party.
TEMPORARILY RESIDING FOREIGN CITIZENS:
Foreign citizens that enter Russia on the basis of a visa belong to the category “temporarily residing” foreign citizens.
HOSTING PARTY:
INVITATION:
There are two types of invitations, , original and telex.
Original invitations are Originalinvitationsaresent directly to the foreign citizen and mustmust be presented to the consular officeoffice of the nearest Russian Embassy.
Telex invitations are aresent directly to the Russian consular office. Foreign citizenss are informed of the unique invitation number that must be given to the consular office when applying for a visa.
Invitations must be issued by an appropriate appropriate“inviting party”, which differs based on the type of visa.
Please, review the information for each type of visa.
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MIGRATION CARD:
Migration cards are provided to foreign citizens on the airplane, ship or train, arriving inin Russia.
Upon entry to Russia an immigration official will stamp the card and return it to the foreign citizen. Foreign citizens must keep the card together with their passport and visa throughout their entire stay in the Russian Federation.
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NOTIFICATION OF ARRIVAL:
Notification of arrival is a document that proves the right of a foreign citizen to stay in Russia.
Notification of Arrival. PDF_RUSSIAN VERSION
Notification of Arrival. PDF_ENGLISH VERSION
Foreign citizen must keep notification of arrival together with passport, migration card until the departure of the Russian Federation.
How to obtain notification of arrival:
Upon arrival a foreign citizen must hand a copy of his\her passport and migration card over to the hosting party.
The hosting party then completes the notification of arrival and takes it either to the post office or to the appropriate regional department of FMS directly.
Copies of all the documents should be made, since the withdrawal of original documents by the host party is not allowed.
Once the tear-off split from the form has been stamped (either by FMS or the post office) it is returned to the hosting party. The hosting party gives the tear-off split to their foreign guest, since this will serve as proof of their right to be in the Russian Federation.
What happens if the hosting party is unable to submit the notification?
If the hosting party is unable to submit the notification to the Federal Migration Service – and has a valid reason for not doing so backed up by documentary evidence – then the foreign citizen can submit the notification, provided that he\she presents a notarized power of attorney issued by the hosting party.
DEREGISTRATION:
Before departing from the place of registration, the foreign citizen should add their departure date to the slip and return it to the hosting party who should then forward it to the FMS (Federal Migration Service) within two days of the departure date. The individual is registered from the moment the FMS receives the slip.Tforeign citizens must complete the following stepsObtain an appropriate Obtain a Complete and present a Obtain a of an in Russia
