Obtaining Russian Visa

All foreigners are required to obtain visas to enter Russia. If you travel alone, the cheapest option (saves you $30) is to obtain a "business visa" using an official invitation from IKI. If you travel with family members or need faster processing, you should obtain a "tourist visa".

[Update] In some cases (if the accompanying person has the same second name and affiliation), it will be possible to arrange an invitation letter for business visa for the accompanying person as well - please, send us an email with the personal data of your accompanying person if you would like to obtain the visa for him (her) in this way.

Business visa

If you travel alone, IKI can generate an invitation for "business visa". LOC will arrange Letter of Invitation for Visa application. Please, send e-mail message to zeldovich100-visa [at] cosmos.ru (LOC) with the following information:

1. Last name:
2. First and middle name:
3. Date of birth:
4. Country and town (or region) where you were born:
5. Country and town where you live:
6. Sex:
7. Citizenship:
8. Passport number:
9. Passport issue date:
10. Passport valid until: [NOTE: must be valid for at least 6 months 
after your departure date]
11. Full name of your institute or university:
12. Current position:
13. Work address, telephone, fax:
14. Dates of arrival and departure to Russia
[add a few days before and after the conference if your plans are flexible]:
15. Cities you plan to visit in Russia:
16. Country and city where you will apply for the visa:
17. Copy of the first page of the passport [the one with the photo]
 

To garantee succesfull preparation of invitation we should have all information from you as soon as possible. You then fill out the application at the nearest consular office. The visa is issued in approximately 10 days.

Tourist visa

Most people travel to Russia on tourist visas. In order to proceed tourist visa you have to:

1. Book a room in hotel (see accommodation).
2. Once you have confirmation from the hotel, you can make tourist visa invitation filling the form on the website ivisaonline.com

Note that you need a separate visa for each family member. Exceptions are children under 16 who are included in your passport (i.e. do not have their own passports). Passports must be valid for at least 6 months beyond your departure date. Please make sure that you specify "tourism" as the purpose of your trip when you cross the border.