For foreign participants (non-CIS countries)
Dr. Evgenia S.Golionko
E-mail: Golionko@spa.msu.ru
Office phone: 7-(495)-939-53-72
Office fax: 7-(495)-939-53-38

For participants from Russia and CIS countries
Dr. Maxim A. Budanov
E-mail: Budanov@spa.msu.ru
Office phone: 7-(495)-930-85-67
Office fax: 7-(495)-939-53-38

Dear guests,

If you need a visa to enter Russia, there are two options to get one.

1) First, one may apply for a tourist visa. It is far easier: to apply for that type of visa one needs a voucher that can be issued by any travel/tourist agency in your home country (but better select an agency recommended by the appropriate Russian Consulate; please note that a hotel reservation even supported by a letter of invitation from the conference organizers is not sufficient to apply for a tourist visa, it is a voucher that is requested). In this case Moscow State University does not issue any visa support and cannot provide any assistance with the immigration formalities. Please, note that accompanying family members and other dependents should apply for tourist visas only.

2) Second, you may prefer to have a status of a Moscow State University visiting faculty during the conference: in that case a visa support from Moscow State University is a must. The procedure is far more time-consuming and entails lots of paper-work with Russian immigration and consular authorities.

 Here are the steps to be taken if the second option is your choice:

1) THE VISA APPLICATION FORM should be filled in and e-mailed back to golionko@spa.msu.ru by March 1, 2013.

2)   A scanned copy of the foreign passport (pages will all relevant information – full name, date and place of birth, gender, passport number, date and place of issue and date of expiration, etc) should be also e-mailed as an attachment to golionko@spa.msu.ru by March  1, 2013.

3)   Please also e-mail your complete mailing address (with the zip code); your contact phone number and e-mail address.

4)   After all the requested information and passport copies are received, SPA MSU prepares all the required paperwork and submit it to the authorized office of Moscow State University which applies to the Russian Ministry of Interior (the complete university application should be submitted no later than 2 months prior the expected date of entry to Russia) and then waits for their official visa authorization forms, which are usually issued 2 weeks prior the indicated date of entry.

5)   SPA MSU will mail the originals of the visa authorization forms to the invited foreign guests via FedEx or another express mail service. It usually takes FedEx 5 working days to deliver the form.

6)   After getting the form, one can apply for the Russian visa. (Please, note that one can apply to the Russian Consulate in his/her home country for that type of the visa after getting the original of the visa authorization form only; for that procedure the passport should be submitted as well).

7)    The Consulate in its turn will require the original of the visa authorization form, your foreign passport, its own application form (available at any Russian Consulate web-site), photos and consulate fees; SPA’s letter of confirmation will also be useful. One may contact the Consulate directly or act through various travel agencies assisting with the visa application process. Please be aware that you can apply for your visa in the country of your permanent residence/long-term stay only. Please, also note that the applicant should be in the country where he/she applies for the Russian visa no later than 2 weeks prior the scheduled date of departure to Russia and up to the date of obtaining the visa. Since the passport will be in the Consulate during the whole procedure, please be careful while scheduling your travel arrangements.

For some EU countries having special consular arrangements with the Russian Federation (e.g. Germany, France) the procedure is far easier – only an original version of an official letter of invitation from Moscow State University is required.

Please also note that if your happen to be a Russian citizen as well besides being a citizen of some other country, you cannot enter the Russian Federation as a foreign citizen.

(More details are available at the web-sites of Russian consular offices in your home countries).

 For any further details please do not hesitate to contact Dr. Evgenia S. Golionko, Department of International Cooperation, School of Public Administration, Lomonosov Moscow State University (golionko@spa.msu.ru).