Information on visa support from GBT to foreign volunteers (invitations and visa registration in Russia

Overview 

The Great Baikal Trail is now able to provide all volunteers with official visa support. You can use the GBT to get a humanitarian visa with the goal of cultural connections to Russia (which is good for 30 or 90 days).  Please note that the visa invitation application process usually takes from 4-6 weeks to complete at the Federal Migration Service. Therefore, if you are planning to come for a summer project, please send us your information no later than April 1st, 2009. The cost of processing and officially registering this invitation is included in the projects fee.

 In order to issue you an invitation---which you can use to apply for a cultural visa at your local Russian consulate----we will need the following information:

A copy of your passport page, which contains the following information:

1. Family name;

2. First name;

3. Date and place of birth;

4. Gender;

5. Citizenship;

6. Country of permanent residency;

7. City of permanent residency;

8. Type of passport;

9. Passport series number;

10. Date of issue of the passport;

To send us this copy, you can scan your passport information page and e-mail it to us.  Additionally, we will need the following data from you:

1. Intended date of entry and departure to and from Russia;

2. Place where you will be applying for the visa:   Country, city;

3. Work place (full name of organization);

4. Address of work place;

5. Vocation;

Once we receive this information, we will start the process of preparing and getting approval for your invitation.  We will then send you a copy of this invitation, when it is complete, in e-mail attachment form.  If your Russian Consulate does not accept copies of invitations (which can be the case in a few countries), then we can easily send you the invitation via regular mail (at no cost to you--- but please note, this might take up to a month to be delivered through our Russian post).  Or we can send it by express mail (which will take no more than 10 days to be delivered via express mail). You would have to pay for express mail costs yourself.  Please note that information found on embassy websites is often outdated.  Please call your nearby embassy to find accurate information.

Please, send all applications for visa invitations, with the information requested above, to: gbt.volunteers@gmail.com

PLEASE NOTE: ALL DATA IS REQUIRED TO GET AN INVITATION FROM RUSSIAN AUTHORITIES. PLEASE, FILL IN THE FORM CAREFULLY TO ENSURE TIMELY INVITATION COMPLETION.  OTHERWISE, WE WILL HAVE TO ASK YOU FOR ADDITIONAL INFORMATION – THIS WILL PROLONG THE VISA PROCESS. 

For more information, please contact Yulya Misevich, GBT Volunteers Coordinator: gbt.volunteers@gmail.com

New information for those applying outside of their country of citizenship!  As of October, 2007, a foreign citizen can obtain a visa to Russia ONLY in the country of his/her citizenship.  Exceptions include those who have a residence permit for a foreign country for the period of more than 90 days.  You will need to be able to show this permit to the Russian embassy in that country.  A foreign citizen will also be able to receive a Russian visa in a country other than his own if his own country allows Russian citizens to receive visas at its embassies and consulates outside of Russia.  There are currently about 40 countries that allow Russian citizens to receive visas in countries other than Russia, but this list changes often.  It is important to call the Russian embassy you are planning to use to verify if it will issue a visa before you order a visa invitation sent to that country. 

IMPORTANT NOTICE FOR FOREIGN CITIZENS

 If you are traveling to Russia,
Please read the advice below, which will help you avoid many complications and problems
during your visit.

1. Obtaining a Migration Card

1.1. Upon your arrival to the Russian Federation, it is necessary for you to get and complete a Migration Card. The Migration Card shows that you are allowed to temporarily reside in the country.

You can obtain a blank Migration Card (for free) from a Russian Border Control Officer, aboard a plane, or from a representative of an organization that provides transportation services for foreign citizens arriving to the Russian Federation.

1.2. You should complete the Migration Card in Russian, in BLOCK LETTERS. If you don’t speak Russian, you can fill in requested information about yourself in Roman (Latin) alphabet, in accordance with the information in your identity papers. The text of the Migration Card is in Russian and English.

DO NOT LOSE YOUR MIGRATION CARD – IT IS A VERY IMPORTANT DOCUMENT. 

2. Registration Requirement

2.1. Foreign citizens visiting the Russian Federation must be registered at the place of their stay.

Registration

2.2. Please remember that all foreign citizens visiting or temporarily residing in the Russian Federation must register with a local office of the Russian Ministry of the Interior within three working days of arrival at the hotel or other organization rendering hotel services.

2.3. It is not necessary to register if you are going to be in the Russian Federation for no more than three days, unless you are staying in a hotel, spa, health resort, camping ground, hostel, tourist camp, hospital, or another type of health care/social services facility.

2.4. The host (inviting) party (here, the GBT NGO) is responsible for all necessary registration and de-registration procedures.

To register, a foreign citizen must present the host party with his/hers identity papers, the Migration Card, and visa (we will make copies of these documents and return the originals to you right away).

Any individual or legal entity (a Russian citizen or a Russian organization) can be a host party.

The host party must (1) complete a special form that gives notice of the foreign citizen’s arrival to his/hers place of residence, and (2) deliver this notice to a local office of the Russian Ministry of the Interior or the local post office, on the territory of which the foreign citizen will reside, within three working days of the foreign citizen’s arrival.   

2.5. The foreign citizen receives a copy of the notice with a dated stamp.

Upon the foreign citizen’s departure, the host party must deliver a detachable part of the notice to the local office of the Russian Ministry of the Interior, whether in person or by mail.

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