Entry to Russia for foreign participants

• Documents required at the border
• Visa validity periods
• Applying for a visa

Documents required at the border

To avoid encountering any problems when crossing the border, all foreign participants arriving from abroad are required to bring the following documents with them.

Visa validity periods

After submitting all the required documents, SPIEF participants can obtain a short-term, single-entry Russian visa for the period from 6–25 June at foreign consular offices of the Russian Federation on the day of their application.

Applying for a visa

1 Generate an invitation for foreign arrivals

What is an invitation for foreign arrivals?

An invitation for foreign arrivals is not an invitation to the Forum, but a separate document from the Forum organizers.

• All confirmed participants will receive an official invitation to SPIEF 2023 by email.
• After receiving the invitation, log in to your Roscongress personal account using your personal login and password.
• Confirm your attendance at the Forum.
• Go to the ‘My events – SPIEF 2023 – Event dashboard – Visa support’ tab of the Roscongress personal account.
• Your personal information will be automatically uploaded from the Roscongress personal account to the document. You can manually add the city and country where you will be applying for your visa.
• Download and print the invitation for foreign arrivals.
• Provide your Russian consular office with the invitation for foreign arrivals and the other required visa documents.

If you have found any errors in your personal data in the application for participation, you can contact a Roscongress Foundation specialist to make changes to the personal data.

2 Submit an application at a consular office

To receive a visa for entry into Russia, individuals in possession of an invitation must apply at the relevant foreign consular office of the Russian Federation. Information about the location of Russian consular offices can be found on the website of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Russian Federation.

We recommend that participants apply at their Russian consular office in good time, and at least 2 (two) weeks before their departure.

Participants are advised not to apply for entry visas at intermediary visa centres or travel agencies, which are not authorized to issue official visas.

VIEW THE LIST OF DOCUMENTS

Please make sure to bring the following documents with you when attending your consular office:

• a printed invitation for foreign arrivals. The document must be generated in the Roscongress personal account;
• a valid travel document recognized by the Russian Federation (an ordinary, official or diplomatic passport or a United Nations laissez-passer). The passport must have at least two blank pages and be valid for at least six months after the requested visa expiration date;
• a completed and printed visa application form. The form must be filled out in advance on the visa website of the Consular Department of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Russian Federation at visa.kdmid.ru. When completing the form, members of official delegations, business representatives and persons accompanying them should select ‘official visit’ as the purpose of their trip, while journalists should select ‘press/correspondent’ or ‘press/technical’;
• one 35 x 45 mm photo (colour or black and white) with a clear front view of the participant’s face, without tinted glasses or headgear (with the exception of foreign citizens who are required to wear headgear with respect to their nationality or religion, and provided that they are wearing headgear in their passport photo). The photograph must have been taken no earlier than six months before the date of application;
• a medical insurance policy that is valid in Russia.