Over the past few years, Russia’s economy has grown by leaps and bounds. In 2008, according to the CIA World Factbook, Russia’s GDP was $2.266 trillion, the 7th  highest in the world. As Russia’s economy grows, business travel to Russia is increasing. This article from BCD Travel notes that in 2006, “Russian business travel volume grew to USD $13 billon — a 17 percent increase over 2005 numbers.”

Unfortunately, just because business travel to Russia is becoming increasingly common, that doesn’t make it easy to get a Russian business visa. Business travelers and tourists alike are caught up in a visa system that the US Department of State has called “restrictive and complicated.”

If you have a business trip to Russia, here’s what you need to get a Russian visa:

• A valid US passport.
• A completed Russian visa application form.
• One passport  photo
• A copy of your official invitaton letter from the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs. The company you will be doing business with in Russia should procure this letter for you, sending the original to the embassy and a copy to you to be submitted with your visa application.
• A letter from your own company signed by your boss.

Note:  While some countries provide visas that are effective for 30 days, 60 days or longer, Russia’s visas are issued only for the time you plan to spend in Russia. That means that your letter of invitation must have the exact dates that you plan to spend in Russia on business, and those dates should also match the dates you put on your visa application.

If your visa expires before you leave, a number of very bad things could happen. You could be fined, and in all likelihood you will be detained while the Russian government issues you a new visa-a process which could take up to 20 days. Not fun!

RushMyTravelVisa.com can help you navigate the Russian visa system. We’ll research your travel needs, assist you with the paperwork and help you avoid common errors that could ruin your trip.

Save yourself a headache-let us help you with your Russian visa application!

Tags: business visa, Russia, Russian visa

This entry was posted on Tuesday, October 20th, 2009 at 10:15 pm and is filed under Visa Processing. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.