Please contact the nearest Russian diplomatic mission or us to enquire if you require a visa to enter the Russian Federation for a short term visit. In case you need a visitor visa, you will need an official invitation from our university. For your official invitation you are required to fill in the Application for invitation for a short-term visa and send it back. Invitations are issued by the Russian Federal Migration Service and they reserve one month for the invitation to be issued. Citizens of the European Union (excluding the Republic of Ireland and the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland) and also citizens of Iceland and Kingdom of Norway require only an official invitation issued by the university. Usually we issue such an invitation on the same business day after we have received the required information.
Please be informed that university invitations and the visa issued may not be used for tourist purposes.
Arrival in Russia
When arriving in Russia, on plane or train you should fill out a migration card which consists of two identical parts: arrival record and departure record. Complete the card either in Russian or English and hand it to the border police officer along with your passport. When finished put and keep the departure record part in your passport. Like in many other countries, possession of a visa does not always entitle its bearer to enter Russia. The final decision about admitting is taken by the border police officer. We recommend keeping copies of the supporting documents in the event that the border police officer will ask for them. Please be advised that according to the Russian law all foreigners staying in Russia longer than three days must be registered at the local Migration Office. Should you stay in some other place before going to Tomsk or travel to Tomsk by train, you are kindly requested to bring proof that you have legally been staying in Russia; such proof can be a train ticket, hotel receipt(s), copy(ies) of registration at the local Migration Office etc. Failure to produce this evidence may preclude us from being able to register you at the Tomsk Migration Office. This may be punished by fine, deportation or both.
The visitor visa can not be extended. The period mentioned in the visa is the period of stay in the Russian Federation. You may not stay in the Russian Federation beyond the date mentioned in the visa. Russian border police is very strict with travellers who overstay their visas even for one day. In the event of overstaying the visa, travellers will be required to apply for an exit visa and it takes 20 days for such a visa to be issued by the Russian Migration Office. This usually results in fines and other additional expenses.
Application for the official invitation for a short-term visa (MS Word (.doc) file)