How to apply

I. Applying at the Consulate General in Houston

Foreign citizens may apply directly at the Consulate General of the Russian Federation in Houston (1333 West Loop South, suite 1300, Houston, TX 77027). Prior to submitting your visa application at the consulate you must make an appointment through the visa only electronic appointment system* (phone and email appointments are not available). Prior to making an appointment please make sure: 

1) You have all the required documents (see section III below). 

2) Families of up to 3 people make a single appointment.

To apply at the consulate you are required to appear in person, or you may submit the documents through a legal representative. All documents must be properly prepared and filled out. Incomplete sets of documents and/or documents with errors will not be accepted. Please note visa applications addressed to the Consulate in New York or to the Embassy in Washington are not acceptable at the Consulate General in Houston and vice versa.

Passport pick-up time is 9:30 am to 12 pm and 2 pm to 4 pm on business days upon appointment.

You can e-mail your inquiries to: visa@rusconshouston.org.

*Обращаем Ваше внимание, что запись в этом разделе производится СТРОГО на подачу документов на ВИЗУ! Запись на другие консульские услуги осуществляется в разделе "Запись" нашего сайта или по этой ссылке.

II. Applying at the Consulate General in New York, the Embassy in Washington.

Foreign nationals and stateless persons can apply for all types of visas at the Consulate General of the Russian Federation in New York, the Embassy of the Russian Federation in Washington. 

For detailed information on how to apply for a Russian visa in New York and Washington and contact information for the Russian missions there, please visit: 

Consulate General of the Russian Federation in New York

Embassy of the Russian Federation in Washington

Documents 

III. Required documents

Regardless of the office you are applying at you must present the following documents:

1) Signed passport with at least two clear visa pages valid for at least 6 more months after the expiration date of the requested visa. If the validity condition is not fully met, your visa validity period will be shortened to allow 6 months of passport validity after the visa expiration date.

2) Invitation to visit the Russian Federation.

The form of the invitation depends on the type of the requested visa. Please see details on the page corresponding to the requested visa type (e.g. Private visas).

3) Printed and signed visa application form filled out at http://visa.kdmid.ru. Please closely follow the instructions in section VIII while filling out the application. Make sure your application is addressed to the organization you're submitting the documents at (applications addressed to the visa center will not be accepted at the consulate and vice versa).

4) One passport-size (3.5 cm by 4.5 cm, or 2'' by 2'') color picture taken no earlier than 6 month before the date of application. The photo must be clear, forward facing and taken against a plain white or light-colored background.

5) Payment. The Consulate accepts cash or cards (credit or debit). We do not accept personal or company checks. Please see FEES page for details.

6) A copy of your passport’s ID page.

IV. Information for American citizens

In accordance with the Agreement between the Russian Federation and the United States of America on the simplification of visa formalities for nationals of the Russian Federation and nationals of the United States of America, the US citizens are as a rule issued multiple-entry business, private, humanitarian and tourist visas valid for up to 3 years (36 months).

Multiple-entry visas issued in accordance with the Agreement allow: 1) staying in Russia for up to 180 days per visit (for case border crossing). The number of visits is unlimited; 2) subsequent trips with a purpose other than that initially indicated in the visa. Please note that the purpose of each trip and information on the hosting organization or person must be indicated in a Migration card form (filled out just before entering the country) in order to clear Russian customs and border control.

V. Information for Turkish citizens

In accordance with the Decree № 583, issued by the President of the Russian Federation on November 28, 2015, the procedure for entering the Russian Federation for citizens of the Republic of Turkey, bearers of regular Turkish passports, has been revised.

As of January 1, 2016, Turkish citizens bearing said passports will be required to obtain a Russian visa issued by a diplomatic or consular division of the Russian Federation. (For more information please visit http://visa.kdmid.ru).

This does not affect Turkish citizens:

1) bearing temporary residency permits or permanent residency cards for the territory of the Russian Federation; 2) bearers of special or official passports, traveling to the Russian Federation for less than 30 days; 3) bearing special or official passports who work at diplomatic missions and consulates of the Republic of Turkey on the territory of the Russian Federation, and their family members who hold valid special or official Turkish passports; 4) holders of Seaman's Passports, provided they are entering for maritime purposes on ship orders.

Time 

VI. Processing time

We recommend applying for a visa at least 8 business days before your trip. A visa (private) can only be expedited in case the applicant has documentary evidence of urgency. No expedited service is provided for multiple-entry visas. On average it takes 7 calendar days for a multiple-entry visas (US-citizens).

We recommend to apply for a visa no earlier than 6 months prior to the planned date of entry to the Russian Federation.

Forward back

VII. Mailing passport with visa

The passport with your visa could be mailed back when a pre-paid return mail envelope or shipping label of USPS, UPS, FEDEX, DHL is provided with no additional fee.

Application form

VIII. Filling out a visa application

All questions in the application form must be answered. If a question is not applicable, please use “None”. Applications with incomplete or unfilled items such as missing middle names or prior employments will not be accepted.

Information on the visa application must match the applicant’s passport and invitation. The information about your host organization is found in the invitation and must be indicated in the “Host organization” field of the application. Please note that filling out an application online is only one step of your visa application process, the Consulate does not issue visas online. In order to apply for a visa you must submit all the required documents at the visa center or the consulate.

In “Date of entry/exit into/from Russia” field please indicate the full period of the requested visa (as found in your invitation), not only the planned dates of your first visit. American citizens applying for a multiple 3-year tourist, private, business or humanitarian visa may indicate a 3-year period starting from the entry date indicated in the invitation.

While filling out the application you can choose to “Save draft” before you are finished. You can then retrieve incomplete or finished applications using your application ID (assigned at the beginning of the process) and your password.

If you need to make changes to an existing  application, please select “Get a new draft ID” and then “Next” after accessing a completed application. In this case your previous application is duplicated with a new ID allowing you to make changes before submitting and printing the corrected application.

In the “Destination name” please indicate “Consulate General of Russia in Houston”. Destination name must match the organization you're in fact applying at. E.g. applications addressed to the visa center are not acceptable at the consulates.

Please make sure to print out your application, sign and date it in the designated area at the bottom.

IX. Medical insurance

Citizens of China (tourist visas only), Iran, Ireland, Israel, EU and Schengen countries must present medical insurance certificates valid in Russia or guarantee of medical coverage from a Russian hosting organization for the whole period of stay. Medical insurance certificates must contain a Russian contact phone number for emergency or assistance.

X. Additional information

1) Non-US citizens must provide proof of legality of their stay in the United States (only US resident alien/permanent residency status (green card) is acceptable). In the event that the applicant lacks this document, they will have to apply for a visa at a Russian Consular Section/Consulate in the country of their nationality.

2) In accordance with the Russian law, citizens of the Russian Federation regardless of any other citizenship they may have, must travel to Russia on valid Russian documents only and are not eligible for visas.

3) Visa processing fee is non-refundable regardless of whether a visa is issued or denied.

4) The type of requested visa or dates of entry/departure cannot be changed or extended. If your travel plans change after the documents are submitted and/or a visa is issued, you have to reapply for a new visa.

5) After you have received your visa, please check that all the information in the visa is correct. In case of error, please return the visa to the Consulate for corrections (if by mail - together with a pre-paid mail envelope). The Consulate is not responsible for any errors in visas, which are not brought to our attention prior to your departure from the United States.

6) Any visa applicant may be required to be interviewed by the consular officer, if necessary.

7) Processing time, requirements and fees are subject to change without notice.

8) In certain cases the visa section of the Consulate is entitled to process visa applications for as long as necessary. Visas may be denied without explanation provided, fees are not subject to be returned.

9) Please be advised that foreign citizens may not hold two or more valid Russian visas simultaneously in one passport. In this case the older valid (unexpired) visa must be cancelled before a new visa is issued.

XI. Experiment on approbation of the rules of entry to and exit from Russia of foreign citizens and stateless persons

On November 7, 2024 the Government of the Russian Federation adopted Resolution No. 1510 “On conducting an experiment to test the rules and conditions of entry into the Russian Federation and exit from the Russian Federation of foreign citizens and stateless persons”.

The experiment is conducted in order to create a state information resource “Digital profile of a foreign citizen”, which is a set of information provided by a foreign citizen, as well as authorized bodies and organizations involved in the experiment, in state information systems in the volume and order provided for by the Rules for the organization of the experiment.

The experiment will take place in two stages. 

The first stage: December 1, 2024 - June 30, 2025. 

Biometric personal data of foreign citizens (photographic image of the face and papillary patterns of human fingers) will be collected at air checkpoints across the state border of the Russian Federation at international airports of the Moscow air zone (Sheremetyevo, Domodedovo, Vnukovo), as well as Zhukovsky (Moscow region) and at the automobile checkpoint Mashtakovo (Orenburg region).

Second stage: June 30, 2025 to June 30, 2026. 

In addition to meeting the above-mentioned requirements, foreign citizens planning to enter the Russian Federation in a manner that does not require a visa will have to register in the unified identification and authentication system and submit an application for the purposes of entry into the Russian Federation and stay (residence) in the Russian Federation using the mobile application of the Federal State Information System “Unified Portal of State and Municipal Services (Functions)” prior to entry.

The experiment will affect all foreign citizens and stateless persons crossing the state border of the Russian Federation at the checkpoints specified in the decree during the period of its implementation, with the exception of:

• citizens of the Republic of Belarus;
• children under 6 years of age;
• heads and staff of diplomatic missions and consular offices of foreign states in the Russian Federation, as well as members of their families;
• officials of international organizations (representative offices of international organizations) and members of their families;
• holders of diplomatic and service passports entering the Russian Federation or leaving the Russian Federation in connection with the performance of official duties or as part of official delegations, as well as members of their families.

At the same time, the procedure for processing and issuing Russian visas, including a single electronic visa, to foreign citizens remains the same.

XII. On changes to the permitted period of temporary stay for foreign nationals entering Russia under the visa-free regime

As of January 1, 2025, in accordance with Federal Law No. 260-FZ dated August 8, 2024 (hereinafter - the Law), changes to the permitted period of temporary stay of foreign citizens entering the Russian Federation in the visa-free regime came into force. The period of stay of this category of foreigners on the territory of Russia has been reduced to 90 days cumulatively within a calendar year (previously these persons could stay in Russia for no more than 90 days within 180 days).

Exceptions are cases provided for by the Federal Law of July 25, 2002 № 115-FZ “On the legal status of foreign citizens in the Russian Federation” or international treaties of the Russian Federation, as well as cases when the period of temporary stay in the Russian Federation of a foreign citizen is extended in accordance with the above Federal Law. This refers to citizens of states with which the relevant intergovernmental agreements on mutual visa-free travel of citizens have been concluded, determining a different period of stay on the territory of Russia, as well as citizens entering the territory of the Russian Federation for the purpose of education, labor activity, temporary residence or asylum.

Foreign citizens arriving in the Russian Federation in the “visa regime” are not subject to this procedure. The period of their stay on the territory of Russia is still determined by the validity of the issued visa.