General Information

A visa to the Russian Federation is a document, permitting stay in Russia for a specific period of time. Visa lists entry/exit dates, your name, passport details, and a purpose of travel.

From December 1, 2014 ALL South African passport holders must provide their visa applications IN PERSON.

This requirement is imposed as a reciprocal measure to the new immigration and visa regulations, adopted by the South African Department of Home Affairs and resulted in unprecedentedly steep and sometimes insurmountable requirements, brought against Russian citizens applying for South African visas in Moscow.

Most foreigners need a visa in order to travel to Russia. Please read the following information carefully in order to avoid any possible delays. If you fail to follow the listed requirements, your visa application will not be accepted.

Currently citizens of the following countries can travel to Russia without a visa for private, business, and tourist purposes:

Argentina (up to 90 days in every 6 months); Armenia; Azerbaijan; Belarus; Bosnia and Herzegovina (up to 30 days for tourists and up to 90 days for other visitors with original tourist vouchers or letters of invitation); Brazil (up to 90 days in every 6 months); Cuba; Hong Kong (up to 14 days); Israel (up to 90 days in every 6 months); Kazakhstan; Kyrgyzstan; Macedonia (up to 30 days for tourist and up to 90 days for other visitors with original tourist vouchers or letters of invitation); Moldova; Montenegro (up to 30 days); Nicaragua (up to 90 days in every 6 months); Serbia (up to 30 days for holders of Serbian biometric passports issued after April 9th, 2008); South Africa (up to 90 days in every 6 months); Tajikistan; Thailand (up to 30 days); Uzbekistan; Ukraine; Venezuela (up to 90 days in every 6 months).

The Consulate General accepts visa applications from 8:45 am till 11.30 am Monday to Friday. The pick-up hours are the same.

It is important for you to apply for the right type of visa, the one that corresponds to the purpose of your trip, in order to enjoy your visit to Russia without legal problems, should it be a tourist journey, a home stay with a relative or friend, a business trip, or a transit.

The purposes of your visit to Russia - which you declare in your application form - should be confirmed by a letter of invitation you get from your host party according to  official documents issued by the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, its regional offices or the Russian Ministry of Home Affairs or by a tourist contract - tourist voucher and tourist acceptance confirmation of a Russian tourist agency which should have its reference number.

Please be careful about the type of the visa you get which is issued in exact to the invitation you present in the consular section. Type of visa or dates of entry/departure cannot be changed or extended. All paperwork once submitted is not subject to any changes of the announced visa processing period, the period of stay in Russia, or number of entries indicated by visa supporting documents available at the moment of submission. If applicants need to make changes in submitted paperwork, all documentation will be returned to them for resubmission. The visa fee is not refundable.

When you receive your visa, please check it for any mistakes (passport number, date of birth, validity, etc.) and, if necessary, return it to a consular officer for corrections. The Consulate General will not be responsible for any mistakes in the visas, which were not brought to our attention prior to your departure from South Africa.

As it was mentioned the actual purpose of a foreign citizen's entrance into the Russian Federation should correspond to the type of the issued visa. Thereby we do not recommend to resort to the services of an intermediate who suggests issuing tourist visa allowing a short-term stay in Russia to those persons that enter the country not for tourist purposes but for carrying on business. Nonconformity of the claimed entrance purpose with the actual one and the line of business during the stay in Russia is the violation of the entrance or residence regime. Responsibility for this violation is stipulated as a money penalty of 2 000 - 5 000 rubles (450 – 1200 ZAR). In-parallel with the money penalty it could be decided to enforce an administrative exclusion of a foreign national from the Russian Federation with the sequential exclusion for the 5-year term.

Please note that you must fill in a migration card for presentation at the border control in the Russian Federation. Migration cards are distributed by the carriers (SAA, British Airways, etc.) or you can get them in the border control area.

Upon your arrival to Russia, your visa must be registered with the respective Russian authorities.

Attention!
Foreigners applying for a Russian visa in a country other than their home country usually must provide proof of permission to stay in this country for a period exceeding 90 days. Citizens of certain countries must have permanent residence status in South Africa to apply for a Russian visa here. Please check the possibility to apply for a visa with consular officer in advance.

Visa applications sent by post ARE NOT ACCEPTED. Delivery through tourist agencies/courier services in Cape Town is recommended. The courier must deliver the documents in the appropriate window and get a receipt and a number note, which will be asked for when collecting the visa. It should be noted, though, that any visa applicant may be interviewed by a consular officer if deemed necessary.

Processing time: 

The average visa processing time is 5 working days. For urgent applications processing time can be shortened with extra payment charged.

Visa is a courtesy of the State and in certain cases the Consulate General reserves the right to consider your visa applications for as long as it seems necessary or require additional documents.

Tariffs (ZAR)

South African passport holders

EU passport holders

UK passport holders

US passport holders

Diplomatic and official visas (EU, Denmark, Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway, Switzerland)

* Equivalent of 80€

For other tariffs, please call:
Consular Office of the Russian Embassy in Pretoria: tel. 012-362-71-16/68-72
Russian Consulate General in Cape Town: tel. 021-418-36-56/57

PLEASE NOTE:

Only cash is accepted. All payments must be done in advance. Costs are the subject to fluctuation. Visa processing fee is non-refundable.

If the visa is not checked on collection the Consular Office will take no responsibility for any mistakes in the visa.

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