Visas
You must have a visa to enter Russia (each time you enter), and a visa can be obtained only through invitation, in our case, the invitation of the Philological Faculty of Moscow University. Your visa will be issued for 90 days, beginning March 19, then renewed while we are in Russia. In addition to all the paperwork done behind the scenes, each of you must complete and submit a visa application almost three months before we arrive in Russia.

Russian visa applications are available as *.pdf (Adobe) printable files from the Consulate of the Embassy of the Russian Federation.

• Have at least four visa-size photographs made. Cut them apart, neatly. Sign the back of all six, neatly, so that someone who doesn't know you can read the signature. You will use one of these photos for your international student ID.
• Print out two copies of the visa form.
• Fill one out as a rough draft.
• For the US form, if you use the attached Word document most of the information below is provided for you. You add your own personal data.
  "Purpose of visit" -- Check cultural and write in "Study"
  "Organization to be visited"--Philological Faculty, Moscow State University
  "Itinerary"--Moscow, St. Petersburg, Irkutsk< Ulan-Ude"
  "Date of Entry"--22 March 2007"
  "Date of Departure"--16 June 2007 (NB: You can leave earlier, you just can't stay on this visa, without having it extended.)
  "Number of entries" : 1, unless you anticipate more, in which case you must notify us in advance.
  "Name and reference number..." leave blank
  "Medical insurance" Name the policy you're covered by. [No coverage, no visa.]
  "Who will pay?" Write in your name.
  30 Use projected date of graduation.
  "Last two places of work, excluding current one." Leave blank.
  37 "Permanent address": For most of you this is your home address (parents').
  38 "Place of work..." Carleton College, Northfield, MN, student email address
  39 Leave blank.
  40 "No"
• For the non-US form (your task is simpler)
  Use info from above, except "purpose of trip" write in "study," check nothing.
  "Destinations" = "Itinerary" above.
  "Telephone number" = Use your dorm number, if you have an answering machine.
• Obtain a US Postal Service Express Mail (carton) envelope and label. Address the label to yourself at the address where you intend to be (or where someone will receive it for you) from two weeks up to the last day before your departure; affix the label to the envelope. Affix the appropriate amount of postage stamps (not dated labels) for express delivery to the envelope.
• The pre-addressed, postage-paid express mail envelope, the completed, signed application, one passport size photo stapled to the marked space at the upper right-hand corner of the application form, your passport, and a money order payable to Russian Embassy for $100 (the current price of a single-entry visa) are due in the Off-Campus Studies Office on 19 November 2006. Place the remaining two visa photographs in a small envelope and turn in with your application materials to OCS.
• Students intending to spend summer months in Russia will need to find additional visa support. Support is available through our hosts at Moscow University, but we need to know of your plans at the time you are applying for your visa.
• Remember, visas are granted by the hosting government as a courtesy, when and as the hosting side decides to issue them. The visa-granting process between the US and Russia is a two-way street.