Main Consular informationConsular Issues

Consular Issues

Address: Consulate General of the Russian Federation, Plot No. Fl. 1, Block 4, Scheme 5, Clifton, Karachi, Pakistan.

Tel.: +92 (21) 586-13-36, 586-03-22

GENERAL INFORMATION ON VISAS

On the basis of the confirmation of admission of an organisation (information is contained in the unified federal register of tour operators https://tourism.gov.ru/reestry/reestr-turoperatorov/ ), an applicant may be issued a single-entry or double-entry ordinary tourist visa for a period of up to 3 months or a multiple-entry ordinary tourist visa for a period of up to 6 months. In this case, the total period of stay of a foreign tourist on the territory of the Russian Federation on a multiple-entry tourist visa may not exceed 90 days during each period of 180 days.

It is also possible to issue an ordinary tourist visa on the basis of a confirmation of booking a place in a hotel or other accommodation facility (information is contained in the unified list of classified hotels, ski slopes, beaches - http://классификация-туризм.рф ). An ordinary tourist visa issued on such grounds may be issued only once and its validity is limited to the dates of hotel reservation.

ATTENTION! In accordance with paragraph 80 of the “Regulations Establishing the Form of a Visa, the Procedure and Conditions for its Registration and Issuance, Extension of its Validity, its Restoration in Case of Loss, as well as the Procedure for Cancelling a Visa”, approved by the Decree of the Government of the Russian Federation of June 9, 2003 №335, if a foreign citizen holding a valid Russian visa has received a new national passport, and the previous one has been cancelled, the visa is to be transferred to a new passport in advance at any Russian diplomatic mission or consular office upon a written application from this foreign citizen.

The restoration and transfer of a foreign citizen's visa from an old cancelled passport to a new identification document at the checkpoints across the state border of the Russian Federation (consular offices at airports) is not carried out.

Visa categories

All other citizens of Pakistan, depending on the purpose of the trip to the Russian Federation, can apply for a visa in one of the following categories:

business;
humanitarian;
tourist;
private;
education;
working;
transit.

For the citizens of the countries other than Pakistan and Russia all kinds of visas except transit are issued on the basis of the document which confirms his residence permit in Pakistan for the period of at least 180 days. In this case the personal interview is also conducted.

Documents Necessary for Visa application

Tourist visa (single or double entry):

Tourist visa is issued to foreign citizens for visiting the Russian Federation with purpose of tourism. Tourist visa can be single or double, with validity of up to 90 days. Please note: the above-mentioned validity period specifies the maximum possible validity for a visa of a particular category. The validity of your tourist visa is determined by the dates of entry and exit mentioned in your tourist confirmation and cannot be changed or extended in the Russian Federation.

If you are traveling with international airlines and intend to change flights at the same airport in the Russian Federation, or have a stopover, please refer to Transit Visa section.

For a Tourist Visa, please, submit the following documents at least one month prior to the planned trip.

1. Valid Passport (+ a good quality scanned copy of the page with the photo and the address page). The passport should be valid for at least 6 months after the expected visa expiry date and have at least two blank (without any stamps, inscriptions, etc.) pages facing each other for stamping by the Immigration Officer;

2. Visa Application form filled in on the website visa.kdmid.ru, printed out and signed personally by the applicant in the due field of the form. When selecting the location for submission of the documents please specify the Visa Center/Russian Consular Institution you will be applying at;

3. One passport size good quality photo (35x45 mm) with the light background;

4. Confirmation of acceptance of a foreign tourist(good quality color scanned copy is acceptable) issued by a Russian organization which is authorized to carry out tour operator activities and is registered in the Unified Federal Register of Tour Operators under a unique reference number (MVT); the confirmation should contain:

confirmation number;

number of entries;

full name, date of birth, sex, citizenship and passport number of the tourist;

duration of stay (dates of entry and exit);

purpose of visit (specified by the current Russian legislation);

itinerary and places of accommodation;

receiving organization’s address and its MVT;

signature of an authorized person of the tour agency and its official seal.

Business visa (single, double & multiple entry):

Business visa is issued to foreign citizens for visiting the Russian Federation with various business purposes (participation in negotiations, signing of contracts, purchase and acceptance of raw materials and equipment, lectures, medical treatment, and medical consultations, etc), as well as to crew members, media representatives, correspondents, etc.

Business visa can be single, double (with validity of up to 90 days) or multiple (with validity of up to 1 year) *. Please note that this is the maximum possible validity period for a business visa. Validity of your visa is determined by the dates of entry and exit mentioned in your invitation and cannot be changed or extended in the Russian Federation.

2. Visa Application form filled in on the website visa.kdmid.ru, printed out and personally signed by the applicant in the due field of the form. When selecting the location for submission of the documents please specify the Visa Center/Russian Consular Institution you will be applying at;

3. One passport size good quality photo (35x45 mm) with the light background;

4. The official original invitation issued by the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the Russian Federation upon the request of the Russian receiving organization/companysent to the applicant by post or courier

Private visa (single, double or multiple entry):

Private visa can be issued to foreign citizens entering the Russian Federation on a guest / private visit for the following purposes:

By invitation from a citizen of the Russian Federation, or a foreign citizen who has received a residence permit in the Russian Federation, or from a legal entity
For entry into the Russian Federation as family members of a Russian citizen based on a written request
For emergency entry to the Russian Federation due to a serious illness or death of a close relative in Russia*, or to undergo urgent medical treatment

Private visa can be single or double (with validity of up to 90 days), or multiple (with validity up to one year). Please note that validity of your visa is determined by the dates of entry and exit mentioned in your invitation and cannot be changed or extended in the Russian Federation.

3. One passport size good quality photo (35x45 mm) with the light background;

4. The official original invitation issued by the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the Russian Federation upon the request of the receiving person/relative/friend in Russiasent to the applicant by post or courier.

Student visa (single or double entry):

Study visa can be issued to foreign citizens entering the Russian Federation for long-term study in various educational institutions, for post graduate study or for short-term study. Please note that study visa cannot be issued for accompanying family members to the Russian Federation.

Study visa can be single or double (with validity of up to 90 days), with subsequent conversion of such visas in the territory of the Russian Federation into multiple entry visas valid up to one year, subject to extension per every year of study.

1. Valid Passport (+ a good quality scanned copy of the page with the photo and the address page). The passport should bevalid for a period of 1.5 years from the first day of the visa validity periodand have at least two blank (without any stamps, inscriptions, etc.) pages facing each other for stamping by the Immigration Officer;

3. One passport size good quality photo (35x45 mm) with the light background;

4. The official original invitation issued by the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the Russian Federation upon the request of the receiving educational institution/university/academy/college in Russia sent to the applicant by post or courier

5. The HIV blood test certificate. The test is to be taken not earlier than 3 months prior to the application.

Employment visa (single entry):

Work visa can be issued to foreign citizens entering the Russian Federation for employment purpose, as well as foreign employees, teachers, accredited reporters, equipment assembly specialists etc. Work visa can be single (with validity of up to 90 days). Such visa issued on the territory of Pakistan gets further extended upon entry of the foreign citizen to the Russian Federation, with validity of up to one year with multiple entries, per every year of contract extension.

1. Valid Passport (+ a good quality scanned copy of the page with the photo and the address page). The passport should be valid for a period of 1.5 years from the first day of the visa validity period and have at least two blank (without any stamps, inscriptions, etc.) pages facing each other for stamping by the Immigration Officer;

3. One passport size good quality photo (35x45 mm) with the light background;

4. The official original invitation issued by the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the Russian Federation on request of the receiving organization/companyin Russia sent to the applicant by post or courier

5. The HIV blood test certificate. The test is to be taken not earlier than 3 months prior to the application.

Transit visa (single or double entry):

Transit visa is issued to foreign citizens for transit through the territory of the Russian Federation.

A single-entry transit visa can be issued for a period of up to 3 days (for transit by air) or for a period of up to 10 days (for transit by road or rail). If a foreign citizen plans to re-transit through the territory of the Russian Federation within a period not exceeding 30 days from the date of the first entry, they may obtain a double entry transit visa with a total validity of up to 30 days. Please note that duration of each stay has the same limitations as a single-entry transit visa: stay up to 3 days (in case of transit by air) and stay up to 10 days (in case of transit by car or travel by road or rail) during each passage through the territory of the Russian Federation.

Please note: a prerequisite for obtaining a transit visa is the presence either of a visa, or a passport, or a residence permit of the country of destination, or confirmation of the applicant's right to visa-free entry to this state.

2. A valid visa to the country neighboring the Russian Federation/country of the destination or the passport of this country;

3. Visa Application form filled in on the website visa.kdmid.ru, printed out and personally signed by the applicant in the due field of the form. When selecting the location for submission of the documents please specify the Visa Center/Russian Consular Institution you will be applying at;

4. One passport size good quality photo (35x45 mm) with the light background;

5. Tickets with fixed/confirmed departure date from the Russian Federation.

Transit visa is not required in case a person does not leave the territory of the airport of arrival, joins the connecting flight at the same airport and the time period between the two connecting flights does not exceed 24 hours.

Humanitarian visa (single, double & multiple entry):

Humanitarian visa is issued to foreign citizens for visiting the Russian Federation with various humanitarian purposes (such as participation in sports, educational and cultural activities, youth exchange events, establishing scientific, technical, and social-political ties, as well as taking part in charitable and religious activities, pilgrimages etc). Please note that humanitarian visa cannot be issued for accompanying family members to the Russian Federation.

Humanitarian visa can be single, double (with validity of up to 90 days) or multiple* (with validity of up to 1 year). Please note that this is the maximum validity period possible for a humanitarian visa. Validity of your visa is determined by the dates of entry and exit mentioned in your invitation and cannot be changed or extended in the Russian Federation.

3. One passport size good quality photo (35x45 mm) with the light background;

4. The official original invitation issued by the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the Russian Federation upon the request of the receiving organization in Russia sent to the applicant by post or courier.

Experiment on testing the rules and conditions for entry into and exit from

the Russian Federation of foreign citizens and stateless persons

On 7 November 2024, the Government of the Russian Federation adopted Resolution No. 1510 "On conducting an experiment on testing the rules and conditions for entry into and exit from the Russian Federation of foreign citizens and stateless persons" (hereinafter referred to as "the experiment").

The purpose the experiment is to create a public Digital Profile of a Foreign Citizen information resource, a set of information submitted to public information systems by foreign citizens, authorized bodies and organizations participating in the experiment, in the volume and order stipulated by the Experiment Rules.

The experiment will be conducted in two stages. The first one, from 1 December 2024 to 30 June 2025, provides for collecting biometric personal data of foreign citizens (a photographic image of the person's face and finger papillary patterns) at air checkpoints on the state border of the Russian Federation – Moscow air zone at international airports (Sheremetyevo, Domodedovo, Vnukovo), as well as Zhukovsky (Moscow region) and at the Mashtakovo automobile checkpoint (Orenburg region).

The second stage will be held from 30 June 2025 to 30 June 2026. During this stage, in addition to fulfilling the above-mentioned requirements, foreign citizens planning to enter the Russian Federation visa‑free, must register in the integrated identification and authentication system and submit an application to enter into and stay (reside) in the Russian Federation using the mobile application of the Integrated Portal of Public and Municipal Services (Functions) federal state information system.

The experiment will involve all foreign citizens and stateless persons crossing the state border of the Russian Federation at the resolution-specified checkpoints throughout its implementation period, 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 their family members;

- officials of international organizations (missions of international organizations) and their family members;

- holders of diplomatic and service passports entering or leaving the Russian Federation due to performing official duties or as part of official delegations, as well as their family members.

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

The full text of the Resolution of the Government of the Russian Federation No. 1510 "On conducting an experiment on testing the rules and conditions for entry into and exit from the Russian Federation of foreign citizens and stateless persons" of 7 November 2024 is available at the Official Website of legal information at:

http://publication.pravo.gov.ru/document/0001202411130026.