US Citizens: Get your Russia Humanitarian visa with the TDS Houston Office

The Humanitarian visa type which is a subcategory of a Russian business visa is issued to U.S citizens, traveling to Russia with the purpose of religious missions or missionary programs, church visits, humanitarian relief, charity events and organizations, cultural or political exchange, sports events, and scientific or technical purposes.

The Humanitarian visa is issued on the basis of the applicant having received an Original Official invitation issued by the Russian Federal Migration Service (FMS) or the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA) that has been applied for by the inviting host or organization.

The first step with any Russian humanitarian visa is to obtain your Letter of Invitation, this document must be in hand before you start your visa application form as information from your Letter of Invitation is needed to answer several questions on the Russian visa application form.

Please send TDS your current valid and SIGNED passport. Your passport must be valid for at least 6 months beyond the expiration of the visa you are applying for and MUST have at least TWO blank pages that are listed as VISA pages. Foreign Embassies cannot issue a visa on a page not labeled as a Visa page. Amendment and Endorsement pages in the back of the passport cannot be used for issuance of a visa.
A visa cannot be stamped on a page even if only one Small Stamp is on the visa page. If you do not have Two blank visa pages in your passport, TDS can assist you in applying for additional pages. If your passport is NOT valid for at least 6 months beyond of the expiration date of your visa, you must renew your passport and then we will secure your visa with the new passport. 

If Travel Document Systems assists you in applying for a New/First Time, Renewal or Second Limited passport as part of this order, the passport will need to be returned to you for a signature before your visa application can be processed. Extra FedEx fees will apply in this case.

Please send 2 recent professional passport-type photographs.
The photographs must have been taken within the last six months.
Digital and non-passport photographs are not acceptable.
Passport Photo Guide - Click Here

Please do not attach the Photo to the visa application, TDS will do this for you.

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The Russian Embassy will not consider Rush or Emergency processing for any type of multiple entry visa six months, one year, three years.
Rush or Emergency processing will only be considered on a case by case bases for a single entry visa.
 
In order to request rush or emergency processing times, you MUST provide a copy of your itinerary indicating the need for rush, emergency processing.
A copy of a  flight itinerary is NOT required for regular processing.
 
Please note that the issuance of rush or emergency processing is at the sole discretion of the Russian Embassy/Consulate.

An Original Official Letter of Invitation issued by the Federal Migration Service (FMS) or the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA) in Russia is required to apply for a Russian Humanitarian visa, you must request your host to secure an invitation on your behalf in order to apply for a visa.

Once received by your Host the Original  invitation must be sent to you, a copy of the invitation will not be accepted when applying for the visa.

A letter of invitation is considered to be the first step in applying for a humanitarian visa to Russia.

If the official Russian visa invitation was submitted directly to the Embassy of Russia or Russian Consulate by "Telex", provide a record of the visa telex invitation number and details.

Information from the invitation is needed to complete the Russian Visa Application Form.
You must have the invitation, or have the information from your host, before you can complete the Russia visa application form.


A 3 Year Multiple Entry visa invitation can be issued directly by your host company or organization.
  

 3 Year Multiple Entry Visa Invitation Option

**If you select this option as your Letter of invitation, ONLY Regular processing (7-9 Days) will be available. Rush or Emergency processing are not available to you.

**This option is only for 3 Year Multiple entry visa. If you wish to apply for a Single, Double, 6 or 1 year Multiple entry visa can cannot use this option of invitation.

A written Letter of Invitation on company letterhead from the host organization in Russia which should indicate the following information:
*Full name of the host organization.
*Official address and contact information of the host organization.
*Surname, First Name, patronymic, and position of the person who signed the statement, this person must hold a position of General Manager or higher to be eligible to sign the Invitation Letter. The individuals taxpayers number is required.

Basic information about the visa applicant is also required in the statement, information included should be:
*Surname, First name and any other given names.
*Date of birth.
*Citizenship.
*Gender.
*Passport Number, date of issue, date of expiration and place of issue.
*Letter must state applicant wishes to apply for a 3 year Multiple Entry Visa and the period of stay from dd/mm/yyyy to dd/mm/yyyy (e.g. 23 June 2013 to 22 June 2016)
*Purpose of travel.
*Location of the intended residence of the visa applicant.
*Cities to be visited.

This Letter of Invitation must be written in Russian, the letter cannot be in English.

On September 9th, 2012, the Russian Government introduced a new 3-year multiple entry visa option.

Applicants applying for 3-year multiple entry visa MUST provide a recent bank statement showing a minimum balance of $3000.00 and proof of international medical insurance.

If you wish to apply for a 3-year visa follow the application form guidelines below:

You must answer Number of Entries as Multiple Entry on your visa application form.
You must answer Date of Entry and Date of Departure from Russia using a period of time covering 3 years. Example: If your Confirmation and Voucher starts on (Date of Entry) 24/07/2016 the  (Date of Departure) must be 23/07/2019, not the departure date listing on your Confirmation and Voucher. It must be a full 3 year period.

If you do not select "Multiple Entry" and "3 Year Period of Stay" your application form will have to be edited to reflect the correct information. If this has to be done you will have to sign, date and resend an original application to traveldocs for submission to the Russian Government, your signature must be an original, therefore a scan and email will not be accepted by the Russian Government.

If you apply for a Single or Double entry visa using the Rush or Emergency processing options you must use your actual date of entry into Russia and departure date from Russia.

A 3-year multiple entry visa can only be processed under the "regular processing" 8-10 business day option, the Russian Embassy does not offer "Rush or Emergency" for this visa type.

Please call for further assistance if required.

For religious visa requests, the letter of invitation can only be issued by the Federal Migration Service in Russia by request of your inviting organization or host in Russia.
Three year Multiple Entry Visas cannot be issued to those traveling to Russia for religious purposes, groups or organizations at this time.
Only Single, Double or 6 -12 month multiple entry visas are available for religious travel purposes.

When applying for a visa it is necessary to provide documentation that you no longer possess Russian Citizenship, such as:

Copy of USSR passport with a stamp stating you left for permanent residence abroad, dated prior to February 6th 1992.

Copy of a Visa to Israel issued prior to February 6th 1992.

Copy of a Certificate of Naturalization issued prior to 1996

Document confirming the renunciation of your Russian citizenship.

Copy of the main pages of a passport of a former USSR state, issued after February 1992.

Written statement of explanation in the case that you have no documentation.

In accordance with Russian law, visas can not be issued to Russian citizens with expired passports. We remind you that in accordance to Article 12 of Russian law "On citizenship of the Russian Federation", children born to two parents who are Russian citizens automatically gain Russian citizenship regardless of the place of birth. In this case visas are not issued and they must apply for Russian citizenship or have their information written into the passport of one of their parents or obtain a Russian passport.

Complete and sign the Children of Former Russian Nationals Form, this form states that they are not a registered citizen of Russia.

If you were born in a state of the former Soviet Republic or Ukraine you must supply a copy of your Soviet or Ukrainian passport along with a letter stating when you immigrated to the US.

Visa Application Preparation

Traveldocs offers an optional Russian visa application completion service to assist our clients.
The fee for this service is $55 in addition to the service fees and government fees when applying for the visa. 

1. Complete the simple to use Traveldocs online questionnaire.
2. Scan and upload a copy of your valid passport and hotel confirmation and voucher.
3. Submit the completed questionnaire.
4. We will complete and return your visa application within 24 hours, excluding Saturdays, Sundays, and Holidays.
5. We will contact you if any information provided is missing or incomplete.
6. We will email you your completed Russian visa application; please proof, sign, and date the application before sending it to Traveldocs along with all other required documents for visa processing.
   
7. PLEASE NOTE: The Russian Consulate in Houston requires you to list up to 30 previous countries visited.
   

If you have any questions, please contact 866-797-2600 for assistance.
This is an optional application service. 

The Russian Embassy has the right to request, if needed, additional documents/evidence which shows the purpose and length of the applicant's planned trip, the applicant's financial means sufficient for a stay in Russia and the applicant's intent to depart the Russian Federation after the trip, documents/evidence may include:
*A Bank Statement from the applicant.
*A statement from the employer regarding the applicant's wages for the preceding year, half year or month.
*Medical insurance valid in the country to be visited and fully covering the period of the first trip.
*Documents regarding the applicant's ownership of property in the country of his/her citizenship.
*A certificate on the makeup of the applicant's family.
The Russian Embassy also have the right to request additional information and/or documents from applicants as may be needed in particular cases.