Link Up

Login
Password
	Remember me on this computer
	Forgot your password?
	Register

Visa Requirements

With few exceptions, most foreigners wishing to visit the Russia Federation must hold a valid visa. Similarly, most foreigners wishing to work in Russia must hold a valid work visa. Over the years, the requirements for working legally in Russia have changed. What follows are the most recent changes that have been implemented as a result of a new interpretation of the law concerning the employment of foreign teachers in Russia. So that there is no misunderstanding, please know that whereas the law states that foreigners wishing to work in Russia must have work permits, this law makes an exception for ‘teachers’. That said, recent interpretation of this law now holds that the word ‘teacher’ only refers to teachers at the university or institute level. Based on this interpretation, language teachers (for example) must now have work permits unless they are being employed by a university. Therefore, contrary to what you may have been or might be told, until the authorities change this interpretation of the law, you will be required to have a work permit. Work permits can only be obtained prior to your entry into Russia. Once a work permit has been arranged for you by the company that you will be working for (e.g. Language Link), that same company will then arrange for the issuance of a letter of invitation that will be sent to you and which you will then use to obtain your work visa. The System Explained As noted above, applying for a work visa involves three steps: Obtaining a work permit Obtaining a letter of invitation (LOI) Obtaining a work visa So as to make the system understandable, each step has been explained below. Step 1: Obtaining a Work Permit Based on the most recent interpretation of the law, language teachers must show proof of higher education. Though the term ‘higher education’ has not yet been interpreted, Language Link takes this to mean possession of a university diploma. Unless this interpretation is officially changed, applications for teaching employment will only be accepted from university graduates or applicants who will have graduated prior to the start of their employment with Language Link. For this we apologize, but for obvious reasons must abide by the most prevalent interpretation of the law. In order for Language Link to obtain a work permit for a teacher, that teacher will need to provide Language Link with his or her diploma (or a true copy of his or her diploma) with an affixed or attached Apostille Certificate. An Apostille Certificate is an official stamp placed on the back of an authentic document (or true copy of an authentic document) which attests to the authenticity of that document. Once your diploma bearing an Apostille Certificate has been received, Language Link will use this document to have a work permit issued in the name of the diploma holder by FMS (Federal Migration Service). This process takes one month. Step 2: Obtaining a Letter of Invitation Once a work permit has been issued in the name of the teacher, Language Link will apply to FMS for a letter of invitation which, when received, will be sent on to you by post (usually FedEx or DHL). To apply for a letter of invitation, your visa sponsor (i.e. Language Link) will need a scanned copy of your passport details page(s). Receiving a letter of invitation can take anywhere from two weeks up to a month depending upon the location of where the invitation is being applied for. As letters of invitations are prepared at the local level, the actual time that it takes for the company to receive it can vary. In Moscow, preparation time is about two weeks; and in St. Petersburg a month. Regardless, as a general rule assume this process will take about one month. Step 3: Obtaining a Visa As noted above, once Language Link has received your letter of invitation, it will be sent on to you by post. Along with the letter of invitation, you will also receive a letter of support from your visa sponsor (Language Link) and a medical card or insurance policy confirming that you have medical insurance in Russia. For those unfamiliar with the aforementioned documents, the letter of invitation is about half the size of an A-4 piece of paper folded lengthwise (81/2 x 11 for you Americans). The Letter of Support is on an A-4 piece of Letterhead stationery. Both of these documents along with the medical insurance policy MUST be sent or brought to the Russian Consulate in order to process your visa. Obtaining visas may be done either in person or by post. If you wish to process your visa in person you may do so. However, processing a visa in person requires two visits to the consulate- the first to drop off your paperwork (application, letters of invitation and support, etc) and the second to pick up your passport and visa. At this time, the term ‘quick processing’ i.e. same day or next day processing does not apply to visas being obtained by teachers and students. As processing times vary from country to country, please consult the applicable visa processing procedures found within the visa procedures pages of this website i.e. ‘Visa Application Procedures for US Citizens’. If you wish to process your visa by post, restrictions may apply. By way of example, in the US, all mail-in visa applications must be sent to one of three intermediary visa agencies for forwarding to the appropriate Russian consulate.  Many Russian consulates no longer accept applications that have been mailed directly to them. If you are uncertain as to the proper procedures to follow, then it is best to check the website of the Russian Consulate nearest you. In order to apply for a visa, the following items should be brought or posted to the designated Russian consulate: application form passport with at least two clear pages letter of invitation (the original) letter of support health insurance card HIV test  one passport size photo (black & white or coloured) applicable fee Companies with the right to invite AND employ foreign teachers in Russia will no doubt opt for their teachers to be issued three-month single (or double) entry business visas. Rather than being concerned by the ninety-day nature of this visa, teachers should find comfort in the fact that this is the visa recommended by FMS for foreigners coming to work in Russia. After your visa has been registered in Russia (following your arrival), the employer has three months to fill in the mandatory eight documents necessary to have this visa both prolonged AND converted into a one-year multiple entry visa.  Companies without the right to invite and employ foreigners i.e. non-Russian residents have, in the past, opted to bring their teachers into the country on one year multiple entry visas.  Unfortuantely for these companies, the law has now changed and a recent decree (Decree 635 signed into law on October 4th, 2007) states that holders of the aforementioned one year multiple entry visas may only be present on Russian territiory for a maximum of three months in any six month period. Migration Cards: If visas weren't enough, travellers to Russia are now required by law to fill in a migration card prior to passing through customs. Less a card and more a piece of paper, the migration card is obtained before entry into Russia. Airline attendants distribute migration cards just prior to landing while train conductors do so just prior to crossing the frontier into Russia. This form MUST be filled in prior to going through passport control AND must be stamped by the passport control official and returned to the voyager. At times, the voyager will have to insist on having the form stamped though this is becoming less of a problem. Failure to do so will delay registration of your visa and most likely result in a fine. Please note the form has two identical sections: A and B. The section on the right is identical to that on the left. Both sections must be filled in. Section A - Entry will be kept by passport control. Section B will be returned to you by the customs official. On leaving Russia, you will need to surrender Section B. Registration: Within seventy-two hours of your arrival in Russia, your visa sponsor must submit your passport, visa and migration card to FMS for registration. These documents will be returned within a couple of weeks. Previously, your visa sponsor was required to submit the appropriate paper work detailing the address where you would be living during your stay in Russia.  This is no longer the case, and all teachers who are working legally in Russia should be registered at their companies legal address. As is obvious from the foregoing section, those companies that have made the effort to employ their teachers legally deserve a pat on the back. Should it not be obvious, the reason why many (most) companies have chosen not to work in accordance with the law is purely monetary. Considering that native speaking teachers are offered more money per hour than Russian speaking teachers and that many are given a package deal (accommodation, travel allowance, visa reimbursement, health insurance, holiday, sick time, etc), the additional burden of taxation is just too much to bear. Unfortunately, a new teacher to Russia who is hired legally will cost his employer 30% in income tax until such time as that teacher has spent 183 days in a calender year in the Russian Federation (thereafter the income tax rate drops to 13%) and more than 25% in social welfare taxes (unemployment, disability, pension, hospitalisation and doctor). The very fact that foreign teachers are NOT allowed to collect on unemployment, disability and pension is reason alone why most resist paying it. Passport validity: As previously mentioned, Language Link is accredited to invite and employ foreign teachers to Russia. In accordance with the FMS regulations, Language Link invites its teachers to Russia on three-month single entry business visas which are thereafter prolonged and converted to a one-year multiple-entry visa. In order for Language Link to prolong a teacher's visas, as stated above, certain passport validity dates applies. Simply speaking, for Language Link to convert a three-month visa to a one-year visa, the teacher's passport must be valid for at least twenty-one (21) months beyond the FINAL expiration date of the new one-year visa. If a passport is valid for less than the required twenty-one months, then this will effect how long Language Link can extend the teacher's original three-month visa. By way of example, if a teacher's passport were valid for only twenty months beyond the FINAL expiration date of the new (proposed) one-year visa, then one month would be subtracted from the validity of the new visa i.e., good for eleven months and not twelve and so on. Of interest, teachers wishing to stay on with Language Link in Russia for a second year do not need to obtain a new visa for their second year. Language Link can prolong the teacher's one-year multiple-entry visa again for another year. Of course, the twenty-one month rule again applies. The Language Link Commitment Since 1995, Language Link has placed the welfare and well-being of its teachers before all other considerations. This we have always done; this we shall continue to do.