Important information.

To enter the Russian Federation a foreign citizen must submit a valid identity document, accepted as such by the Russian Federation, and a visa. It is not possible to obtain a visa at the airport, when entering Russia. A visa entitles the holder to travel to the Russian Federation and apply for admission; it does not guarantee entry. An immigration inspector at the port of entry determines the visa holder's eligibility for admission into the Russian Federation.Therefore you should be able to present at the port of entry the copy of your invitation or visa support papers along with your passport and visa. 

When applying, please be advised that the permission to enter Russia is a courtesy of the State and the Consulate can deny a visa if it has reasons to believe that the applicant's visit to the Russian Federation is not desirable, and the disclosure of the reason for the denial can be withheld. The Consulate is authorized to request any supplementary documents and information in regard to the application and reserves the right to invite the applicant to be interviewed in person. 

In accordance with the International Law, the Consulate in certain cases reserves the right to consider your visa applications for as long as it deems necessary. Therefore it is strongly recommended to apply beforehand!Please allow at least 10 working days between the date when your visa application is submitted to the Consulate and the actual date of entry to Russia. You can apply for a visa at the Russian consulate in Sydney if you are residing in the following states: New South Wales, Queensland, Victoria, South Australia, Western Australia and Tasmania which constitute the Consulate General's consular district. 

You can apply in person at our office located at , Woollahra, NSW (please consult our office hours in the left menu), or by post (postal address: , Woollahra, NSW 2025). Dear applicants and visa agents, the Consulate General reserves the right to leave your requests for acknowledge the receipt of your applications sent by post unanswered. We strongly recommend that you choose a delivery service that enables you to track the arrival of your package, such as Express Post. This will allow you to confirm the delivery of your application to our office.

There two options available for the return of your passport with visa: pick-up from the Consulate's Reception (please consult our office hours in the right menu) or you may enclose a self-addressed Express Post envelope. Please ensure that you note the tracking number so that you may monitor the return of your documents. Provided you obtained from the Australia Post the date of delivery of your application to our office you can easily calculate the date of collection or dispatch of the documents (please consult "Fees and processing time schedules" section). The Consulate General reserves the right to leave your requests for acknowledge of the dispatch of your passport with visa unanswered. Applicants are advised to verify dates and check whether names are spelt correctly on issued visas immediately after collecting/receiving their passports. The Consulate will not be responsible for the mistakes, which were not brought to its attention before your departure from Australia. 

Before beginning the application process, you are required to determine which type of visa is appropriate for travel. Your purpose of visit stated in the question 7 of the application form should correspond with the type of visa you are applying for. All paperwork once submitted is not subject to any change of the announced visa processing period or the period of stay in Russia indicated in the invitation available at the moment of submission. If applicant needs to make changes in submitted paperwork, all documentation will be returned to applicant for resubmission. Visa processing fees received from the applicant are not subject for reimbursement in any circumstances. 

Applicants who used to be citizens of the USSR or the Russian Federation must should submit one of the documents which confirms that they are no longer citizens of the Russian Federation stamp in their passport saying that they left for "permanent residence abroad" before the 6th of February, 1992 or official document certifying that their Russian citizenship was abrogated. Citizens of the Russian Federation regardless of any other citizenship they have must travel to Russia on valid Russian documents only.