double entry tourist visa,<\/strong> keep in mind that in order to leave and re-enter Russia, some consulates will only grant a double entry visa if you visit a country in the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS): Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Moldova, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan, Mongolia or China.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\nOnce the visa application form is completed electronically, it must be printed and signed. Well, there are people who forget to sign the application form<\/strong>. If you do the proceeding in person, there is no problem because at the visa center they will check the documentation and they will quickly tell you that you must sign it. But if you send the documentation by mail and without signing, you will have to make another shipment with the cost that this implies.<\/p>\n\n\n\nIn addition to signing the form, you must also paste a photo<\/strong> that complies with the requirements established by the Consulate: recent photo of size 3.5 x 4.5 cm (though 3 x 4 cm is also accepted), taken on a light background, printed on photographic paper, without smiling, without sunglasses or hats, etc.<\/p>\n\n\n\nYou must paste the photo, don\u2019t staple it<\/strong>. Here are the basic rules to follow:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\nD) Travel assistance insurance (for European countries citizens)<\/h4>\n\n\n\n With regard to travel assistance insurance, the most frequent problem is that it covers only European Russia and not Asian Russia. Therefore, the insurance must clearly reflect that it covers all of Russia (or specify “World”). In addition, you must sign the insurance policy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Sometimes, people submit their health insurance documents in which they don\u2019t indicate the countries of coverage or the validity period. In this type of insurance, you need to request a certificate from the company indicating that it has coverage in Russia (or in the World) and that it has coverage during the period of the trip.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
1.3. The documentation provided is correct but is submitted more than 90 days in advance<\/h3>\n\n\n\n In most consulates, they don\u2019t accept the visa application if it is submitted more than 90 days before the scheduled start date of the trip, so it is preferable not to begin the visa proceeding so early. It is better to wait.<\/p>\n\n\n\n <\/figure>\n\n\n\n1.4. The provided documentation is correct but the consulate requests additional documentation<\/h3>\n\n\n\n There are certain cases in which the consulate may request additional documentation<\/strong>. These are some of the cases that I have found and in which, after providing new documentation, the applicants didn\u2019t have any more problems:<\/p>\n\n\n\n\nThe traveler requests a tourist visa to visit a little known or a small town in Russia<\/strong>. The consulate will ask you for additional information about the reason for your trip and hotel reservations.<\/li>\n\n\n\nThe traveler requests the visa and indicates that he\/she has friends or relatives in Russia.<\/strong> The consulate asks for additional information about the people you are going to visit during your trip.<\/li>\n\n\n\nThe traveler will remain more than two weeks in Russia<\/strong> and the Consulate asks him\/her for a more detailed program or itinerary. Tour operators that issue invitations, such as iVisa, can issue this detailed program.<\/li>\n\n\n\nThe traveler indicates that he\/she is unemployed<\/strong>. The consulate will ask you to justify that you have sufficient economic means to travel and be able to return to your country after the trip.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\nTo prevent the consulate from requesting additional documentation, many applicants don\u2019t indicate that they have friends or relatives in Russia, and that they will visit only Moscow and St. Petersburg for tourism.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
2. REASONS RELATED TO THE APPLICANT PERSON<\/h2>\n\n\n\n2.1. The applicant comes from a poor country, at war or with poor diplomatic relations with Russia<\/h3>\n\n\n\n In Russia, as in other countries, limitations are imposed on entry into the country for reasons related to the origin of the country of the applicant. The reasons can vary:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\nProceed from a poor country or at war. <\/strong>In this case it is about preventing illegal immigration. Russia, like other countries, has a list of countries that are considered immigration risks, which correspond to those countries that are at war or in a poor economic state (these are countries where, more often than others, their visitors violate visa regulations). Current examples of these countries are North Korea or Syria.<\/li>\n\n\n\nYou have recently visited or resided in a war-torn country, <\/strong>or a country that is not a “good friend” of Russia.<\/li>\n\n\n\nYou are from a country that is in conflict with Russia, <\/strong>as in the past it happened with Georgia or with Ukraine, and the conflict with Crimea.<\/li>\n\n\n\nYou are from a country with which Russia has interrupted its diplomatic relations, <\/strong>as it happened with Turkey.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n2.2. The applicant is considered a danger to the Russian authorities<\/h3>\n\n\n\n Also, if Russia considers that you can be a danger to their country<\/strong>, you can also be denied a visa. For example:<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n Belonging or having belonged to the espionage service of a country<\/strong>.<\/li>\n\n\n\nYou have a criminal or terrorist background<\/strong>.<\/li>\n\n\n\nYou have HIV or a contagious disease<\/strong>.<\/li>\n\n\n\nYou have been previously expelled from Russia<\/strong> or you have violated the terms of stay in Russia previously.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\nIt must be said that these grounds for refusal are applied by all the countries of the world, not only in Russia.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It must also be said that, from the consulates, it is increasingly common for certain people to be investigated in their social networks, so you need to be very careful with the things that are published on Facebook, Twitter or other social networks.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
2.3. The applicant was born in Russia<\/h3>\n\n\n\n It is paradoxical, but one of the most common causes of visa denial<\/strong> is for those citizens who were born in Russia or the former USSR, who emigrated abroad and can\u2019t prove that they are no longer Russian citizens.<\/p>\n\n\n\nTherefore, citizens of the former USSR and who currently have the nationality of another country, when applying for the Russian visa, they must provide some documentation proving that they no longer possess Russian citizenship, such as:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\nCopy of the USSR passport with a stamp indicating that you left Russia for “permanent residence abroad”, dated before February 6, 1992;<\/li>\n\n\n\n Copy of a “Visa to Israel” issued before February 6, 1992;<\/li>\n\n\n\n Copy of a Naturalization Certificate issued before 1996;<\/li>\n\n\n\n A document confirming the renunciation of your Russian citizenship;<\/li>\n\n\n\n A copy of the main pages of a passport of a former state of the USSR, issued after February 1992;<\/li>\n\n\n\n If you don\u2019t have any of the above documents, you can provide a written statement explaining the circumstances for which you are no longer a Russian citizen (though this is subject to the discretion of the Consulate).<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\nYou must consider that, according to Russian law, visas can\u2019t be issued to Russian citizens with expired passports. In addition, children born to a Russian father and mother automatically obtain Russian citizenship, regardless of the place of birth. In this case, they are not issued a visa and must apply for Russian citizenship, or have their information written in the passport of one of their parents, or obtain a Russian passport.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
If you are applying for a visa for a minor, you must provide a copy of your birth certificate, in which it is clear that at least one of the parents is not a citizen of the Russian Federation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
2.4.Other reasons related to the applicant<\/h3>\n\n\n\n Other cases related to the person requesting the visa, and in which they can deny you the visa are the following:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\nThe traveler wants to visit areas of conflict or restricted areas in Russia, for which a special permit is necessary<\/li>\n\n\n\n The traveler indicates that he\/she is going to travel as a backpacker, either hitchhiking or couchsurfing.<\/li>\n\n\n\n The traveler indicates that during his\/her stay in Russia, he\/she will do some work as a digital nomad (for example, as a photographer)<\/li>\n\n\n\n The traveler indicates that he\/she is going to sell merchandising products during his\/her trip.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n <\/figure>\n\n\n\n3. THE INTERVIEW AT THE RUSSIAN CONSULATE (AND THE KGB)<\/h2>\n\n\n\n There are occasions when the consulate, before issuing the visa, wants to have an interview with the applicant<\/strong>. The consulate has the right to interview you for whatever reason.<\/p>\n\n\n\nIn these cases, don\u2019t be alarmed, because in most cases, the consulate simply wants to have more information about you and your trip.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In this interview you will have to be honest and tell the whole truth.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Some of the questions that you will get asked are the following:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\nWhat is the purpose of your visit to Russia?<\/em><\/li>\n\n\n\nWhat is your itinerary?<\/em><\/li>\n\n\n\nWhere are you staying?<\/em><\/li>\n\n\n\nWhat will be the duration of your trip?<\/em><\/li>\n\n\n\nWhere do you work?<\/em><\/li>\n\n\n\nHave you visited Russia before?<\/em><\/li>\n\n\n\nDo you have sufficient means to pay for the trip?<\/em><\/li>\n\n\n\nDo you have airline or train tickets?<\/em><\/li>\n\n\n\nDo you have hotel reservations?<\/em><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\nSometimes they can interview you without a clear reason, but in other occasions the interview can be due to very different causes: if you are travelling to an unusual area of Russia they will want to know the reasons for your trip, if you are or have been a police or military officer, it is also possible that they will ask you additional questions, etc.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In most cases it is a routine procedure after which the visa is granted. Relax, the KGB is not coming.<\/p>\n\n\n\n <\/figure>\n\n\n\nFrom what I told you this article it can seem that many visas are denied. But nothing is further from reality. The vast majority of people who submit the documentation correctly are granted the visa and only in very special cases, these are denied.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\nI hope that this article has been useful to you, so you can avoid the most frequent mistakes that are made when submitting your application<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"It\u2019s not very common to get denied the Russian visa, but what does happen sometimes is that some of the documentation provided is incorrect and you have to correct it. In this article, I will explain what are the most frequent errors that can cause your Russian visa application to be rejected or denied, and […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1336,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"","_lmt_disable":"","_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[15],"tags":[],"modified_by":"Irena Domingo","featured_image_src":"https:\/\/russiable.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/Reasons-Russian-Visa-Rejected.jpeg","featured_image_src_square":"https:\/\/russiable.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/Reasons-Russian-Visa-Rejected.jpeg","author_info":{"display_name":"Irena Domingo","author_link":"https:\/\/russiable.com\/author\/irena-domingo\/"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/russiable.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1335"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/russiable.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/russiable.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/russiable.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/russiable.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1335"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/russiable.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1335\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2715,"href":"https:\/\/russiable.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1335\/revisions\/2715"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/russiable.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1336"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/russiable.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1335"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/russiable.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1335"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/russiable.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1335"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}