Frequently asked questions

Visa extension takes not less than 45 calendar days. Please, submit documents 45 days prior to the expiry date of your current visa.

If your passport has expired or has been damaged, and a new one is being issued by embassy, your old passport must be cancelled. Within 30 days following the receipt of your new passport, you must submit the documents required for visa extension again in order to have your visa reissued for your new passport.

You must submit the following documents to have your visa extended:

• your passport (copies of all pages),
• copy of your visa,
• your registration slip (original + 2 copies),
• your migration card (original + copy),
• copy of your contract certified by your Programme Office if you are studying on a fee - paying (contractual) basis,
• copy of a recommendation letter from the Russian Ministry of Education and Science certified by your Programme Office if you are studying under the Ministry’s quota,
• a certificate of enrollment issued by your Programme Office and a copy of the directive on your enrollment (for first - year students) or an extract from your directive for senior students (for 2^nd/3^rd/4^th year students),
• receipt confirming payment for visa extension (1,600 rubles, bank details may be requested at visa-registration@hse.ru),
• 1 photo (3,5 x 4,5) in colour;
•  a HSE request.

Please find further information about all the details of the process here.

These documents can be requested through your Programme Office.

An original certificate (‘spravka’) issued by your programme office must be only in Russian, printed on the HSE letterhead, the date of its issue must be not earlier than 2 months by the date you submit documents for extending.

There is an example of it 

 Example (DOCX, 15 Кб)

It will be valid for 2 months.

Unfortunately, the MIA of Russia which provides the visa extension service for foreign students in Russia, has very strict deadlines, the latest term to apply documents to our office to extend visa is 25 working days before your visa expiration date. If you are arriving later than this, we recommend you to apply for a new invitation and get a fresh visa in your country, so that upon arrival you'll have enough time to collect and apply your documents for visa extension to our office.

In case you have already bought non-refundable tickets and missing the latest deadline for visa extension application in Russia, please contact our office by email: visa-registration@hse.ru

 You are allowed to ask for extra time as your post-diploma holidays at your study office. Contact your manager and apply for post-diploma holidays to get extension of study time until August. After that, collect the required set of documents and apply for visa extension in our office. Read more on visa extension process here.

No! While your documents are in MVD the isnpector will check their validity, and if you cross the border yoru migration card and registration will automatically be cancelled. The inspector has the right to reject your visa extensiona application on this basis. Expedition of the process is not possible and may take up to 20 working days - you have to stay in Russia and wait until your new extended visa is put into your passport, after which you may travel. Please organize your trips in accordance with the law.

You must submit the following documents to extend your registration:

• a copy of your passport,
• your registration slip (original + copy),
• a copy of your contract certified by your Programme Office if you are studying on a fee - paying (contractual) basis,
• a copy of a recommendation letter from the Russian Ministry of Education and Science certified by Programme Office if you are studying under the Ministry’s quota system,
• a certificate of enrollment issued by your Programme Office and a copy of the directive on your enrollment (for first - year students), or an extract from the directive for senior students (for for 2^nd/3^rd/4^th year students);
• an original certificate (‘spravka’) issued by your programme office (only in Russian, printed on the HSE letterhead, the date of its issue must be not earlier than 2 months by the date you submit documents for extending);

There is an example of it 

 Example (DOCX, 15 Кб)

• a HSE request (if it's demanded);
• a filled migration slip.

Please download here  the example (XLS, 153 Кб)

You must fill in both sides and print them on one page.

These documents can be requested through your Programme Office.

It will be valid for 2 months.

You must submit the following documents to apply for first - time registration:

• copy of your passport (all pages),
• a copy of a migration card,
• copy of your visa (if applicable),
• a HSE request.

A registration slip covering 90 days will be issued approximately within 4 working days. It is free of charge. 
Please clarify at place of residence wheather additional documents are required. If you live in a dormitory, ask your passport officer. If you live in a rented appartment, ask your landlord for registration and additional information about documents.

If you enter Russia without a Russian visa (visa - free entry), you should apply for registration extension 25 days before its expiration date.

If you enter Russia with a Russian visa, you are required to have your registration extended after you receive the extended visa within 3 working days. You must apply for visa extension not later than 45 days before its expiration. The process will last 20 working days, after which you get a new visa and extend your registration by contacting the passport officer of your dormitory, or the owner of your rented apartment if you rent one. 

If you stay for more than 7 working days in any other Russian city, you must get a local registration. Upon returning to Moscow, you need to register again by submitting the local registration slip from the city you visited. To learn more please visit this page.

Your purpose of visit is always education!

A foreign citizen who has lost his/her migration card cannot stay in Russia longer than 3 days. A migration card must be restored.

Please note that the process can take from 5 to 14 days.

Step 1

Apply for a certificate of loss (“spravka ob utere dokumenta”/ «справка об утере документа» in Russian) at any nearest police station.

Step 2

Get a certificate of loss.

Step 3

Submit all required documents (passport, registration and certificate of loss from the police) to the regional Migration Office where your registration was made.

Step 4

Get a duplicate of your migration card.

Step 1

You will need your passport, a copy of your passport, your migration card and its copy for restoring your registration slip.

Step 2

Please submit these documents to the place where you were registered (to the passport officer, if you are staying in a dormitory/HSE guesthouse or to the local territorial body of the Russian Ministry of Internal Affairs, if you are staying in a rented apartment).

Step 3

Collect a duplicate of your registration slip (from the passport officer in your dormitory or at the local territorial body of the Russian Ministry of Internal Affairs, if you staying in a rented apartment).

If you have a temporary residence permit/residence permit issued in Moscow, you don’t need to register again.

If you have a temporary residence permit/residence permit issued in the Moscow Region or another Russian city, you still need to register! Registration can cover up to one year.

1. If you don’t have a Russian visa (visa - free entry), there will be a stamp in your migration card.

2. Visa students do not receive a stamp in their migration card, as they already have  valid visas.

Yes, you do! This is a standard procedure – once you have a new migration card, you must get a new registration at place of residence within 3 days.

If you discover that the Migration Office has no information on your registration on their database:

 Please prepare a scanned copy of your registration slip and a request to enter information on your registration through the migration department of MVD at - the passort officer in your dormitory; owner of your rented apartment.

Graduates must request to be granted post-diploma holidays from their study office. Based on certificate of attendance indicating their course period including post-diploma holidays, they can extend their regstration until the end of these holidays.

Please note that Russian law stipulates a 7,000 - ruble fine for violations of migration laws. Also, a foreign national may also be deported from Russia based on a court decision and denied further entrance to the country.

No, HSE cannot do this.

Visa - free students must renew their passports. You will receive your new registration once you have a new passport.

Visa students must get a new passport and apply for visa transfer into it within 7 working days after they receive the new passport. The set of documents for visa transfer and the enrire procedure is the same as visa extension. 

You can obtain RVPO only if you apply for it on your own through the Sakharovo Migration Center. HSE can only provide you with the required documents proving your student status (certificate of atendance, enrollment order and HSE accreditation letter) - you can get them either from your study office or from Student service center. Read more on RVPO here.

If your passport has expired or is damaged, and a new one is being issued by your embassy, your old passport must be cancelled. Within 30 days following the receipt of your new passport, you must submit the documents required for visa extension again in order to have your visa reissued for the new passport.

Within 2 days following the receipt of your new passport, you must send a scanned copy of it to the HSE’s HR Office (please contact HSE’s HR Office ) . Russian law stipulates fines for violations of registration laws. Please note that a foreign national may also be deported from Russia based on a court decision.

You must visit our centre during 1 month after the new passport was issued. Please bring:

- the original of the old passport,

- the original of new passport,

- a photo (3,5 X 4,5 cm),

- a fee receipt for 1600 rub.  (you can receive the requisites after mailing to visa-registration@hse.ru).

You need the original of your new passport only when you submit it for getting your visa from the main police office in Moscow.

Please note that this process takes some time and can't be done immediately after the submission.

The HR office can make an invitation only for the close members of the family (wife/husband, children). For making an invitation for parents/other relatives a specialist can submit a request personally in the police office of the Basmanniy district.

The international specialists with sci-tech. and work visas request invitations for their family when obtaining visa invitations (please note that additional documents are required).

Visa extension takes not less than 14 working days. Please, submit documents 25 days prior to the expiry date of your current visa.

The registration upon arrival will be ready approximately in 3 working days.

If you stay for more than 7 working days in any other Russian city, you must get a local registration. Upon returning to Moscow, you need to register again by submitting the local registration slip from the city you visited. To learn more please visit this page.

If you have a temporary residence permit/residence permit issued in Moscow, you don’t need to register again.

If you have a temporary residence permit/residence permit issued in the Moscow Region or another Russian city, you still need to register! Registration can cover up to one year.

Yes, you do! This is a standard procedure – once you have a new migration card, you must get a new registration at place of residence within 3 days.

Please note that Russian law stipulates a 7,000 - ruble fine for violations of migration laws. Also, a foreign national may also be deported from Russia based on a court decision.

Visa - free citizens must renew their passports. You will receive your new registration once you have a new passport.

Visa citizens must renew their passports and submit the documents required for visa extension again in order to have their visa reissued for new passport. This must be done within 30 days after you get your new passport.

A foreign citizen who has lost his/her migration card cannot stay in Russia longer than 3 days. A migration card must be restored.

Please note that the process can take from 5 to 14 days.

Step 1

Apply for a certificate of loss (“spravka ob utere dokumenta”/ «справка об утере документа» in Russian) at any nearest police station.

Step 2

Get a certificate of loss.

Step 3

Submit all required documents (passport, registration and certificate of loss from the police) to the regional Migration Office where your registration was made.

Step 4

Get a duplicate of your migration card.

Step 1

You will need your passport, a copy of your passport, your migration card and its copy for restoring your registration slip.

Step 2

Please submit these documents to the place where you were registered (to the passport officer, if you are staying in a dormitory/HSE guesthouse or to the local territorial body of the Russian Ministry of Internal Affairs, if you are staying in a rented apartment).

Step 3

Collect a duplicate of your registration slip (from the passport officer in your dormitory or at the local territorial body of the Russian Ministry of Internal Affairs, if you staying in a rented apartment).

When a newborn child of foreign parents must leave the Russian Federation, or if a foreign citizen’s visa has expired, a transit visa must be issued for immediate departure. Please note that residing illegally in the Russian Federation without a valid visa shall result in the issue of a fine for a foreign citizen, as well as the risk of deportation from the country along with a ban on subsequent entries for a period of 3 years or more.

The following documents are required for a transit visa:

1. a passport ;
2. a completed visa application;
3. 2 photographs (3.5 x 4.5cm, colour);
4. a payment slip for the state fee (may be requested through the Centre);
5. travel tickets indicating departure from Russia;
6. a visa for entry to a country bordering with the Russian Federation, if indicated on the travel itinerary, or visa for entry to the destination country, or passport of this country;
7. a birth certificate (for the departure of children of foreign citizens).

A transit visa may be issued for a period of up to 10 days. After a transit visa is granted to a foreign citizen, they must immediately leave the Russian Federation according to the dates indicated in the tickets for departure which were presented to apply for a transit visa. To ensure future entry into the Russian Federation, a new invitation must be requested. Further information about invitations can be found here.

All foreign citizens arriving in Russia must be officially registered.

Landlords (owners of places of residence) must register foreign citizens at their actual place of residence.

In order to register a foreign citizen at a place of residence, a landlord, together with the guest, must file an application with the local office of the Russian Ministry of Internal Affairs (MVD) for the area (district) where the foreign citizen resides. If the foreign citizen has just arrived in Russia, he/she must register within 7 working days of their arrival. If the foreign citizen changes his/her place of residence, he/she must reregister within 3 working days after their move.

In order to get registered or extend one’s registration, the following documents must be presented:

• the foreign person’s passport + copies of all pages (with marks, stamps,visas) therein;
• migration card and its copy;
• copy of Russian residency or temporary registration (if available);
• notice of arrival form*.

* The notice of arrival form shall be filled in legibly by hand or typed (in Russian). Corrections and abbreviations are not allowed on notice on arrival forms.

In certain situations, the official public authority (e.g., MVD) carrying out the registration process may require additional documents (e.g., academic certificate, a copy of a HSE University’s enrolment directive, a statement from HSE University, etc).

A full list of necessary documents may be provided at the office where registration is carried out.

If an application on behalf of HSE University is required, please refer to this section.

The foreign citizen or his/her host (landlord) should indicate the following on the notice of arrival form:
а) on the person subject to registration:
- last name, first name, middle name/patronymic;
- citizenship (nationality);
- date and place of birth;
- gender;
- type and requisites (series, number, date of issue, period of validity) of document, confirming the identify of foreign citizen;
- type and requisites of document, confirming right to stay (residence) in the Russian Federation;
- purpose of visit;
- date of entry to the Russian Federation;
- series and number of migration card;
- stated period of visit;
- address of place of stay;
- address of previous residence in the Russian Federation (if moving to another place of residence) .

b) on person acting as host (landlord):
- last name, first name, middle name/patronymic;
- type and requisites (series, number, date of issue, period of validity) of document, confirming identity;
- address of place of residence.

In the following cases, it is necessary to renew one’s registration:

a) if a foreign citizen has extended their Russian visa, he/she must register the new visa (he/she must re-register within 3 working days from the date of the start of the new visa);

b) If a foreign citizen temporarily resided in a hotel /apartment in another city and later returned to Moscow/Moscow Region;

c) if a foreign citizen has departed from Russia and then returned (he/she must be registered within 7 working days after their return);

d) If a foreign citizen has changed his/her place of residence in Moscow/Moscow Region.

Foreign citizens who are in violation of migration rules (timeframe for registration), as foreseen in the legislation of the Russian Federation, may be subject to court-ordered deportation, a fine of up to 7,000 RUB and a ban on entry to Russia for up to 3 years.

Please follow the step-by-step instructions provided in the section ‘How to Invite a Foreign Citizen’.

The requirement to submit an original of an invitation depends on the actual consulate/visa centre, where the invitation will be processed. Please confirm, prior to applying documents, whether the applicant needs to present the original of the invitation.

An invitation on an HSE University’s letterhead can be drawn up in 7 to 20 working days. Applications processed through the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the Russian Federation (MVD) may be drawn up in 20 to 45 working days.

If a mistake is found in the application made by the inviting subdivision, they should send a corrected version of the application, and the incorrect version should be destroyed. The time to draw up a new invitation shall be the same as the previous one.

For an invitation on an HSE University’s letterhead, once it is ready, the manager from the Centre shall send you a letter with scan of the invitation. Then, if necessary, the original of the invitation may be collected from the Centre.

If an electronic invitation processed by MVD was requested, the applicant shall receive a notification when it is ready. In such a case, it doesn’t need to be picked up.

If the applicant is applying for a work or study visa.

Payment slips for state fees may be requested by contacting: visa-registration@hse.ru .

If an invitation for a work or humanitarian visa has been requested through the MVD, a state fee must be paid for this. An invitation for a student visa with the purpose of the visit stated as ‘study’, ‘internship’ or ‘graduate studies’ may be drawn up free of charge.

Please always request new payment details, as information may change over time.

You are invited by the inviting subdivision (e.g., your Programme Office), so you should send it an application. Please visit the section “How to Invite a Foreign Citizen” for further information.

If an application is being drawn up for a citizen of Japan, or a person who currently is not working and studying.

In order to draw up an invitation on an HSE University’s letterhead for a citizen of the USA, China or Japan, so that they may be issued a humanitarian visa.

This is impossible. One purpose of the visit must be indicated.

This is possible, but not for all countries and only on the condition that the applicant has previously received a multiple entry visa (for 1 to 2 years). Citizens of the EU, Japan, the USA and China may apply for such visas.

TIN – the tax number of the organization.

The consulate’s application usually asks for an invitation number from the MVD. If your invitation is on an HSE University’s letterhead, please put in “xxx” or leave this space blank (if the system allows this). The number of an invitation on an HSE University’s letterhead should not be inputted.

After receiving the invitation, advise the foreign citizen to submit documents to process his/her visa immediately.