Is it necessary to have visa to Russia for citizens of France?
Yes, citizens of France have to get visa if they want to visit Russia.
Visa is a document for foreigners which allows to cross the border of Russia legally.
For getting visa to Russia you need to get an invitation for visa and health insurance. These documents must be submitted to the Russian Consulate abroad.
For getting visa an France citizen should know:
France (the official name is the French Republic) is a state that occupies the 48th place in the world in terms of area. France is a member of the European Union. The population of this country is about 67 million people. More than 170 thousand tourists come from France to Russia every year.
How to get visa to Russia for Frenchman?
Short list of steps-to-do for Frenchman:
- To have valid passport
- To get an invitation to Russia
- To get a medical insurance
- Fill in the form on visa.kdmid.ru and print it
- Paste your photo 3,5х4,5 cm in form
- Pay consular (visa) fee ≈ 40$ (35€)
- Bring or send documents to the Russian Consulate (passport, invitation, insurance, application form, receipt)
- Wait for 1 to 10 calendar days and get a passport with visa
Where to get Russian visa in France?
You can get a visa by contacting the Russian Consulate in France. A list of consulates, their phone numbers and travel card can be found at the end of this article. Before visiting the Consulate, you need to get an invitation, medical insurance for a visa and complete the online form on the website of the Consular Department of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
Types of visas to Russia for the French
There are the following types of visas and purposes of visiting Russia:
- tourist visa (purpose of entry – tourism, sightseeing);
- business visa (purpose of entry – to spend time with friends or relatives living in Russia);
- private visa (purpose of entry – participation in the conference, meeting with business partners);
- work visa (purpose of entry – official employment in a Russian company);
- e-Visa (purpose of entry – for short trips).
Comparison of length of stay and price of visa:
| Type of visa | Length of stay | Full processing price |
|---|---|---|
| Tourist | from 1 to 30 days * | ≈85$ |
| Business | from 30 days to 1 year ** | from 125$ |
| Private | from 30 to 90 days | ≈162$ |
| Work | from 1 to 3 years | from 1220$ |
| Electronic | from 1 to 8 days | ≈17$ |
* – for France citizens is possible to issue a tourist visa for 6 months!
* – visa can be valid up to 5 years, but it is possible to stay in Russia continuously for no more than 90 of 180 days
Tourist visa to Russia for French citizens
Those French citizens who want to take a tourist trip to Russia must apply for a tourist visa. To do this, they will definitely need to issue a tourist invitation and a medical insurance valid throughout the Russian Federation.
You can apply for a tourist invitation at any travel agency registered in the Unified Federal Register of Tour Operators. As tour operators are allowed to issue tourist invitations on their own forms without any verification, it will take about 5 minutes to complete. At the same time in every invitation like this there must be two parts:
- Tourist voucher indicating that you have bought a tourist ticket to Russia.
- Confirmation of tourist admission — the Consulate is requested to issue a visa to a foreign citizen.
This document indicates the name of the tour operator that issued the invitation, as well as his reference number, last name and first name of a French citizen, his passport details, Russian cities (no more than 5), which are planned to be visited by a foreigner, addresses of hotels where the travel agency is going to accommodate the tourist and travel dates.
Read more: Tourist invitation to Russia for foreigners
After the French citizen submits the documents necessary for getting a tourist visa, an inspection is carried out. If it doesn’t show any violations, the visa is issued for the period specified in the invitation, which cannot exceed 30 days. Multiplicity of tourist visa can be single or double.
For citizens from the France is possible to get tourist visa to Russia for 6 months!
Read more in the article: Tourist visa to Russia for foreigners
Business visa to Russia for French citizens
French citizens who intend to travel to Russia to conclude contracts, hold meetings with their business partners or monitor the purchase of raw materials need business visa to enter to Russia. To receive this document, they need to fill out a visa application form and submit it to the General Consulate of the Russian Federation and necessarily to attach to it a business invitation issued for them and shipped to France by the inviting party located in Russia.
In addition to business travel, this type of visa is very attractive for a longer (up to 90 days) continuous stay in Russia. A business visa does not have the inconvenience inherent of private visas and, at the same time, it is possible to stay in Russia continuously 3 times more than with a tourist visa.
If you have all the necessary documents for getting a business visa and the foreigner does not have any unpaid fines earned by him during his previous visits to Russia (untimely registration in migration service or other similar violations), a business visa can be issued for him for up to 5 years. Depending on the validity period, a business visa can be single, double or multiple.
To receive a business visa, foreigner will need business invitation to Russia. For the French, there are different types of business invitations, all of them have their own characteristics:
- A letter from a Russian organization
- The form of Ministry of Internal Affairs
- Email from Ministry of Foreign Affairs
Read more: Business invitation to Russia for foreigners
A letter from a Russian organization
Only organizations with special accreditation can issue an invitation to Russia by letter. In this letter, formalized on the blank of the inviting organization with all the necessary signatures, sets out a request to the employees of the Russian consulate abroad to issue a business visa to the foreigner who has presented this letter. Because no checks needed for issuing such kind of invitations, it takes no more than 5 minutes to complete them.
The form of Ministry of Internal Affairs
Any company can issue a business invitation for a French citizen on a state standard form by submitting a corresponding application to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Russian Federation and attaching all the necessary documents to it. For some time, a foreigner will be checked to determine if he has committed violations of the law in past visits to the Russian Federation. If no facts will be founded, then inviting party will issue an invitation on a form protected from falsification and will sent it to France. Registration takes from 7 to 21 business days.
Electronic invitation from Ministry of Foreign Affairs (Telex)
An electronic invitation from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (Telex) is very convenient because invited person doesn’t need to send any papers. The inviting party will only have to tell the French citizen a series of numbers and information about the organization that issued the invitation with Telex, which will be needed to fill out the visa application form. Registration takes from 7 to 21 business days.
Read more in the article: Business visa to Russia for foreigners
Private visa to Russia for French citizens
A private visa is intended for those French citizens who want to come to Russia only for spending some time with their Russian relatives. Among the documents required to getting this type of visa is a guest invitation. This document can be issued and sent to France only by a person who has reached the age of majority, who has Russian citizenship or a residence permit in the Russian Federation.
Read more: Why to use a private visa is unprofitable?
For receiving an invitation, a person interested in the arrival of a French citizen to Russia, had to contact the Ministry of Internal Affairs at the place of registration and apply for a guest invitation. The law provides around 30 days for the consideration of this application. After this time a guest invitation will be issued on a form protected against counterfeiting or will be given out a written refusal.
If there are no problems with arranging of a guest invitation, the guest is given a guest will get an invitation, which they must forward to France. Based on this and other necessary documents, the French citizen is issued a single or double guest visa to Russia with a validity period of up to 90 days.
Read more in the article: Private (Guest) visa to Russia for foreigners
Work visa to Russia for French citizens
If a French citizen wants to get a job in Russia, he must first get a work visa. For doing this, he will need a work permit of Russia and a work invitation. Those documents for him are entitled to make only by the Russian employer, who then will hire him.
Initially, a work visa is issued to the French citizen for 90 days, but after entering Russia, he can extend it for the entire duration of the work permit (1 or 3 years). The holder of a work visa has the right to stay in the country for the duration of its validity, but if he needs, he can enter and leave an unlimited number of times, because this kind of visa is multiple. A foreigner can renew his visa annually for another year, without leaving Russia.
Read more in the article: Working visa to Russia for foreigners
E-visa to Russia for French citizens
The French citizen who wants to stay in Russia for a short period of time can do an electronic visa. This is a type of visa document with which French citizens can come to the Russian Federation and stay in Russia from 1 to 8 days.
This type of visa appeared as an experiment that lasts until now. To get an electronic visa, French citizens do not need an invitation, just digital photo and a completed application form on the Foreign Ministry website. With an electronic visa, a French citizen can visit only the Kaliningrad region (St. Petersburg will also be included in this list from October 1, 2019).
Read more in this article: Electronic visa to Russia for foreigners
Russian consulates in France
Russian consulates in France are located in the following cities:
See also: Addresses of the Russian consulates in France on the website of the Russian Foreign Ministry
| Address | 40-50 Boulevard Lannes, 75116 Paris |
|---|---|
| Telephone | (8-10-33-1) 4504-05-01, (8-10-33-1) 4503-04-07 |
| Fax | (8-10-33-1) 4504-44-09 |
| consulat.russe@gmail.com | |
| Business hours | Monday to Friday from 09.00 to 12.00 |
| Emergency telephone number | (+33-1) 4504-61-23 — standby phone |
| Address | 6, place Sébastien Brant, 67000 Strasbourg |
|---|---|
| Telephone | (8-10-33-3) 8836-73-15, (8-10-33-3) 8836-97-85 |
| Fax | (8-10-33-3) 8835-34-81 |
| rusconsulat@wanadoo.fr | |
| Web | strasbourg.mid.ru |
| Business hours | Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, Friday from 09.00 to 12.00 |
| Emergency telephone number | (+33-3) 8836-73-15 — standby phone |
General Consulate of the Russian Federation in Marseille
Here you can get a visa to Russia for citizens of Monaco.
| Address | 3, avenue Ambroise-Paré, 13008 Marseille |
|---|---|
| Telephone | (8-10-33-4) 9177-15-25, 9176-26-79 |
| Fax | (8-10-33-4) 9177-34-54 |
| consrusmarseille@wanadoo.fr | |
| Web | marseille.mid.ru |
| Business hours | Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, Friday from 09.00 to 12.00 |
| Emergency telephone number | (+33-6) 1079-20-16 — standby phone |
Q&A
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