Is it necessary to have visa to Russia for citizens of Spain?
Yes, citizens of Spain 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 Spanish citizen should know:
Spain (Kingdom of Spain) is a state and member of the European Union. Spain ranks 51st in the world in terms of area and 30th in terms of population, with over 46 million people. More than 100 thousand tourists come to Russia from this country annually.
How to get visa to Russia for Spaniards?
Short list of steps-to-do for Spaniard:
- 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 Spain?
For this purpose, the Spanish must apply to the Consulate or Embassy of Russia in Spain. 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 Spaniards
There are the following types of visas and purpose of visiting Russia:
- tourist visa for sightseeing;
- business visa for meetings with business partners;
- private visa for meeting with friends or relatives (you can use a tourist visa for this);
- work visa for employment in a company operating on the territory of the Russian Federation;
- e-Visa 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 Spain 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 Spanish citizens
If Spaniard wants to come to Russia to explore national features, see monuments of architecture and visit museums, he needs to apply for a tourist visa by contacting the Russian embassy or Consulate. Before that, he needs to get an invitation to Russia, without it is impossible to apply for a tourist visa.
You can get a tourist invitation online in 5 minutes from any travel company registered in the Unified Federal Register of Tour Operators. And travel agencies are allowed to issue such invitations on their forms. Invitations consist of 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.
The voucher prescribes the name and address of the issuing travel agency, its reference number, as well as the passport details of the tourist and provides information about his trip to Russia (city, hotel, date of arrival and departure). All this information is duplicated in the second document.
Read more: Tourist invitation to Russia for foreigners
The validity of a tourist visa issued to a citizen of Spain to enter Russia cannot exceed 30 days. At the same time, visa can be single or double.
For citizens from the Span 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 Spanish citizens
A Spanish businessman who is planning to go to Russia to take part in an auction or attend an international exhibition or enter into a new contract or discuss terms of cooperation with Russian business partners should collect a package of documents necessary for obtaining a business visa.
In addition to business travel, this type of visa is very attractive for a longer (up to 90 days) continuous stay in Russia. With business visa will avoid problems that arise with using a private visa. And good point that you can stay in Russia continuously with this visa 3 times more than with a tourist visa.
Citizens of Spain can get a business visa to Russia for period of 30 days up to 5 years. Depending on the validity period, visa can be single, double or multiple.
To get a business visa required a business invitation to Russia. There are different types of business invitations for Spaniards, all of them have their pluses and minuses:
- 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 accredited by the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the Russian Federation have a right to issue an invitations to Russia on their own forms of letters. This letter contains an application for employees of the Russian consulate or Embassy for the issue of a business visa to a certain Spaniard. It will take no more than 5 minutes to make an invitation.
The form of Ministry of Internal Affairs
The invitation of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the Russian Federation is a document protected from fakes, which is issued on the basis of an application submitted by a company inviting a foreigner to Russia to the body of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the Russian Federation at the place of its registration. Issuing an invitation this way can take from 7 to 21 business days. At the same time, if check will reveal foreigner’s fines from past visits to Russia, which weren’t paid, an invitation will not be issued for him. If there is no reason to refuse to issue for an invitation, the inviting party will have to forward the received form to Spain.
Electronic invitation from Ministry of Foreign Affairs (Telex)
An electronic invitation from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (Telex) is very convenient because you do not need to use mail to send it. It can take from 7 to 21 business days to receive an invitation by this way. At the same time, the invited person will need to send only the Telex number and information about the organization inviting him, which will need to be entered in the appropriate column in time of filling out the visa application form.
Read more in the article: Business visa to Russia for foreigners
Private visa to Russia for Spanish citizens
If Spaniard is going to visit his friends or relatives in Russia, he can apply for a guest visa. He will need a guest invitation for this. Invitation should be issued by the inviting party residing in the Russian Federation by contacting the territorial authority of the Ministry of Internal Affairs.
Read more: Why to use a private visa is unprofitable?
For receiving an invitation to Russia for his foreign guest, the inviting person must submit a corresponding application, enclosing copies of the guest’s passport and his passport, and certificate of his income and a receipt of payment of state duty. Invitation will not be issued immediately, but after some time (no more than 30 days), these days need for verifying of submitted data about a foreigner.
If during the inspection revealed that foreigner has already arrived in Russia and did not timely registered for migration or has committed other serious violations, the issuance of an invitation for him will be refused. If no violations are revealed, an invitation for a foreigner will be issued on a form protected from fakes with all necessary seals and signatures. The inviting party will have to forward this form to the invited person from Spain.
If you have a guest invitation and other necessary documents for visa, it will be issued for up to 90 days. Depending on what will be written in the invitation, visa can be single or double.
Read more in the article: Private (Guest) visa to Russia for foreigners
Work visa to Russia for Spanish citizens
If based in Russia company offered a Spanish citizen favorable working conditions, he needs to get a work visa to enter the Russian Federation. Employer must apply for permission to work in Russia for spanish worker and a work invitation. For this, company must have permission to hire foreigners. An employer can take about 45 days to complete a work permit and invitation.
If you have an invitation and a work permit, a visa will be issued to the Spaniard with a validity period of 90 days. During this time, a Spanish citizen will have to come to Russia, obtain employment in the company that invited him, register for migration and renew his work visa.
Foreigner have to renew a work visa for the duration of a work permit, which can be 1 or 3 years. The holder of a work visa can enter to Russia and leave Russia unlimited number of times, if work visa is multiple. If it desired, Spaniard with work visa can stay in Russia without a break throughout the term of its validity and annually renew it for another year without leaving the country.
The weakness of a work visa is employer’s responsibility for ensuring of foreigner’s registration at migration services and renews his visa. Therefore, in the event of a change of employer, a Spanish citizen must leave Russia, receive a work invitation from his new employer and apply for a new work visa to enter Russia.
Read more in the article: Working visa to Russia for foreigners
E-visa to Russia for Spanish citizens
Spaniards who want to stay in Russia for a short period of time can get an electronic visa. This type of visa document with which Spanish citizens can come to the Russian Federation and stay in Russia from 1 to 8 days.
This visa format has been introduced as an experimental and continues to nowadays. To get an electronic visa, Spanish citizens do not need an invitation, only a digital photo and a completed application form on the Foreign Ministry website. With electronic visa Spaniard 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 Spain
Russian consulates in Spain are located in the following cities:
See also: Addresses of the Russian consulates in Spain on the website of the Russian Foreign Ministry
| Address | Calle de Joaquín Costa, 3328002 Madrid |
|---|---|
| Telephone | (8-10-34-91) 411-29-57 |
| Fax | (8-10-34-91)562-78-30 |
| consmd@arrakis.es | |
| Web | spain.mid.ru |
| Business hours | Monday to Friday from 9am to 2 pm and from 4pm to 7pm |
| Emergency telephone number | +34-670-848-773 |
| Address | av. Pearson, 34, 08034 Barcelona |
|---|---|
| Telephone |
(8-10-34-93) 280-54-32 – calls are accepted from 16:00 to 18:00 for consultation, (8-10-34-93) 280-02-20 – Calls are accepted from 09:30 to 18:00 |
| Fax | (8-10-34-93) 280-55-41 |
| barcelona.mid@mail.ru | |
| Web | barcelona.mid.ru |
| Business hours | Monday to Friday from 10 am to 1 pm |
| Emergency telephone number | +34-609-306-346, +34-647-574-539 |
Q&A
If you have any questions ask them in the comments to this article. I will try to answer them all.
Mariano Reaño says:
Hi, I married a Russian women last July. I was wondering if I could get a one year visa as a familiar, no subject to the limit of 90 days in 180 days. Is that true? What should I need to apply for? Thank you.