To receive a tourist invitation to Russia, please indicate your citizenship. You will be provided with a registration form. Fill in all the fields carefully, then proceed to the next step to confirm and pay for your invitation.
How to Fill the Russian Visa Application Form for US Citizens
Complete the Russian visa application form only after checking your passport and tourist invitation. For US citizens, the form must reproduce the passport name and number exactly, use dates within the invitation’s validity period and state tourism if you are submitting a tourist voucher.
Need a tourist invitation for a regular Russian visa? Order only after checking that this is the correct route for your trip.
Order a Tourist Invitation — from $19Official tour operator (PTO 015681) · PDF by email · Verify the current filing rules for your location
Where to submit your Russian visa application
After preparing your tourist voucher and application, choose the city where you will file. Each page explains the confirmed local submission route and links to the official source.
Continue with the the United States visa route
Use the country hub to choose between the e-visa and regular tourist visa. Order an invitation only when the regular visa route requires it.
Official sources for this guide
Visa rules and local procedures can change. Check the responsible Russian mission or MFA service before filing.
Complete the form from your passport and invitation — not from memory
The Russian visa form is not an itinerary questionnaire: it is a consular record that must agree with the passport and the supporting document you submit. Put the passport open in front of you, download or print the tourist invitation, and complete the form in one sitting.
Enter the name exactly as printed in the US passport. Include a middle name where it appears in the passport’s given-name field, and retain suffixes such as Jr. or III when they are part of the passport name. If the passport has a detail you are unsure how to classify, follow the printed passport field and the machine-readable zone rather than changing it into a more familiar local format.
| Form field | What it must match |
|---|---|
| Surname and given name(s) | The passport’s identity page and machine-readable zone |
| Passport number and issue/expiry dates | The passport exactly; distinguish O from 0 and I from 1 |
| Purpose of visit | Tourism when using a tourist confirmation and voucher |
| Entry and exit dates | A period within the invitation’s validity dates |
| Host / inviting organisation | The Russian tour operator details shown on the invitation |
| Places of visit | The cities and itinerary supported by your travel plan and invitation |
The invitation fields to transfer carefully
A tourist invitation includes the tour operator’s name, legal details and registration number, the Russian cities and accommodation information, and the travel period. The form asks for some of the same information in its own format. Copy rather than paraphrase.
Do not change the stated purpose from tourism to business, work, study or a private visit merely because you will meet someone during the trip. The supporting document and application purpose must describe the same immigration route. A tourist voucher is for a tourist visa.
- Enter dates in the format requested by the form and re-check day/month order before saving.
- Use the tour operator information from the confirmation, not the hotel name alone.
- List all intended Russian cities if the form asks for them; keep them consistent with the invitation.
- Print, sign and date the completed form only after every field has been reviewed against the passport and invitation.
Need a tourist invitation for a regular Russian visa? Order only after checking that this is the correct route for your trip.
Order a Tourist Invitation — from $19Official tour operator (PTO 015681) · PDF by email · Verify the current filing rules for your location
Final checks before U.S. submission
Choose the Embassy in Washington or the Consulate General in New York or Houston. Each location publishes its own preliminary review or appointment, payment, submission and passport-return instructions, so use only the selected mission’s live procedure.
Use the receiving mission’s current processing guidance rather than a fixed estimate from an article. Read the completed form against the passport and tourist support, then assemble the location-specific file. The current Washington tourist checklist does not list medical travel insurance as a standard U.S.-citizen document.
Frequently asked questions
Should US applicants write the name as on the passport or as normally used?
Use the passport exactly. The visa form, invitation and passport must show the same legal identity, even where daily use, bank records or airline profiles use a shorter version.
Can I submit the form before ordering an invitation?
It is safer to order the invitation first because the form asks for trip dates and inviting-organisation information that must match it.
What purpose should I select with a tourist voucher?
Select tourism. A tourist voucher does not support a work, business, study or private-visit purpose.
Can my visa dates be shorter than the invitation dates?
Yes, provided the requested visa dates fall within the invitation’s validity period.
Do I need to sign the form?
Yes. Print and sign it in the place required by the receiving mission; an unsigned form is incomplete.
What is the most common form error?
A passport-name, number or date mismatch between the form and invitation. Check these fields before you submit.
Need a tourist invitation for a regular Russian visa? Order only after checking that this is the correct route for your trip.
Order a Tourist Invitation — from $19Official tour operator (PTO 015681) · PDF by email · Verify the current filing rules for your location
Related guides and services
Last updated: 2026-09-04. Information verified against consular requirements current at the date of update.