How to get the opportunity to stay in Russia continuously for 1-3 years without a work visa

According to the legislation of the Russian Federation, a foreigner having a business visa cannot stay in Russia for more than 90 days out of every 180. If you are planning to stay in Russia for a long time, you will need a work visa, the cost of which is quite high, or you will have to seek employment in a Russian enterprise in order to be able to apply for a visa of this type. 

Nevertheless, it is possible to legally stay in the territory of the Russian Federation when using a business visa. To be able to do this, you can try to get a second passport by applying to the appropriate state authority. In this article we will raise this question in detail and try to answer the most frequently asked questions.

How is this possible?

We want to warn you that the procedure in this case may vary depending on the legislation of a particular country. The article describes only the standard model of actions. Unfortunately, we cannot know the exact procedure in the country of a foreign citizen.

1. Initially you must have one passport in hand.
2. Then you must give it for the application for the Russian visa, for example, with a period of 3 years.
3. After that, you must come to the passport office and apply for a second foreign passport, having previously specified the reason. For example, as a reason, you can specify the fact that your first passport is in the visa application process, and you urgently need to open another visa.
4. You must get a new passport.
5. With a new passport, you can also apply for a visa to Russia for another 3 years.

Thus, you will have two 3-year visas in hands, according to which you can stay in Russia for 90 days in turn. You only need to leave the country at least for a couple of hours every 90 days, and then you will have the opportunity to enter back on the second passport.

Can these actions be called legal?

Absolutely. It is known that you cannot stay in the Russian Federation with a business visa for longer than 90 days, but it is worth remembering the fact that you leave the country and arrive on a completely legal basis in Russia, presenting another visa and, accordingly, another passport.

There is also an alternative way to stay in Russia almost continuously throughout a year, but its cost will be higher:

A foreigner can receive a 3-month visa to Russia every 3 months and leave Russia at the end of the validity period of this type of visa, having previously submitted documents for the next one (for example, an invitation and a 3-month visa for 3 months can be issued in the EU countries within 2–3 working days). That is, immediately after obtaining a new visa, you have the right to return to Russia. Quite a lot of EU citizens leave the territory of the Russian Federation for a couple of days, for example, they go to Helsinki or Estonia, having a ready-made business invitation to Russia, submit a prepared package of documents to the Russian consulate for expedited visa processing and get the opportunity to come to Russia for a couple of days already with a new business visa.

You can think about which method suits you best. If you have any questions, our managers will advise you, both by mail and by phone.