Once your visa application has been sent off, you may be required to visit the British or Russian Consulate (or both). These interviews are normally just a formality and not always part of the application process, but when they do arise they may be the difference between your visa being approved or rejected.

After all the formalities have been observed, appropriate documentation presented, and necessary fees paid, there is nothing to do but wait. In two to fifteen working days, your visa should be ready for pickup from the place you originally applied, or you have the option of having it sent by courier, DX, or Royal Mail. The length of time for processing depends not only on the backlog of current visa applications, but on the type of visa requested.

Upon receipt of your visa, be sure to review it and any other information you have received during the application process. Make sure the dates of validity and all other information is accurate. You will note that your name is given in both Cyrillic (written Russian) and Latin characters, but you may notice that your name appears to be misspelled in its English form. This is because Cyrillic characters do not precisely transliterate into English, so when English names are transcribed from Cyrillic, it is done phonetically. Therefore, “Christopher” may be rendered on the visa document as “Kristof”. Do not be alarmed if this happens. Your other supporting documentation and photograph should be fine for resolving any questions Customs and Emigration personnel may have.

Any errors with the dates or your itinerary must be reported immediately to prevent unnecessary delays in your travel. While the dates of visa validity cannot be altered once the visa has been issued, other information can sometimes be amended on a case by case basis.

Upon Arrival in Russia Registering Your Visa If you plan on staying in Russia for more than seven days, you'll need to register your visa. It's usually best to do this within 72 hours of arriving – this avoids fines or deportation. Your passport will be taken for processing (this normally takes eight days or less). During this time, retaining your other travel documents is very important. You'll be issueds a Russian migrant card which will serve as a form of identification. You will be required to produce these documents upon any official request (including from law enforcement). Russian police are authorised to request identification and travel papers, if applicable, from any person at any time with or without cause. Failure to provide these documents can result in fines, deportation, or detention. UK citizens are subject to both Crown and Russian law while in Russia, so any criminal behaviour may have international repercussions. After your documents haves been formally registered, you are in the Russian system. This permits you to seek help if problems arise during your trip, as well as giving loved ones and your consulate a starting point to look for you in the unlikely event that you need to be contacted during your stay. For student and employment visas, the host organization will be the ones to register your visa and passport. Effectively, by sponsoring you, they have accepted a certain amount of responsibility for ensuring your compliance with Russia's tourism laws. Lost Documents If your passport or any essential travel documents becomes lost, damaged, or stolen during your stay, you should contact a police station to report the loss. You will need to contact the person or organisation who sponsored your entry; also contact the UK consulate in order to begin the process of gaining new identification documents. You won't be the first person to lose a passport, so don't worry. There are processes in place to deal with replacing these documents. Currency The only legal tender in Russia is the Rouble. Other than in major cities such as Moscow and St. Petersburg, exchanging Great Britain Pounds may prove to be rather difficult, and the exchange rate is far from advantageous to holders of this currency. For this reason, it is recommended that you either bring USD or Euros to exchange, particularly if your itinerary takes you away from larger cities. Generally, any town or village with a population over 1,000 can be expected to have at least one bank, and usually a currency exchange office as well. While most businesses accept debit and credit cards, very few take travellers' cheques – the same applies to personal cheques. Typically, we suggest you plan your budget carefully and try to keep only sufficient cash on hand for your needs while in Russia. You may wish to keep a small stockpile of funds in case of emergency, or check whether your bank has a subsidiary branch in Russia.