February 22, 2022

There's a Visa For That


There's a Visa For That
Getting from here to there may just get a little bit easier. The Russian Life files

Russia is not a particularly easy country to enter, and visa options abound. But some changes are in the offing.

A plan is brewing to add four new types of visas to help Russia “streamline” its process. The new visas included will be investor visas, special visas, ordinary medical visas, and universal visas. 

Although these visas do intend to simplify the selections, many existing visa types will remain, including worker and diplomatic visas, but the overall number of special-purpose entry visas will be reduced. Along with these changes, the general medical visa will not only allow for a foreigner to enter Russia to receive treatment, but will also allow that person to bring along a friend if they receive an invitation issued by the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Russia, at the request of a medical organization.

The bill aims to help those looking for medical treatment, but those seeking work in Russia will be relieved to discover that their visa process will be simplified as well. If the bill passes, any worker entering Russia on a visa will now receive the same benefits that so far only highly qualified specialists have received.

Even though it is good that Russia is looking to streamline its visa process, we find it far more interesting to hear about what hasn't been streamlined.

Gogol would be proud.

You Might Also Like

Your Trip To The U.S.S.R.
  • September 12, 2021

Your Trip To The U.S.S.R.

Let's take a trip to a nation that no longer exists! We've got an old hard-cover travel guide to lead the way. 
A Different Kind of Train Schedule
  • December 20, 2021

A Different Kind of Train Schedule

Second-class travelers on Russian trains may soon be required to take turns with their neighbors to use their compartment's table.
Rushin' to Get Back To Russia
  • July 05, 2021

Rushin' to Get Back To Russia

Russophiles delight! The motherland calls, and she's saying that American ex-pats are welcome to enter through her borders once again.  
Like this post? Get a weekly email digest + member-only deals
[INVALID]
[INVALID]

Some of our Books

Fearful Majesty
July 01, 2014

Fearful Majesty

This acclaimed biography of one of Russia’s most important and tyrannical rulers is not only a rich, readable biography, it is also surprisingly timely, revealing how many of the issues Russia faces today have their roots in Ivan’s reign.

Murder at the Dacha
July 01, 2013

Murder at the Dacha

Senior Lieutenant Pavel Matyushkin has a problem. Several, actually. Not the least of them is the fact that a powerful Soviet boss has been murdered, and Matyushkin's surly commander has given him an unreasonably short time frame to close the case.

Marooned in Moscow
May 01, 2011

Marooned in Moscow

This gripping autobiography plays out against the backdrop of Russia's bloody Civil War, and was one of the first Western eyewitness accounts of life in post-revolutionary Russia. Marooned in Moscow provides a fascinating account of one woman's entry into war-torn Russia in early 1920, first-person impressions of many in the top Soviet leadership, and accounts of the author's increasingly dangerous work as a journalist and spy, to say nothing of her work on behalf of prisoners, her two arrests, and her eventual ten-month-long imprisonment, including in the infamous Lubyanka prison. It is a veritable encyclopedia of life in Russia in the early 1920s.

A Taste of Chekhov
December 24, 2022

A Taste of Chekhov

This compact volume is an introduction to the works of Chekhov the master storyteller, via nine stories spanning the last twenty years of his life.

White Magic
June 01, 2021

White Magic

The thirteen tales in this volume – all written by Russian émigrés, writers who fled their native country in the early twentieth century – contain a fair dose of magic and mysticism, of terror and the supernatural. There are Petersburg revenants, grief-stricken avengers, Lithuanian vampires, flying skeletons, murders and duels, and even a ghostly Edgar Allen Poe.

The Samovar Murders
November 01, 2019

The Samovar Murders

The murder of a poet is always more than a murder. When a famous writer is brutally stabbed on the campus of Moscow’s Lumumba University, the son of a recently deposed African president confesses, and the case assumes political implications that no one wants any part of.

About Us

Russian Life is a publication of a 30-year-young, award-winning publishing house that creates a bimonthly magazine, books, maps, and other products for Russophiles the world over.

Latest Posts

Our Contacts

Russian Life
73 Main Street, Suite 402
Montpelier VT 05602

802-223-4955