Visas for asylum seekers
Visas to enter the Russian Federation as asylum seeker are issued to foreign citizens on the basis of a decision of a local office of the Ministry of the Interior of Russia (MVD of Russia) on the recognition of this foreign citizen as a refugee in the territory of the Russian Federation.
This visa is given for the period up to 3 months only for a single entry.
Where to apply for a Russian visa
There are 2 places in the Netherlands where you may apply for a Russian visa:
1. The Consular section of the Russian Embassy (Scheveningseweg 2, 2517 KT Den Haag, map):
- to apply for a visa - only prior to an appointment on Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday from 10.00 till 10.30, the applicant must be present in person;
- to pick up a passport - without an appointment on Monday, Tuesday, Thursday and Friday from 12.00 till 12.40, the applicant must be present in person with the payment receipt;
2. The Russian visa application centre (Parkstraat 83, The Hague, 2514 JG. Haagsche Hoff, Office A215).
Read more here: https://rusvisacentre.com/.
Important ! If there are no available appointments in the Consular section of the Russian Embassy for the dates wished by a candidate for a visa the documents are to be submitted ONLY to the Russian visa application centre.
Even if the documents have been submitted to the Visa application centre, the visas are anyway issued (printed) by the Russian consulate in the Hague.
Processing time
The processing time for the issuance of a asylum seekers visa in the Consular section is from 3 working days till 20 calendar days.
If the documents are introduced personally by the applicant via the Russian Visa application centre in the Hague, 1 extra day must be added to the above visa processing period.
If the documents are introduced by the applicant via a visa agency, 2-3 extra days must be added to the above visa processing period.
Visa fees
All the information about visa fees is available on this web-page.
General rules
1. The Consular section is authorized to give visas only for the Russian Federation.
2. The Consular section does not accept any visa documents sent by post and never sends passports with visas by post.
3. The visa application is to be introduced not later than 8 calendar days and not earlier than 3 months before the trip to the Russian Federation.
4. All payments in the Consular section must be done only by bank cards. Cash money and other means of payment are not accepted.
5. The fee paid for a visa is not refundable.
6. When obtaining a passport with a visa, we recommend that you carefully check the personal data specified in the visa.
7. The law of the Russian Federation empowers the Consular section to refuse to issue any visa without explaining the reasons of the refusal.
8. Before you read the information about the required documents we recommend you to first make an appointment.
9. VERY IMPORTANT ! The visa procedure that is underway in the Russian consulate may be cancelled (stopped) by the applicant. For that the candidate for a visa has to apply with a written statement to the organisation where he has submitted his/her visa documents. All paid fees in that case are not refundable. The passport without a visa will be returned to its holder not earlier than after 2-3 working days.
List of required documents
1. A written decision (original) of the MVD of Russia;
2. Travel passport (original). The passport must contain at least 2 blank visa pages and must be valid 6 months after the last day of the required visa validity;
3. Visa application form printed and signed personally by the applicant (Very important ! when the web-site asks to select the location where the applicant is going to submit documents, the Embassy of the Russian Federation in the Netherlands OR the Visa Centre must be chosen – the choice depends on the place where the applicant has made his visa appointment);
4. 1 recent passport photo. The photo must be glued (not stapled!) on the visa application form;
5. Original and copy of a valid Dutch permanent residence permit (not required if the applicant is a citizen of the EU).
