Dear international students!
We would like to help you to avoid any problems connected with the visa/registration rules and regulations. Please read this information carefully and follow these rules. If you have any questions, please contact Visa office or International Students office.
The visa office is located on the third floor of the Conservatory building, room 339.
Telephone: +7 (812) 644-99-88 ext. 205.
Office hours: 11.00 a.m. – 01.00 p.m., 02.00 p.m. - 04.00 p.m.
Director of the Office : Larisa Leonidovna Budagova
What is visa registration?
Visa registration is a migration registration of a foreigner at his/her residence address in accordance with the Russian legislation. If you are planning to stay at your place of residence for less than 7 working days, you are not obliged to register your visa, but the registration after this term requires paying a fine at the police station. The absence of the registration will not allow you to perform any legal actions and can be the reason for a penalty or arrest by police.
If you are staying at a hotel/ student residence, the hotel administration/ the Visa office of the conservatory will register your visa for the whole period of your stay. If you are staying at a private accommodation, your visa can be registered only by the owner of this property (apartment/house).
STUDENTS STAYING IN THE STUDENT RESIDENCE
Arrival & Registration
Within 2 days upon arrival in St.Petersburg students from visa-required countries and from visa-free countries must appear in the Visa office of the conservatory and submit the following documents for the registration procedure:
- passport valid for at least 1,5 year
- migration card with a border police stamp (obtained when crossing the border)
Within 7 working days the student will have the detachable part of the Arrival Notification form with a stamp of the migration registration.
Arrival Notification is a special document required for the registration of a visa of a foreign national at the address of his/her place of stay in Russia. This detachable part confirms the registration of your visa.
You must keep the migration card and the Arrival Notification during all your stay in Russia and present them
- for the procedure of prolongation of your visa (if needed)
- for submitting to the police (if required)
- for submitting to the passport control upon departure.
Please note that the visa registration must be done every time the person enters Russia or changes the place of stay in the country (even in the case you have a multiple-entry visa).
Obtaining a multiple-entry visa
In the case your study programme is longer than three month, you need your visa to be extended (prolonged). A month prior to your first visa expiry date, you should submit your documents to the Visa Office of the Conservatory and get a multiple-entry visa which is valid for one year.
To be registered on arrival/ to prolong the visa the following documents are required:
- passport valid for at least 1,5 year
- migration card
- original health insurance policy, indicating explicitly that the student is insured for the whole period of stay in Russia
- 3 passport-size photos
- tuition agreement with the conservatory
- arrival notification form
- registration fee payment receipt/visa fee payment receipt
STUDENTS FROM VISA-REQUIRED COUNTRIES STAYING IN A PRIVATE RESIDENCE
Within 7 days upon arrival in St. Petersburg students from visa-required countries must register their visas and obtain the Arrival Notification. If you are staying in a private residence, your visa can be registered only by the owner of this property (apartment/house). To register a visa, your landlord should come in person to the Multifunctional Center .
As a result, you should have the detachable part of the Arrival Notification form with a stamp of the issuing authority which confirms the registration of your visa. Immediately after obtaining Arrival Notification, you should come to the Visa office of the Conservatory and submit the following:
- detachable part of the Arrival Notification form
- passport
- copies of all filled in (used) pages of your passport
- multi-entry visa fee payment receipt
- 3 passport-size photos
Please note that the visa registration must be done every time the person enters Russia or changes the place of stay in the country (even in the case you have a multiple-entry visa).
Before the foreigner’s leaving the country or moving to another place of stay in Russia, the owner should address to the same authority which processed a visa registration and request the foreigner to be removed from the migration control.
CHANGING OF THE PLACE OF RESIDENCE
A foreign student changing the place of residence in St. Petersburg should notify the Visa office about his/her new address within 3 days.
If you stay in a hotel or in hospital (in St. Petersburg or another city), the hotel/ hospital makes a new registration, and your previous registration made by the conservatory/landlord is cancelled. You must require the original registration slip from the hotel/ hospital and submit it to the Visa office within tree working days upon return to the Student residence/ apartment. The Visa office/the landlord will make a new registration for you free of charge.
LEAVING THE COUNTRY BEFORE COMPLETING THE COURSE
If you decide to stop/interrupt your studies in the Conservatory for some reason, you should inform the Visa office and the International Students Office one month before the plan date of leaving, agree on the date of leaving with the Dean and the Visa office, buy a plane ticket and submit it to the Visa office, wait till the “exit visa” is ready (approximetly 3 weeks).
LOSS OF DOCUMENTS
If a foreign citizen loses his/her passport, migration card or Arrival notification form, he/she should:
- immediately report this to the nearest police department
- obtain a certificate from the police department stating the loss of documents,
- report to the conservatory’s Visa office for further instructions,
- report to your Consulate and request a new passport in case it has been stolen or lost