Arrival & Migration checklists

If you have any questions about visa and migration procedures, please contact

Department of Visa and Migration Support of Foreign Students
Room 23, 2nd floor of the Main Academy Building (view map)
Tel.: +7 495 691-24-96; E-mail: indekanat@gnesin-academy.ru

Before arrival

To enter the territory of the Russian Federation for educational purposes legally, you must complete the following steps:

Get an invitation letter to enter the territory of the Russian Federation.
a) If you’re a student on a fee-paying basis, you have to contact the Academy sending a message to indekanat@gnesin-academy.ru.
b) If you’re subsidized within the quota of the Government of the Russian Federation, the invitation letter should issued by the Ministry of Science and Higher Education of the Russian Federation.
An invitation letter is issued within no less than 20 working days.
After receiving the invitation, you can apply for a visa at the local Russian consulate.
Please, read the migration legislation rules of Russia.
After obtaining the visa and no later than 10 days before you arrive in the Russian Federation, you must send the following data required to enter the Russian Federation to indekanat@gnesin-academy.ru:
a) full name in the Latin alphabet;
b) date of birth in the format of 00.00.0000;
c) sex;
d) citizenship;
e) details of the document that you’ll use to enter Russia;
f) probable border entry point;
g) scanned copy of your passport in .pdf format (NOT A PHOTO).
No later than 3 days before you arrive in the Russian Federation, you must do a COVID-19 PCR test. If you’re positive, you’ll have to postpone your trip to the Russian Federation until you recover. Be sure to notify the Dean’s office of your faculty and the Department of Visa and Migration Support of Foreign Students about the test result. If the result of your PCR test is negative, you may enter the Russian Federation, but after you arrive you’re required to do another PCR test in Moscow.
Send an online application to insurance@gnesin-academy.ru to make a medical insurance policy for a foreign student.
Send a scanned copy of your vaccination certificate in .pdf to vaccination@gnesin-academy.ru. If you aren’t vaccinated, we kindly ask you to inform us by sending a message to the above mentioned e-mail address.

Upon arrival

Check list upon arrival

You must do a PCR test for COVID-19 after you arrive in Moscow.
Check into a dormitory or a rented apartment. Prepare all documents and get the migration registration at the place of residence.
After you get the negative COVID-19 test result, you must visit the Department of Visa and Migration Support of Foreign Students of the Academy to place a mark acknowledging your arrival and issue the visa and migration documents.
Make a reminder about the renewal terms of the educational visa (if applicable) and migration registration;
Make voluntary health insurance (hereinafter referred to as VHI);
Always carry your passport, migration card, VHI policy, and arrival notification with you.

How to apply for migration registration?

Upon arrival in Russia, every foreign citizen must get the migration registration at the place of actual residence. This is required according to the Federal Law of June 27, 2018 No. 163-FZ «On Migration Registration of Foreign Citizens and Stateless Persons in the Russian Federation».

The student must submit documents for migration registration on the next working day after arrival (you’ll need your passport + a copy with verified translation into Russian and a migration card). The arrival notification is a document that confirms your legal stay in Russia.

If you stay in a dormitory, you must contact the Department of Visa and Migration Support of Foreign Students.

If you stay in a rented apartment, you must contact the owner and apply for migration registration at the local office of the Ministry of Internal Affairs for migration issues. Upon registration, you must inform the staff of the Department of Visa and Migration Support of Foreign Students by e-mail.

Note! It’s necessary to apply for migration registration after each entry into Russia and change of the actual place of residence in Russia. Each student of the Academy, who is a foreign citizen, must in 1 or 2 days upon arrival in the Russian Federation visit the Department to confirm his/her arrival personally. If a foreign citizen plans to leave Russia, he or she must contact the Department to inform of the period of stay outside the Russian Federation.

Extension of visa and/or migration registation

If you need a visa to stay in the territory of Russia:

Visa extension is a procedure that enables you to extend your legal stay in Russia for up to 1 year. You can extend both single-entry and multiple-entry visas.
To extend a visa, you have to prepare a package of documents and submit it personally to the Department of Visa and Migration Support of Foreign Students no earlier than 90 calendar days and no later than 45 calendar days before the valid visa expiration date.
The migration registration is extended after you get a new visa for the period of validity of a multiple-entry visa at the student’s permanent place of residence. The documents required for the extension of migration registration must be submitted the next working day after you get a new visa.

If you don’t need a visa to stay in the territory of Russia:

The migration registration can be extended for up to 1 year from the date of entry into Russia. To extend the migration registration, you have to prepare a full package of documents and submit it at least 30 calendar days before the date of expiry of the primary arrival notification.
If you stay in a dormitory, please, contact the Department of Visa and Migration Support of Foreign Students.
If you stay in a rented apartment, please, contact the owner as the extension of migration registration is performed at the local office of the Ministry of Internal Affairs for migration issues.

Prepare for your studies

At the Academy:

Get access to the corporate e-mail address, apply for the student ID card, get an electronic access card, get a bank card and apply for a library pass.
Check out the lessons schedule (russian).
Learn more about online education platform Google Classroom.
Have a look at the interactive Academy map online or on the ground floor of the Main Academy Building.
Learn more about the facilities of the Academy, how to reserve a class for training and lease a musical instrument for your studies.

Outside the Academy:

Check in the student dormitory and read the accomodation rules.
Read our guide to living in Moscow.
Buy a SIM card at the nearest mobile shop.
To get a student social (travel) card, make an application at any Multifunctional Center for Provision of Public and Municipal Services (hereinafter referred to as MFC) office within 2 weeks after the order for admission is issued.

Health care and COVID-19

Key facts about COVID-19 in Russia

You can find official information on the fight against COVID-19 in Russia here.
Foreign citizens can get vaccination with the Russian Sputnik Light vaccine.

List of addresses where you can get vaccinated in Moscow:

The Big Sports Arena, sector D, stairs 7-8, opening hours: 08:30 to 20:00;
Vaccination center for foreign citizens, state enterprise No. 3, branch No. 1, 3, Bolshaya Bronnaya Str., opening hours: 08:00 to 20:00 (this is the center closest to the Academy and the Gnessin State Musical College);
Vaccination center for foreign citizens, state enterprise No. 68, bldg. 1, 22, Malaya Yakimanka Str., opening hours: 08:00 to 20:00 (this is the center closest to the Musical College of Pop and Jazz Art).

Vaccination cost: 1300 rubles
The validity period of the vaccine and QR code: 1 year

Note! Wearing a face mask on the territory of the Academy is mandatory!

Health insurance (voluntary health insurance)

All foreign citizens MUST have medical insurance (VHI policy) during the entire period of their stay in Russia. The policy must be issued by a Russian insurance company. The insurance is necessary to get elective medical care, tests, diagnostics and health certificates.

To purchase medical insurance from representatives of insurance companies recommended by the Academy, please, contact the Department of Visa and Migration Support of Foreign Students.