Status: 13th February 2026
St. Petersburg State University
A Guide to the Rules of Stay in the Russian Federation for Foreign Citizens and Stateless Persons Studying at St. Petersburg State University
In order to avoid noncompliance with the migration legislation of the Russian Federation and to comply with the prescribed Rules of Stay, foreign citizens and stateless persons (hereinafter referred to as foreign citizens) who come to St Petersburg University for study purposes must:
1. REGISTER YOUR ARRIVAL AT ST. PETERSBURG STATE UNIVERSITY
1.1. On the day of arrival or the next day (excluding days off and holidays), you must contact
the Office for Migration and Registration at St. Petersburg State University (hereinafter referred
to as Office) to report your arrival in person or by email pvo@spbu.ru;
You will need submit the following documents:
– the passport or any other ID valid in the Russian Federation, with a corresponding visa if you
require a visa to enter the Russian Federation (or a photo by e-mail);
– a migration card (except for citizens of Belarus) with the purpose of the visit stated as โstudyโ
(or photo by email).
PLEASE NOTE! The stated purpose of the visit to the Russian Federation must comply with
the actual activity you will be engaged in during your stay (residence) in the Russian Federation.
2. REGISTER YOUR RESIDENCE AT THE RESIDENTIAL ADDRESS
2.1. In order to get registered, foreign citizens accommodated in the University halls of residence
must contact the Office within 2 (two) working days after arrival.
You must provide the documents listed above in Section 1 and the tenancy agreement.
2.2. Foreign citizens accommodated at a private address must contact their โreceiving partyโ, i.e.
the owner of the property, within 2 (two) working days after arrival. You must provide
the following documents:
โ passport and copies of all marked pages;
โ migration card and its copy (for citizens of Belarus no migration card or its copy is required).
PLEASE NOTE!!! If a foreign citizen is accommodated at a private address, he/she must submit a copy of the registration slip (a notification of migration registration) to the Office within 3 (three) days from the date of the document in person or by email (pvo@spbu.ru).
Note that migration registration is only legal if your visa is registered at the address of your actual residence by the property owner through the authorised agencies: the district offices of the Directorate for Migration of the General Administration of the RF Ministry of Internal Affairs; Multifunctional Centres for State and Municipal Services (MFCs); and the Federal Government Information System โPublic Services Portal of the Russian Federationโ (Gosuslugi)โ. Obtaining documents confirming your migration registration from third parties without being provided with a place of residence may lead to negative consequences, up to and including expulsion from St. Petersburg University and deportation from the Russian Federation.
3. RECORD YOUR FINGERPRINTS, UNDERGO MEDICAL EXAMINATION AND OBTAIN MEDICAL INSURANCE POLICY IN DUE TIME
All foreign citizens who have entered the Russian Federation for the period exceeding 90
(ninety) calendar days (except for citizens of Belarus and citizens who have the Temporary
Residence Permit, Temporary Residence Permit for Education Purposes, or Permanent
Residence Permit) are subject to the mandatory state fingerprint registration and photographing
and (or) must undergo medical examination at the following address: Lit. B, 10-12, Krasnykh
Tekstilshchikov, St. Petersburg (please use the courtyard entrance No 2).
You are required to repeat the immigration medical examination one year after you
receive your medical examination results. It is possible to undergo medical examination in one of
the affiliated medical institutions which are authorised to issue respective certificates.
After receiving the medical certificates, a foreign citizen is required to submit the results
of the medical examination to the Passport and Visa Service of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of
the Russian Federation located at the following address: Lit. B, 10-12, Krasnykh Tekstilshchikov, St. Petersburg (please use the courtyard entrance No 2), or to the district offices of the Directorate for Migration of the General Administration of the RF Ministry of Internal Affairs. After submitting the results of the medical examination, you will be issued a certificate confirming the entry of the medical certificate data into the database of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the Russian Federation.
Foreign citizens studying in the Russian Federation are required to get a voluntary medical insurance policy for the entire period of stay in the Russian Federation.
A foreign citizen must submit copies of the fingerprinting card, medical certificates, and a certificate of entry of the medical examination results into the database of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the Russian Federation and a voluntary medical insurance policy to the Office within 3 days from the date of registration of the documents in person or by email (pvo@spbu.ru).
.
PLEASE NOTE!!! Your medical documents will be valid for one year. Before this period expires, foreign citizens must repeat a medical examination.
The state fingerprint registration and photographing and (or) medical examination are a mandatory requirement and failure to comply will lead to the reduction of the period of temporary stay of foreign citizens in the Russian Federation.
4. EXTEND YOUR VISA OR TEMPORARY STAY IN DUE TIME
PLEASE NOTE!!! The period of temporary stay in the Russian Federation of a foreign citizen
who has entered the Russian Federation in a manner that does not require obtaining a visa, shall not exceed ninety days in total during one calendar year, except in cases where such period is extended in accordance with the legislation of the Russian Federation.
No later than 30 calendar days before the expiration of the period specified in the migration card, foreign citizens who have entered the Russian Federation without a visa, residing both in St. Petersburg State University halls of residence and at private addresses, are required to contact the Office to extend temporary stay in the Russian Federation.
For citizens of the Republic of Belarus, St. Petersburg State University is to submit an
application to extend temporary stay to the district offices of the Directorate for Migration of the
General Administration of the RF Ministry of Internal Affairs and the district offices of the
Directorate for Migration are to enter the relevant information on the extension of the temporary
stay directly into the database of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the Russian Federation.
The period of temporary stay of a foreign citizen who has entered the Russian Federation
on a visa is determined by the validity period of the visa issued.
No later than 45 calendar days before the visa expiration, foreign citizens residing both in St. Petersburg State University halls of residence and at private addresses are required to contact Office to extend their multiple-entry visa.
If there are objective reasons that prevent the submission of documents within the specified timeframe (loss of documents, illness that prevents the application to the Office, late entry into the Russian Federation, etc.), the foreign citizen is obliged to promptly inform the Office and the relevant Academic Office of the existence of such reasons, confirmed by the relevant documents.
After receiving a multiple-entry visa or an extended migration card from the Office, foreign citizens residing at private addresses must contact the owner of the residential premises within 3 working days to register your residence at the residential address in connection with obtaining a new visa or extending the period of stay.
PLEASE NOTE!!! A foreign citizen must provide a copy of the notification of migration
registration to the Office (pvo@spbu.ru).
In the event of a late extension of the period of stay, a foreign citizen will be included in
the Register of Controlled Persons (hereinafter referred to as the Register), and the competent
authorities may decide that the stay is undesirable or that entry into the Russian Federation of a
foreign citizen is prohibited.
5. ENTRY INTO THE REGISTER OF CONTROLLED PERSONS
PLEASE NOTE! Foreign citizens in the Russian Federation who do not have a legal right of
stay (residence) in the Russian Federation are included into the Register of Controlled Persons
(hereinafter referred to as the Register). The Ministry of Internal Affairs of the Russian Federation operates the Register of Controlled Persons.
If you have been included in the Register, you are required to contact your district office of the Directorate for Migration of the General Administration of the RF Ministry of Internal Affairs to apply for an exemption from the Register if there are legal grounds to do so.
6. RENEW YOUR PASSPORT IN DUE TIME
A foreign citizen who has entered the Russian Federation on a visa is required to renew the national passport or obtain a new passport no later than 9 months before the expiration date and must provide information about the new passport to the Office and the relevant Academic Office.
7. PROVIDE INFORMATION ABOUT LEAVING ST. PETERSBURG
When leaving St. Petersburg to visit other cities of the Russian Federation or going outside the Russian Federation, a foreign citizen is required to report to the Office and the relevant Academic Office on the duration and the place of stay in person or by email (pvo@spbu.ru).
If a foreign citizen stays in another city in the Russian Federation for more than 7 Working days, you are required to ask your host party, i.e. the owner of the property, for migration registration at this address.
It is necessary to save all the travel documents (tickets, boarding passes, etc.).
Within 2 working days, a foreign citizen is required to contact the Office or the owner of
the property and provide documents to renew migration registration (see Section 2 โRegister your
residence at the residential addressโ), after:
– returning to the Russian Federation;
– returning to St. Petersburg (in case you have registered your residence in another city of the
Russian Federation);
– staying in hospital-type health-care delivery organisations in St. Petersburg and the Leningrad region ;
– accommodation in hotels.
8. COMPLY WITH THE LEGAL REQUIREMENTS IF ENGAGED IN LABOUR ACTIVITIES IN THE RUSSIAN FEDERATION
A foreign citizen studying a government-accredited degree programme on a full-time basis at a higher education institution in the Russian Federation has the right to engage in labour activities during non-study time without having to obtain a work permit or patent.
To conclude an employment or civil law contract for the performance of work (provision of services) with an employer, a foreign citizen studying in the Russian Federation is required to provide a certificate from a higher education institution confirming the status of a student.
To obtain a certificate, you must contact the Academic Office in your relevant field of study.
In case a foreign citizen has completed or stopped studying, an employment or civil law contract concluded with them is subject to termination.
9. OBTAIN THE REQUIRED DOCUMENTS FOR VISITING THE BORDER AREA
If a foreign citizen needs to enter (pass through), temporarily stay, or travel in a border
area, they are required to contact the Academic Office and to obtain beforehand a border area
pass at the St Petersburg and Leningrad Region Branch of the Border Service of the Federal
Security Service of the Russian Federation (62 Shpalernaya Street, St Petersburg; phone: 8(812)
578-03-45, 8(812) 578-04-56, 8(812) 438-64-58, 8(812) 274-09-08 (fax); email:
pu.spb.lenobl.@fsb.ru; the Federal Government Information System โPublic Services Portal of
the Russian Federationโs http://www.gosuslugi.ru).
10. OBTAINING A TEMPORARY RESIDENCE PERMIT FOR EDUCATION
PURPOSE
From 1 January 2023, in accordance with paragraph 1 of Article 6 of the Federal Law No
115-FZ โOn the Legal Status of Foreign Citizens in the Russian Federationโ dated 25 July 2002
(hereinafter referred to as the Federal Law No 115-FZ), if a foreign citizen studies a government-accredited bachelorโs, specialistโs, masterโs, clinical residency or assistantship/internship
programme on a full-time basis at a higher education institution or a post-graduate (adjunct)
programme to prepare scientific and scientific-pedagogical personnel at a state educational or
state scientific organisation in the Russian Federation, they have the right to apply for a
temporary residence permit for education purpose to the territorial body of the Ministry of
Internal Affairs of Russia in the constituent entity of the Russian Federation where they study.
More detailed information can be found at:
https://spbu.ru/openuniversity/documents/razreshenie-na-vremennoe-prozhivanie-v-celyakhpolucheniya-obrazovaniya-0
11. PROVIDE INFORMATION ABOUT ANY DATA CHANGES
In the case of any changes to the passport data and/or the place of residence within St.
Petersburg and the Leningrad Region, a foreign citizen is required, within 2 (two) working days,
to report it to the relevant Academic Office and the Office.
If the residence status of a foreign citizen in the Russian Federation changes (in the case
of obtaining a temporary residence permit, a temporary residence permit for education purposes,
a permanent residence permit, Russian citizenship, a temporary asylum-seeker certificate, a
refugee status), a foreign citizen is required to submit copies of the issued documents to the
Office.
12. REPLACE LOST DOCUMENTS
If any documents (the national passport, visa, migration card) are lost, a foreign citizen is
required to report it, without undue delay, to the nearest police department and apply for a
corresponding certificate of loss to be issued. On the day of the loss or the next working day, a
foreign citizen must also report it to the Office.
13. DULY FORMALISE ENROLMENT TERMINATION
Upon termination of the enrolment, a foreign citizen is required to contact the relevant Academic Office and read the corresponding Enrolment Termination Order, with written acknowledgement. A foreign citizen is also required to submit copies of travel tickets and leave the Russian Federation within 7 (seven) days from the date of their enrolment termination at St Petersburg University (and within the visa validity period).
If at the time of enrolment termination, a foreign citizen has a multiple visa valid for more than 2 (two) months from the date of enrolment termination, they are required to contact the Office in order to be issued a transit visa.
PLEASE NOTE!!! If a foreign citizen does not leave the Russian Federation in the required
time, this will be regarded as evading the departure from the country, which is a violation of
migration legislation and subsequently forms the basis for including in the Register of Controlled
Persons.
Failure to comply with the Rules of Stay leads to liability of a foreign citizen in accordance with the legislation of the Russian Federation, St Petersburg University Charter and internal regulations. A foreign citizen shall also be expelled from St. Petersburg State University.
14. CONTACTS
Office for Migration and Registration (pvo@spbu.ru):
Room 102, liter B, 7-9-11 Universitetskaya Embankment, St. Petersburg
Opening hours: Monday to Friday from 9:00 am to 5:45 pm (break: 1:00 pm to 1:45 pm)
phone: +7 (812) 363-64-03;
For those living in the St. Petersburg State University halls of residence located in Peterhof
(pvo@spbu.ru) :
Room 103, Hall of residence No 10, korpus 2, 66 Botanicheskaya Street, Peterhof, St. Petersburg
Opening hours: Monday to Friday from 9:00 am to 5:45 pm (break: 1:00 pm to 1:45 pm)
Phone: +7 (812) 363-64-07.
International Admissions Office:
Building B, 13 Universitetskaya Embankment, St. Petersburg
Opening hours: Monday to Friday from 10:00 am to 6:00 pm
Phone: +7 (812) 363-66-33.
admission@spbu.ru
Academic Office:
http://edu.spbu.ru/uchebnoe-upravlenie.html
Department for Youth Affairs:
urm@spbu.ru
St. Petersburg State University International Students Club: Website: https://students.spbu.ru/kio.html
In order to receive advice or assistance, you must send your enquiry to the Clubโs email address is sovetkio@spbu.ru or you can enquire via https://vk.com/kiospbu.
