Russia is working to streamline its student visa process to entice more foreign students to Russain universities. Currently, a foreign student may initially apply only for a three-month student visa in his home country. After this period, he or she should apply to the local office of the Federal Migration Service (FMS) to have the visa extended. The FMS issues a one-year multi-visa, which may be extended further for a one-year period during the entire duration of a student’s academic program. The Russian Science and Education Ministry has prepared a bill to ease these visa requirements.
“The majority of the academic programs takes a longer period, that’s why, in order to ensure the competitive advantage of Russian universities’ academic programs, the possibility of issuing multi-visas for students for a longer term should be considered,” reads an explanatory note to the bill, submitted on 22 June to the official public database of legal initiatives.
However, the visas should be issued to a term that does not exceed three years, the note reads. According to the Russian education and science ministry, more than 120,000 foreign students did their academic studies at 532 educational institutions all across Russia in 2014. In 2015, their number grew to about 137,000.
Source: Russian News Agency, June 2017