How to apply
Step 1. Your home university should nominate you for participation in an exchange program at RANEPA St. Petersburg by sending us your name, e-mail and field/program of study:
- for WS and the whole academic year — till 15th of May
- for SS – till 15th November
Step 2. After nomination, following documents should be sent to the Department of International Cooperation by you or International Office of your university:
- First page of your passport
- Visa application form (please in Word, not in PDF!)
- Application form, filled in and signed by a student
- Consent to personal data processing
Please send all documents as scanned copies (only Visa application form should be sent in Word). If you have no possibility to prepare these documents by the deadline, please send us the first two documents (passport and visa application form) first, because they are the most imporant for visa invitation.
Step 3. Receiving a visa invitation from RANEPA St. Petersburg. It is an electronically issued file (not a paper copy, but a PDF-file to be printed out and submitted with other application documents).
Receiving of visa invitation means that you are accepted by RANEPA St. Petersburg as an exchange student, but if you need any additional acceptance letter, please, let us know. Please note, that the issuing authority of this visa invitation is Federal Migration Service (FMS) of the Russian Federation (not RANEPA St. Petersburg), and its preparation may last about a month since we have received your passport. As we cannot accelerate this process, we kindly ask you to plan your mobility in advance to have enough time for all formalities.
Step 4. Applying for a student visa in the county of your citizenship (nationality) in the closest to you Russian Embassy or Russian Consulate. (If you want to apply in another country, for example in the country of your study, please note, that you may be asked to submit additional documents, like a notharized translation into Russian language of your study visa made by a Russian notary, as well as a notharized translation into Russian language of a confirmation that you are a student of your home university.)
Please be sure, that your passport is valid during 1,5 years after the end of the mobility period! If not, please apply for a new passport before you start the application process.
Our visa invitation, issued by FMS, entitles to get one-entry visa valid for 3 months (not for the whole semester or academic year!). After receiving your visa, you can go to St. Petersburg within 1 month beginning from the first day of its validity (not later). After arrival it is to be prolonged till the end of your study period in Russia, and prolongation procedure may last up to 2 months. For its prolongation you do not need to go to FMS in person – it makes International Students’ Admission Office of the Department of International Cooperation of NWIM RANEPA. Your new prolonged visa will be the multi-entry one. Prolongation fee of 1600 Rub. is to be paid at “Sberbank” (the nearest office is situated not far away from the dormitory).
Step 5. Select courses to study at RANEPA St. Petersburg during the exchange period, fill in the Learning Agreement, sign it at your university and send a scanned copy to us.
Step 6. Please, inform us about your arrival day and time, so that our students could meet you at the airport or railway/bus station in St. Petersburg and go with you by public transport to the dormitory.
Please send all your application documents and questions to the e-mail address of the Department of International Cooperation of St. Petersburg — ums-sziu@ranepa.ru
