U.S. Visa Program

How to Qualify: The member company must provide the Chamber with a letter containing exemplar signatures of no more than three local company officials who are authorized to sign on behalf of the company. The letter must be on company letterhead. In order to continue to qualify for the program, companies must update their exemplar letters every January. 

Who May Participate: Company employees traveling on company business to the United States and their immediate family members (spouses and minor children) who will accompany them on the trip.

If you are eligible for interview waiver/fingerscan reuse and do not wish to come to the Consulate in person, your courier may take your documents directly to Pony Express at 47/49 Ul. Marata (you only apply via the Consulate if you apply yourself).

1.      AmCham applicants will be accepted at the U.S. Consulate on Tuesdays at 14:00, except for U.S. or Russian holidays, for fingerscanning and their interview with a consular officer (if necessary.) They should state to the security guards at the front entrance of the Consulate that they are an AmCham member and show the guard their employer’s guarantee letter.

2.       All applicants must bring the following:

a.       DS-160 visa application confirmation page;

b.      visa fee of $140 for B1/B2 visas or $150 for H and L visas - paid in cash only (either U.S. Dollars or Roubles);

c.       an additional $100 if the applicant wishes to request a 24 month validity visa

d.      current international passport;

e.       previous international passports, if any;

f.       current Russian internal passport;

g.       a guarantee letter from the company signed by one of the designated officials;

h.      and an invitation letter from the U.S. contact.

3.      The applicant or their representative should return to the front entrance of the Consulate at 16:00 on the Thursday after their interview to retrieve their passport and visa.

4.      Applicants who are refused will receive their passports back at the conclusion of their interview.  

You should not bring large bags, briefcases or luggage to the Consulate. Prohibited items include weapons (such as guns, knives, explosives, mace and pepper spray), flammable and hazardous materials, and electronic devices such as cell phones, laptop computers, digital cameras, etc. We hope this will minimize your wait in line and maximize the safety and security of both applicants and Consulate employees.

Any company that makes a misrepresentation in connection with a visa application will be prohibited from future participation in the business visa facilitation program.

You must complete an Internet-based online visa application (DS-160) prior to your interview.

The DS-160 is available in Cyrillic.  You may select “русский” in the “Select Tooltip Language” box at the top right corner of the page.  When you point the cursor to English text, a box with a Russian translation will appear.

You must upload a digital photo as part of your application.

After completing the DS-160, your will be given the option to print a confirmation page that includes some biographical information and a bar code with a confirmation number. You must print this confirmation page. You will submit the confirmation page to the Consulate on the day of your interview. 

You must fill out all required information on the visa application and the information you provide must be complete and accurate. You must select the appropriate visa type. For the majority of AmCham applicants the visa type will be either “Business/Conference B1”, “Temporary Employee H1, H2” or “Intracompany Transfer L”.

If your application is not completely and accurately filled out, you will be required to return to the consulate with a newly completed application. Significant errors or information marked as “N/A”, “Does Not Apply”, etc. (including telephone numbers, e-mail addresses, and salaries) may result in the application being rejected.

You can find answers to questions about the DS-160 visa application at this website:  http://travel.state.gov/visa/forms/forms_4401.html