How long is a US visa valid for Russian citizens?

Key answer

A US visa for a Russian citizen is valid for up to 3 years if it is a B1/B2 visitor visa: under the State Department reciprocity table it is multiple-entry and valid for 36 months. An F-1 student visa is issued for 12 months, and H-1B, L-1 and O-1 work visas for 24 months, but never longer than the approved petition. Visa validity is the time you may use it to enter. How long you may stay is decided by the officer at the border and written in the I-94.

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Breakdown from the official rules

The answers below are translated from the original Russian - the language of the community chats.

A B1/B2 visitor visa for Russian citizens: multiple entries, 36 months, no issuance fee. That is what the State Department reciprocity table says, as read on Nov 11, 2026.
Study and work: F-1 is 12 months, J-1 is 36 months, H-1B, L-1 and O-1 are 24 months. All of them are multiple-entry. H, O, P and Q visas carry a footnote: the visa cannot run longer than the approved petition.
This is the upper limit. Under 22 CFR 41.112(c) a consular officer may, in an individual case, issue a visa for a shorter period or for fewer entries.
Visa validity does not say how long you may live in the US. Under 22 CFR 41.112(a) it has no relation to the period the border officer admits you for. That period is written in the I-94.

This breakdown is built on published USCIS and State Department rules, linked below; the practical notes are generalized community experience. Reference material, not legal advice.

US visa validity by type: Russia, Kazakhstan, Belarus

US visa validity depends on your nationality, not on the country where you apply. The State Department keeps a reciprocity table for each country: for every visa type it gives the validity, the number of entries and the issuance fee. A Russian citizen who gets a visa in Warsaw or Astana gets it under the table for Russia.

Below are the periods from the tables as of Nov 11, 2026. Every visa in this table is multiple-entry. For Ukrainian citizens the periods differ: B1/B2 is 120 months, and F-1, H-1B, L-1 and O-1 are 36 months each.

Petition-based work visas are issued for the period in the table or for the approved petition period if that is shorter. This is a general footnote to all the tables.

Visa	Russia	Kazakhstan	Belarus
B1/B2	36 months	120 months	12 months
F-1	12 months	60 months	12 months
J-1	36 months	60 months	12 months
H-1B	24 months	12 months	12 months
L-1	24 months	24 months	12 months
O-1	24 months	12 months	12 months

Visa validity and length of stay: the difference

The State Department puts it this way: visa validity is the time during which you may travel to a port of entry with the visa and ask to be admitted. A visa does not guarantee entry and does not show how long you may stay. The length of stay is set by the CBP officer each time and recorded on Form I-94: it carries the date by which you must leave.

So the two dates often differ. A visitor with a 36-month visa is admitted for no more than one year per entry under 8 CFR 214.2(b), and a B-2 visitor usually for no less than six months. And the other way round: if the visa expires while you are in the US and the I-94 date has not come yet, you are in the country lawfully. You need a new visa only for the next entry.

For students the rule has changed: since Sep 15, 2026 an F-1 student is admitted for a fixed period, to the program end date on Form I-20 but for no more than 4 years (8 CFR 214.2(f)(5)). Before that the I-94 carried a D/S note with no date.

One more detail from 22 CFR 41.112: an unexpired visa in an expired passport stays valid if you also carry a new valid passport of the same country.

An O-1 visa shorter than the petition: why it happens

An O-1 petition is approved for up to 3 years (8 CFR 214.2(o)(6)(iii)). But a Russian citizen gets a visa for 24 months at most, and a Belarusian or Kazakhstani citizen for 12. The visa ends up shorter than the petition, and that is the reciprocity table, not a consular error.

It does not change the length of stay. Under 8 CFR 214.2(o)(10) an O-1 holder may be admitted for the full validity of the petition, plus up to 10 days before it begins and up to 10 days after it ends. Work is allowed only within the petition period itself.

There is one inconvenience: once the visa has expired, you need a new visa to come back from a trip abroad even though the petition is still valid. A detailed breakdown of this case is in the separate question about an O-1 visa shorter than the petition, linked below.

Sources

State Department: reciprocity table, Russia
B1/B2 36 months, F-1 12, H-1B, L-1, O-1 24 each; no issuance fee.
State Department: reciprocity table, Kazakhstan
B1/B2 120 months, F-1 60, H-1B and O-1 12 each, L-1 24.
State Department: reciprocity table, Belarus
Every visa listed here is 12 months.
State Department: reciprocity table, Ukraine
B1/B2 120 months; F-1, H-1B, L-1, O-1 36 each.
State Department: What the Visa Expiration Date Means
Visa validity and length of stay are different things; the I-94 is the official record of the stay.
22 CFR 41.112 - validity of visa (eCFR)
Validity follows the reciprocity schedules, 10 years at most, and the officer may issue for less.
8 CFR 214.2 - admission periods by visa class (eCFR)
B: up to a year, B-2 at least six months; F-1: up to 4 years; O-1: the petition period plus 10 days each side.

All questions on: Consulate and interview All questions on: Process and timelines All questions on: O-1 visa