The invitation letter: what it contains and what it proves
Patient details, diagnosis, dates, the treating facility and its authorisation number — issued in English once the plan is confirmed.
The invitation letter is the document a visa officer reads. What it contains is standard; what people get wrong is when they ask for it and what they expect it to do.
Contents
Patient name and passport details, the diagnosis, the proposed treatment and dates, the treating facility with its health tourism authorisation, and named accompanying persons. Issued in English, and in Arabic or Russian on request.
It is issued once the plan is confirmed. It cannot be issued before there is a plan, because the dates and the facility are what it certifies.
What it does and does not do
It establishes that a real facility expects a named patient on named dates for a described treatment. That is what most refused applications are missing.
It is not a guarantee of a visa, not a substitute for the application, and not a document that can be altered after issue. If your dates move, the letter is reissued rather than edited.
What to check before submitting
That the name matches the passport exactly, including transliteration; that the passport number is right; that the dates leave room either side of the programme; and that every travelling companion is named.
A mismatch of one letter between letter and passport is a common cause of delay and takes a day to fix before submission — and weeks after a refusal.
Topic
More in Travel and logistics
- Visas and entry requirements: what we can and cannot doRequirements depend on your nationality. We issue the documentation applications usually lack — we do not submit them and cannot influence the outcome.
- Arrival and airport transfer: the first hoursWho meets you, which airport your plan names and why, and what actually happens on the first day.
