Visa to Russia

[gogal2020 0]

Hey all,

I am sure this questions has been discussed, but here it goes. What's the best way to get a visa to Russia, and has anyone had any problems getting one? We are thinking of visiting Elena's parents over the New years, and since she doesnt need a visa to go there, I need to get one, but a bit confused from where, a travel agency or directly from the embassy.

Thank you,

Mike.

[russ 1]

Hey all,

I am sure this questions has been discussed, but here it goes. What's the best way to get a visa to Russia, and has anyone had any problems getting one? We are thinking of visiting Elena's parents over the New years, and since she doesnt need a visa to go there, I need to get one, but a bit confused from where, a travel agency or directly from the embassy.

The visa always comes from the embassy, though you may pay a travel agent to send it there for you.

Cheapest way is for your family in Russia to get a homestay visa invitation for you. Once they do, they mail it to you in the US. You then send this homestay visa invitation along with your passport to the Embassy. This takes a few months.

You can also get a tourist visa, which requires your family to do nothing (they do need to register the visa when you get there). You need a tourist invitation for this, so you may as well use a visa company. Gotorussia did my last one.

[Kazan' Tiger 1]

You get the visa directly from the Embassy. However, you must secure either a Tourist Voucher or Business Letter Of Invitation, prior to applying. The later is for a Business Visa that will allow you to stay for up to 1 year with a required exit in 6 months where as the former is for a Tourist Visa and valid for a maximum of 30 days. If you aren't planning on staying longer than 30 days it is the cheaper route to go. My fiancée and I have a cooperation agreement with a tourist group in Russia and can get you an invitation of either type. You can contact us offlist, if interested, through our website.

[Kotenochek 0]

Gotorussia.com

thats how my man got it.I advice to apply direct for business multi visa for a year that costs 600usd.

If you get just one entry tourist its 300usd.

they very cool people to deal with:)at least in San Francisco:)

[Neonred 3,521]

Gotorussia.com

thats how my man got it.I advice to apply direct for business multi visa for a year that costs 600usd.

If you get just one entry tourist its 300usd.

they very cool people to deal with:)at least in San Francisco:)

Wow, where did those prices come from???

Same day processing and return?

I'm sending off tomorrow for my tourist visa and invitation at $160 with Russia-visa.com.

[Satellite 1]

I only paid the actual visa fee which is $100 at the consulate, no third parties. Go private visa if your fiancée can handle the Russian system of getting you an invitation for something like 400 rubles or less. Good for 90 days.

[Neonred 3,521]

Well, my wife is here with me so it is not so easy to get an invitation, and as I am not a poor student I can well afford 60 bucks to let a third party get the invitation and do the rest of it for me. BUT...$300 is way too much.

[gogal2020 0]

In regards to the third party visa help, I am hesitant to send my passport to people (or a company) I don't know, over the internet. How do I get it directly from the embassy, by me going there in person. Do I need a letter from Elena's parents from Russia, or can I write one up myself ?

Thanks,

Mike.

[Satellite 1]

In regards to the third party visa help, I am hesitant to send my passport to people (or a company) I don't know, over the internet. How do I get it directly from the embassy, by me going there in person. Do I need a letter from Elena's parents from Russia, or can I write one up myself ?

Her parents need a copy of your passport so send it by email. Then they need to go where the old OVIR used to be at and ask about inviting a foreigner for a homestay visa. They will then tell them how much to pay the bank and what to fill out. The invitation will be generated by the Russian government and given to her parents. They then mail the invitation to you. You take that invitation plus the regular application form and either personally give it to the consulate or mail it.

Read up on it:

http://www.consulrussia.org/visa_frame.files/Visa_Page.htm

[slim 1,514]

In regards to the third party visa help, I am hesitant to send my passport to people (or a company) I don't know, over the internet. How do I get it directly from the embassy, by me going there in person. Do I need a letter from Elena's parents from Russia, or can I write one up myself ?

Thanks,

Mike.

Prepaid FedEx, DHL, or the like is usually included in the price of the third party "help."

You need an invitation letter from someone in Russia. If it's a private party ("Homestay") they have to get some stuff from OVIR or wherever they do it now, and send it to you. You take that letter with your passport (or send it to) the embassy and they make the visa for you then give (send) it back.

See Satellite's post about "homestay" visas. He's actually done one, so that makes him much more knowledgeable than the rest of us.

[Kotenochek 0]

Gotorussia.com

thats how my man got it.I advice to apply direct for business multi visa for a year that costs 600usd.

If you get just one entry tourist its 300usd.

they very cool people to deal with:)at least in San Francisco:)

Wow, where did those prices come from???

Same day processing and return?

I'm sending off tomorrow for my tourist visa and invitation at $160 with Russia-visa.com.

Yes its same day for tourist visa and business is not same day.

[Kotenochek 0]

Last time I went to the place where they issue invitations was in june.So here are the news:It takes around 1,5 months the fastest to do the private invitation.

for that your women or someone that invites should have a bank account with 2000 usd on it,should provide bunch of papers from work etc.Its very hard.I tried in Vladimir.Hope for you it will be easier.But I figured: If you going to visit during year several times better do a business visa.good luck!

[slim 1,514]

Last time I went to the place where they issue invitations was in june.So here are the news:It takes around 1,5 months the fastest to do the private invitation.

for that your women or someone that invites should have a bank account with 2000 usd on it,should provide bunch of papers from work etc.Its very hard.I tried in Vladimir.Hope for you it will be easier.But I figured: If you going to visit during year several times better do a business visa.good luck!

Just a friendly reminder, in the U.S. you can get by with spelling words incorrectly..... but if you put a comma where a period (decimal point) goes..... you could lose thousands of USD!!!!!

You'll start to notice all kinds of little things like this now that you're here. Most of them are actually pretty stupid, but that's how we do things here. "So what if the rest of the world uses the Metric System. We're going to stick with this antiquated imperialistic numbering system because that's the way we've always done it and the rest of the world should too. And while they're at it, they should all start speaking English, too!"

It drives my wife bonkers how we do stuff here. I've probably told her a thousand times "well, that's how it works here and there's no way to change it. You have to do it that way or else you can't do it." Just be flexible. That's all you really can do. Good luck. Oh, and good luck with the temperature too, that's always a fun conversion.

[Jason-Sasha 1]

In regards to the third party visa help, I am hesitant to send my passport to people (or a company) I don't know, over the internet. How do I get it directly from the embassy, by me going there in person. Do I need a letter from Elena's parents from Russia, or can I write one up myself ?

Thanks,

Mike.

Mike, I've been to Russia many times. Each time I go I use Russia-visa.com. They are very quick and reliable. Like Neonred said, only 160 bucks. And they process within 10 days.

Edited September 12, 2007 by Jason-Sasha

[Neonred 3,521]

In regards to the third party visa help, I am hesitant to send my passport to people (or a company) I don't know, over the internet. How do I get it directly from the embassy, by me going there in person. Do I need a letter from Elena's parents from Russia, or can I write one up myself ?

Thanks,

Mike.

Mike, I've been to Russia many times. Each time I go I use Russia-visa.com. They are very quick and reliable. Like Neonred said, only 160 bucks. And they process within 10 days.

Sent my passport off to Russia-visa.com an hour ago. Was looking through my passport and looks like this is the ninth visa I have received from this company. Never had a problem with them. Certainly the easiest way to get the invitation, and the whole visa process is taken care of very quickly. Several years ago we did the private or homestay visa and it was too much of a hassle with taking too long to get the invitation and mailing it to me.

From then on I stayed with the tourist visa. Only trouble is if you are planning to stay for more than 30 days which was never a factor for me.