Private visa to Russia

[BTalley 0]

Svetlana and I are planning to visit Russia in a couple of months.

We are thinking of bypassing the usual "tourist" visa for me and obtaining a homestay-private invitation visa (this can be done completely in USA if the traveler is related to a Russian citizen).

But if we acquire a visa this way, where do I go to register once in the country? Hotel handled it the first time, and the second time (no hotel stay) my travel agent had me visit an office in downtown Saint-Petersburg, and I got the registration from them (at a fee of about $68).

The ONLY reason we are thinking of doing the visa differently is to avoid that registration fee. So where would I go upon arriving in Russia with a private visa to get registered?

[SMR 368]

I don't have personal experience with this but my understanding is that you need a residence to register at. That is, a homestay visa is to stay at someone's home. The owner of that home registers you by going to the local OVIR (department of visas and registrations). They fill out some forms and will have to pay a fee. This can also be done at the post office, I believe, but you may have to have copies of the forms to do that.

My advice would be that if the only reason you are planning to get the homestay visa is to avoid the registration fee, you won't get your money's worth. The advantage of homestay visas is that you can often get a longer duration visa. The fee to register on it's own will be a couple hundred rubles and there will be time spent doing the legwork to get the registration in order. Especially if you don't have someone in place in Russia to plan things before you get there, my recommendation is get the tourist visa. You only get 30 days, but if that is all you wanted anyways, it won't be much worse.

$68 seems like a lot to register a tourist visa. I registered for 1000 rubles. Shop around. I would suspect you could find something in the range of $40. You'll only be saving $20-30 after the registration fee and it's not worth the headache.

All my information is a couple years old, so things may have changed. Take that as you will.

[BTalley 0]

Thanks. Svetlana owns a flat in Saint-Petersburg, so that would take care of having a residence to register at.

But we do not want to be spending an unknown amount of time at an OVIR office, standing in line and/or dealing with red tape. That visit to my travel agent's representative was pretty quick.

Maybe one of the reasons the price was so high was because the exchange rate was pretty bad when I was there (only 23 rubles to the dollar). At today's rate those 1500 rubles would be about $50.

[Waitinggent 2]

I don't believe you can avoid paying for registration. I have rented apartments in St. Petersburg, and although the process has become easier, you still must register regardless of where you are staying. There are places that will register you, regardless of where you stay (and without the owner being there), but you must pay for this service.

[slim 1,523]

I recommend using one of the "tourist companies" and having them handle it for you. They'll charge you $50 or whatever, but they'll handle it.

[SMR 368]

I recommend using one of the "tourist companies" and having them handle it for you. They'll charge you $50 or whatever, but they'll handle it.

So, if tourist companies is in quotes, what are they really?

[slim 1,523]

So, if tourist companies is in quotes, what are they really?

Really, they're like "handlers" that expedite any business you may have in Russia. They're "legit" in the Russian sesnse - if there is one - of the word. Google "visa to Russia" or "travel to Russia" etc., and you'll get several that'll handle your trip just fine for a small fee.

[AdamA 0]

Registering at OVIR is no big deal. My fiancee did it for me twice. Quick and inexpensive, sorry I don't remember the amount, but it wasn't much. Office was out of the way and we had to go get additional copies once. Might find a copy place close since they seemed to add copy requirements. I would copy your passport, visa, invite letter etc. before going. Forms were only in Russian as well.

[Used to be broken 147]

Registering at OVIR is no big deal. My fiancee did it for me twice. Quick and inexpensive, sorry I don't remember the amount, but it wasn't much. Office was out of the way and we had to go get additional copies once. Might find a copy place close since they seemed to add copy requirements. I would copy your passport, visa, invite letter etc. before going. Forms were only in Russian as well.

We dis this in Belarus took a couple hours. I think "quick" is relative to the day your visit to the OVIR office is, how many other people are also doing registrations and similar things, and perhaps how large a town/province area you are in. If you are the only folks who show up that day could be in and out in minutes, or stand in line for hours if its busy. I regarded it as a "tourist attraction" giving me insight into the red-tape and inner machinations of the bureaucratic nightmare my husband lives in.

[SMR 368]

Registering at OVIR is no big deal. My fiancee did it for me twice. Quick and inexpensive, sorry I don't remember the amount, but it wasn't much. Office was out of the way and we had to go get additional copies once. Might find a copy place close since they seemed to add copy requirements. I would copy your passport, visa, invite letter etc. before going. Forms were only in Russian as well.

We dis this in Belarus took a couple hours. I think "quick" is relative to the day your visit to the OVIR office is, how many other people are also doing registrations and similar things, and perhaps how large a town/province area you are in. If you are the only folks who show up that day could be in and out in minutes, or stand in line for hours if its busy. I regarded it as a "tourist attraction" giving me insight into the red-tape and inner machinations of the bureaucratic nightmare my husband lives in.

A good analog in America would be a trip to the DMV. If you live in a area with a lower population density or show up during a period of downtime and if you bring all of the right documents the first time, you might get in and out pretty quick. The fee depends on region (and exchange rate when measured in dollars) but is in the neighborhood of $10-20. If you plan to spend a couple months in Russia, the homestay visa is a good choice since you have time to spend at the OVIR and you will benefit from the longer validity of a homestay visa. If you've only got a few days, I wouldn't want to risk spending a couple hours running around getting documents and waiting in line. You've spent a lot on plane tickets, etc. for a little time in Russia. Don't waste it in the OVIR to save $40. (Unless you think it's a good cultural experience/tourist attraction. I don't mean that tongue in cheek. I can definitely understand the sentiment).

[Used to be broken 147]

A good analog in America would be a trip to the DMV. If you live in a area with a lower population density or show up during a period of downtime and if you bring all of the right documents the first time, you might get in and out pretty quick. The fee depends on region (and exchange rate when measured in dollars) but is in the neighborhood of $10-20. If you plan to spend a couple months in Russia, the homestay visa is a good choice since you have time to spend at the OVIR and you will benefit from the longer validity of a homestay visa. If you've only got a few days, I wouldn't want to risk spending a couple hours running around getting documents and waiting in line. You've spent a lot on plane tickets, etc. for a little time in Russia. Don't waste it in the OVIR to save $40. (Unless you think it's a good cultural experience/tourist attraction. I don't mean that tongue in cheek. I can definitely understand the sentiment).

Now that I think about this a little more, we did get somewhat of a 'runaround" because my husband was living in a rented apartment in Minsk at the time and not his parents home where apparently his passport is registered, so we had to drive from downtown Minsk to the suburbs where his parents live.

I also just got back from Germany where my daughter lives and we went through the same drill. We had visited the alien registration office in Stuttgart but had to go to the local office where my daughter lives. The difference in "volume" was huge, the Stuttgart office had over 100 people waiting while the office in her little town had two.

[Nick_Moscow 2]

I second pretty much everyone's sentiments above. What also adds to the fun is if your spouse lives in a more remote part of Russia - you should have seen the looks on the faces of the postal workers when we explained to them that yes, we may lawfully register my visa with their help. We had copies of the regulation with us and all the necessary forms, and the postal workers were so utterly confused, they couldn't mount a bureaucratic bribery defense >

Also has anyone used the new law to have their RF spouse write a letter of invitation here in the 'States instead of getting it through the visa office in their hometown? I'm a little lazy at the moment in that I can't find the links I had earlier that list the actual text of the new law, but I remember the idea being that the law explained the change (=Russians can write invitation letters for guest/homestay visas for their American relatives from here in the USA) without spelling out HOW one may do this. Of course the Russian Embassy's site is kilometers behind the US Embassy in terms of information offered and general usefulness, so I couldn't find info on how to do this. Ther was a thread about this that kind of went dead http://www.visajourney.com/forums/topic/247650-positive-change-in-the-russian-visa-invitation-law-3122010/page__p__3809473__hl__new+law__fromsearch__1#entry3809473

If anyone has any experience using this new law or just info about it in general, please let me know!

[visaveteran 1]

I did the home stay visa. Actually, the US visa services (at least mine) can set you up with all the necessary paperwork. They have people in Russia that makes this possible. It's technically legal because Russia is Russia. The only thing to remember is the person you're staying with has to go to the OVIR office and register your visit AND after you leave the same person has to go back to OVIR to let them know you've left Russia. If they fail to do so there is a fine to pay. I know this because my wife failed to go back to "unregister me" and on my next visit she got hit with the fine. I think it was around $75.

[Corey-Mariya 14]

Svetlana and I are planning to visit Russia in a couple of months.

We are thinking of bypassing the usual "tourist" visa for me and obtaining a homestay-private invitation visa (this can be done completely in USA if the traveler is related to a Russian citizen).

But if we acquire a visa this way, where do I go to register once in the country? Hotel handled it the first time, and the second time (no hotel stay) my travel agent had me visit an office in downtown Saint-Petersburg, and I got the registration from them (at a fee of about $68).

The ONLY reason we are thinking of doing the visa differently is to avoid that registration fee. So where would I go upon arriving in Russia with a private visa to get registered?

Yes I have done this personally Before my wife and I were married the second time I went to Russia I stayed longer then 3 months so I got a homestay visa. My fiance at the time had to go to her police department and register me which took about 30 days, and then I had to wait another couple weeks to actually recieve it in the mail. Also I did not use a travel agency so I drove down to Washington D.C. from PA to get the visa the same day. I had to submit passport photo, fee, ect basically the same information as a tourist visa except for the letter from the police department you recieved from russia.When you get there remember to register within 3 days of arriving and departing. And thats pretty much all there is too it. The cool thing about a homestay visa is its good for ninety days and I went to the police department/local immigration office and you can apply for temporary residency after 90 days if you have a homestay visa. Also in regards to where you will stay, if you are staying for an extended period of time it is much cheaper to rent an apartment then stay in a hotel. I has a nioce sized apartment in downtown ufa for around $650/month. The first time I was there on a tourist visa and after 30 days they could not extend it and told me to go back to the U.S.A and get a new visa. This is kinda off subject but make sure to always keep your documents dry and in order. The reason I say this is my first time coming back when I went through sheremetyevo I which is an internal airport because my immigration document went through the wash they told me I had to pay $1500 fine or they were going to take me to jail. I did not want to miss my flight so I negotiated and paid them $100.

[Corey-Mariya 14]

Yes I have done this personally Before my wife and I were married the second time I went to Russia I stayed longer then 3 months so I got a homestay visa. My fiance at the time had to go to her police department and register me which took about 30 days, and then I had to wait another couple weeks to actually recieve it in the mail. Also I did not use a travel agency so I drove down to Washington D.C. from PA to get the visa the same day. I had to submit passport photo, fee, ect basically the same information as a tourist visa except for the letter from the police department you recieved from russia.When you get there remember to register within 3 days of arriving and departing. And thats pretty much all there is too it. The cool thing about a homestay visa is its good for ninety days and I went to the police department/local immigration office and you can apply for temporary residency after 90 days if you have a homestay visa. Also in regards to where you will stay, if you are staying for an extended period of time it is much cheaper to rent an apartment then stay in a hotel. I has a nioce sized apartment in downtown ufa for around $650/month. The first time I was there on a tourist visa and after 30 days they could not extend it and told me to go back to the U.S.A and get a new visa. This is kinda off subject but make sure to always keep your documents dry and in order. The reason I say this is my first time coming back when I went through sheremetyevo I which is an internal airport because my immigration document went through the wash they told me I had to pay $1500 fine or they were going to take me to jail. I did not want to miss my flight so I negotiated and paid them $100.

Have not been on Visa Journey for awhile. Apparently they do not let you edit your posts anymore.I just read what I post and I think it kinda sounds like I have been married to my wife more then once After married there is suppose to be a. and the first letter in the should be capitalized. So it should read- Before my wife and I were married. The second time I traveled to Russia,,,,ect

I am able to edit this pot but not my previouos one Figures!

Edited October 13, 2010 by Corey-Mariya