How do I get an invitation for 3-year Russian tourist visa?

[jft 12]

I am travelling to Russia in December to see my GF and I'd really rather get the new 3-year visa rather than have to go through the current visa process each time I visit. The problem is I have found precious little information about how to do so successfully rather than going through a visa service which charges fees I don't really want to pay since there is a local office of ILS (Invisa) here in my town. Before I got a single-entry old-style tourist invitation and everything was easy. Now however there seems to be as much misinformation out there as information with even places who deal with visa support saying things from "there is no such visa" to "it is for business only". All I need is a place to get the proper visa support documents and I can handle the rest on my own. Does anyone have a suggestion of where to go? Time is getting short so I pretty much need the invitation in-hand by the end of the week. Failing everything else I will go and talk to ILS personally but that will mean time off of work I would rather not sacrifice. Thanks!

[SMR 368]

Let us know what you find out. I don't think there are many here that have done the new visa (if any) and most that have done any visas have done so through an agency (most of us don't have local access so it's the way to go). I know that it used to be the only way to get an invitation was through an agency or through a citizen of RF inviting you. An invitation from a citizen is probably more than a week out. A lot of the agencies offer (or used to offer) an invitation only service. They might be able to help you out (for less money than doing the whole thing).

[eekee 182]

http://www.russianconsulting.com/

this is who I use; if you have questions you can call them on the phone and they are very helpful.

[jft 12]

I've found visa services in my town with solar prices, it just seems crazy to pay an extra $80-$100 to have them do what I could easily do myself if I had the proper vida support documentation. Unfortunately the place that know the ropes are keeping the information close to their chests which makes it difficult to do things yourself.

[Oliverpb 2]

Ok, here's the skinny.

Its easiest to apply with a visa service. I use visahq and have used travisa once. They weren't bad. I like how visahq is, but sometimes the customer service is lacking. Not really happy to talk to you on the phone.

You will apply like normal, you may need a signed copy of an invitation from your gf but you can ask for specefics from the company that you are using. Visahq has done a lot of them. The only down side is that so far, over 90-95% of the applicants have to come to the consulate for an in person interview. Even babies and children. Parents have to come bring them. It also takes at least 3-4 weeks before they call you in. It should get easier, but who knows, maybe harder? That is strait from the mouth of my visa expert in DC.

Good luck!

[Oliverpb 2]

I wanted to edit, but it says I can not edit my own post! Must not know how to do it correctly.

What you will need

a. Original, signed United States passport with at least 6 months of remaining validity.

b. Passport-type photograph: 1

c. Tourist Voucher/Invitation. Copy of tourist voucher/invitation issued by tourist company or hotel in Russia approved by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

d. Personal request. A letter from the applicant addressed to the "Embassy of Russia, Visa Section" requesting that the embassy grant a 3 year multiple entry visa. A sample format for this letter can be found here.

They will provide you with an invitation letter for $20 or you can have one sent, but the 20 is money well spent. I believe they also can provide the hotel details, but I did not ask them about it. The whole thing whould cost about $320 plus shipping. Most likely a trip to dc too... Not bad though when you think its 3 years ME and you can stay 6 months at a time compared to 30 once!

[jft 12]

They will provide you with an invitation letter for $20 or you can have one sent, but the 20 is money well spent. I believe they also can provide the hotel details, but I did not ask them about it. The whole thing whould cost about $320 plus shipping. Most likely a trip to dc too... Not bad though when you think its 3 years ME and you can stay 6 months at a time compared to 30 once!

I can get the same price with visa support through a Russian tourist company here in my town so I think I will go that way since I can drop off/pick up my passport in person rather than have to deal with the hassels, time, costs, and risks of shipping my passport to Washington DC but thank you for the suggestion anyway! At least I know I am paying a competitive price!

[GelendzhikBelle 7]

I can get the same price with visa support through a Russian tourist company here in my town so I think I will go that way since I can drop off/pick up my passport in person rather than have to deal with the hassels, time, costs, and risks of shipping my passport to Washington DC but thank you for the suggestion anyway! At least I know I am paying a competitive price!

On this topic I just obatined this Business Visa through InVisa in Seattle where I am a resident. American citizens STILL need "invitation" (приглашение). No way out of this for now. For a Homestay your better half in Russia CAN do this but WILL be jumping hoops to get it done. The better plan is to obtain an Invitation from a Russian agency. Be sure to state you are needing multi entry and will seek the longer term Visa. It will cost more than single entry but not if you consider make more than one trip to Russia. Business Visa is used in part because it allows a more flexible timeframe for entry to Russia. Your entrance must occur within 90 days of the expected entry, however, you are still limited to the time you expect to leave. If you leave for even one day only to another country (Ukraine for instance..no Visa required for US citizens within 90 days of entry), then you can again enter Russia legally if you have a multi entry Visa. This would prevent an "overstay".

I applied through InVisa website and printed the application with the required size photo (within 6 months this photo was taken) glued to the application. The payment was $30 for InVisa to process. It took 2 weeks and I did not have to go to the Russian Consulate in Seattle as I did on my previous Tourist Visa when my Wife and I married in Moscow in April of this year.

My logic in this is we do not know when our Interview in Moscow will happen. I needed the Visa to be as flexible as possible because we cannot predict when our Interview date in Moscow is yet. We are close to that point but do not know the day. Probably in December.

The folks at InVisa are very helpful and I had a good experience with them. No stress..and they know the exact process and needs. They can process Visa for you in as little as 3 business days EXCEPT homestay. Homestay from what the website says requires at least 10 business days to process.

To make things better for all of us.. I understand that Putin and Obama had some private talks about this topic when Obama was last in Russia. He agreed that it behooves both Nations to streamline this process even further, and if re-elected he would work toward that goal since Russia is now a WTO member. There is now a good chance that since Obama was re-elected and we will now have a new Secretary of State (it appears) that this Visa process will be streamlined more. I believe for those with current family in either Nation that Visa will be waived or at a minimum, extended to a full year without expiration. Business Visa also will be much easier for both Nations citizens to obtain and use. I work with Russian Nationalist all the time at my job and this warming of business relations is welcome on both parts.

[SMR 368]

On this topic I just obatined this Business Visa through InVisa in Seattle where I am a resident. American citizens STILL need "invitation" (приглашение). No way out of this for now. For a Homestay your better half in Russia CAN do this but WILL be jumping hoops to get it done. The better plan is to obtain an Invitation from a Russian agency. Be sure to state you are needing multi entry and will seek the longer term Visa. It will cost more than single entry but not if you consider make more than one trip to Russia. Business Visa is used in part because it allows a more flexible timeframe for entry to Russia. Your entrance must occur within 90 days of the expected entry, however, you are still limited to the time you expect to leave. If you leave for even one day only to another country (Ukraine for instance..no Visa required for US citizens within 90 days of entry), then you can again enter Russia legally if you have a multi entry Visa. This would prevent an "overstay".

I applied through InVisa website and printed the application with the required size photo (within 6 months this photo was taken) glued to the application. The payment was $30 for InVisa to process. It took 2 weeks and I did not have to go to the Russian Consulate in Seattle as I did on my previous Tourist Visa when my Wife and I married in Moscow in April of this year.

My logic in this is we do not know when our Interview in Moscow will happen. I needed the Visa to be as flexible as possible because we cannot predict when our Interview date in Moscow is yet. We are close to that point but do not know the day. Probably in December.

The folks at InVisa are very helpful and I had a good experience with them. No stress..and they know the exact process and needs. They can process Visa for you in as little as 3 business days EXCEPT homestay. Homestay from what the website says requires at least 10 business days to process.

To make things better for all of us.. I understand that Putin and Obama had some private talks about this topic when Obama was last in Russia. He agreed that it behooves both Nations to streamline this process even further, and if re-elected he would work toward that goal since Russia is now a WTO member. There is now a good chance that since Obama was re-elected and we will now have a new Secretary of State (it appears) that this Visa process will be streamlined more. I believe for those with current family in either Nation that Visa will be waived or at a minimum, extended to a full year without expiration. Business Visa also will be much easier for both Nations citizens to obtain and use. I work with Russian Nationalist all the time at my job and this warming of business relations is welcome on both parts.

Thanks for the update. This is very helpful to have first hand experience as things are changing.

One question: Do you work with Russian Nationals or Russian Nationalists? It's not the same thing.

[eekee 182]

Thanks for the update. This is very helpful to have first hand experience as things are changing.

One question: Do you work with Russian Nationals or Russian Nationalists? It's not the same thing.

didn't even catch that.

[randye80 24]

One question: Do you work with Russian Nationals or Russian Nationalists? It's not the same thing.

Personally, I'd rather work with Russian Naturalists. At least about half of them

[P A U L 14]

I told my gf to get me an invite but said it was too hectic so I opted to go with travelvisapro to get a 3 year tourist visa.

am I going to get in any trouble going into Russia with a tourist visa, and NOT tour? lol

should i not mention to any officials, if questioned, about my true intentions in Russia to visit my gf? though I'm going straight to Moscow to meet her on interview day.

what happens if I say I'm going to Moscow on my application or whatever, and later on go to st Petersburg or Vladivostok?

[jft 12]

I ended up getting a one-time tourist invitation from GoToRussia for $20. They were very helpful on how to go about the process and told me exactly what needed to be in the visa request letter. I then went to the Invisa office in Seattle, gave them $210 ($180 for the visa plus their processing fee) and 15 days later I had the visa! By the way I have to agree with GelendzhikBelle, the staff at Invisa Seattle are very friendly and helpful, it is so much easier of a process than it was when you had to go to the consulate for the visa!

[Hollyday 122]

I told my gf to get me an invite but said it was too hectic so I opted to go with travelvisapro to get a 3 year tourist visa.

am I going to get in any trouble going into Russia with a tourist visa, and NOT tour? lol

should i not mention to any officials, if questioned, about my true intentions in Russia to visit my gf? though I'm going straight to Moscow to meet her on interview day.

what happens if I say I'm going to Moscow on my application or whatever, and later on go to st Petersburg or Vladivostok?

I don't think they really care about what happens after you enter the country. My husband's done three tourist visas (and they were all not real tours).

About travelling in Russia: generally speaking we have this 'registration' issue, which means when you stay in one city for longer than 7 business days you have to inform the officials. Here's the link, sorry it's in Russian, http://www.fmsmoscow.ru/docs/migration_registration/registration.html

[jft 12]

I told my gf to get me an invite but said it was too hectic so I opted to go with travelvisapro to get a 3 year tourist visa.

am I going to get in any trouble going into Russia with a tourist visa, and NOT tour? lol

should i not mention to any officials, if questioned, about my true intentions in Russia to visit my gf? though I'm going straight to Moscow to meet her on interview day.

what happens if I say I'm going to Moscow on my application or whatever, and later on go to st Petersburg or Vladivostok?

All you need to do is to stay in a hotel one night in each city you go to for longer than 7 business days and you should be good as they will register you when you check in. If you're stay only at her home in her city for over a week then I'd probably arrange to pay to have it registered by one of the many places like GoToRussia that offer registration services or do it directly at the local OVIR.