Hello, I'm originally from russia...me and my husband are planning to go back to russia and he is american...so we are trying to figure out how to get him a visa that will let him stay there for 1 month...My mom back at home says she needs to sent him an invintation so he can get a visa...i'm really confused at this point.
Please tell us where to start and wich agency or whatever we can use...also we are planning to leave in oct or late sept..is it too late already?
Thanks in advance

I would suggest contacting your Russian Embassy here in the USA...they can explain what visa he would require...another form of information is your local Post Office...you can speak to anyone who handles passports...they can look up Russia's visa requirements for US Citizens.....Good Luck !

I think that an invitation is necessary, and might be the place to start. The Russian Embassy website consular section http://www.russianembassy.org/ gives the procedure for home stay and tourist visas.

Safe travels!!

First of all, it's very easy for an American to get a visa to Russia. (He does have a passport, right? He will need one!)

Russia has a couple of different types of visas and you said you guys will be staying for a month so I'm assuming that's going to be a homestay visa at your mother's house, right?

OK, you have a couple of options.

1. You can apply for a homestay visa through the Russian Embassy in the U.S. using an invitation letter that she sends to you.
2. You can apply for a homestay visa through a Russian visa service company (google "Russian visa" and you'll get several companies; GoToRussia, VisaToRussia, WayToRussia, etc.)
3. You can apply for a tourist visa the same ways as above. (Tourist visas can be good for up to a month.)

To make a better suggestion, we need some more information -

Where are you guys going (which city?)
Who are you staying with (Mom, hotel?)
When are you going (Do you have time to wait or money to burn?)

And why haven't you been in the VJ Russia forum? You are a Russian woman married to an American man. Your input is like gold around here as there aren't too many of you here to "help" us. Please, come back!

Get a tourist visa. It's a lot quicker to get and easy enough to register when he arrives in Russia. There are many sites that can get the visa for you. I've always used www.russia-visa.com and for one price they provide the invitation and do all the leg work (about $170). Send the passport in with a picture and in 2 weeks you will have it back with the visa. I've never had a problem with this company.

Or you can get your own invitation and apply directly to the embassy. I did this once for a homestay visa but it took a lot of work and time (in Russia)to get that invitation. For a one month stay I don't see any advantage in doing this.

It is a lot easier to get the tourist visa than a homestay,( tourist visa good for 30 days) any of the russian travel sites/ russian visa sites on the web will get you the invitation letter/ travel voucher taht you need, and when you get to Russia you can stay with your family and registar his passport there. I used www.visahq.com for my visa. also there is a site waytorussia.net that has a lot of information on traveling to russia.

Getting a tourist visa is very easy. First, contact one of the sites slim mentioned. They'll send you a tourist voucher with a fake hotel/itinerary on it. Then go to ruscon.org and download the visa application for US citizens. Fill it out completely using the information on the voucher. Make sure to write "n/a" or "no" for things which don't apply to him--nothing can be blank. You also need several passport-sized photos, which can be taken at CVS. You can either go to the embassy in person (there's one in DC), or send it in. There's different fees depending on how fast you want it processed. Then when you get to Russia you can either have the company register him with a fiktivniy registration, if it's a local company, or you can go to (i think) the post office and have him registered at your family's flat.

Don't contact the consulate; they'll tell you to either do a homestay visa or make hotel reservations. It might even be too late to do a homestay visa.

Thank you everybody for great advice!!We were getting confused with so many web sites and different information..)
2 Slim: we are going to moscow first, will stay there for a week or so and then go to Kazan(my native city). in both cities we'll be staying at my relatives houses..we dont want any hotels...i know you have to give the information like what adress are you gonna stay at and how long. We are planning to leave late sept and be back late oct. What do you think?
Is it possible to get a visa without a hotel?

PS: I'm sorry i haven't been on this forum a lot...i've been up to too many things lately...but i've been reading a lot of topics...they helped us a lot...) So i'm still a new person here))

You can get a visa without a hotel, not a problem. The "invitation" should cost you about $20-$30. You will also need to register it both in Moscow and wherever you are going afterwards. It can be a real pain to do so in Moscow. When registering the visa, be careful what you say. Do not mention that you will be leaving Moscow - they will insist that you don't need to register the visa there (you do), and you will end up paying a fine when you register it in the next city. Also, as of last year, it was taking hotels more than 3 days to register a visa (you have 72 hours to do so). While the visa is being registered, you are subject to fines/bribes.

In any case, it is best to avoid train stations, bus stations, and the Kremlin, where the police generally go looking for bribes and fines.

Well, she won't be registering the visa at a hotel anyway--she'd do it through an agency.

I wouldn't worry about the milicia too much. If you just explain that your visa is currently being registered and you have the stamp in your passport showing when you got there, it won't matter, i don't think. You could also ask them to make a receipt with a stamp when you start the registration process if you're really worried, but it's not a big deal.

And to clarify you don't get invitations from tourist agencies, just "proof" that you "paid" for a "tour."

As said above, just go through one of the agencies with a Moscow office. Pay the $200 or so and once you get there they'll register it for you and you won't have to do much else the whole time.

Truth be told, I wouldn't even worry about registering in Kazan too, but that's just me. You can do it, but as long as your husband keeps his mouth shut (this is one case where you really can tell him to "SHUT UP!" and he should do it) you shouldn't have any problems at all and it'll just look like you stayed in Moscow the whole month. If you want to be on the safe side though, you can have the agency register you in Kazan as well or you can do it through the post office (?, Check with AKDiver, he was just over there about two months ago) just so you're "legal" while there.

For the most part though, as russ said, as long as you avoid the "tourist traps" you're not going to have any problems.

I have done this many times do not send a invitation from russia because you are only staying for a month and it takes on average 45 days to make and then 2 weeks to get in the usa! You only need a invitation from russia for a homestay visa you would also have to send a copy of your passport i have done this before! With a tourist visa just go to way to russia . net pay a small fee and fill out a form and they send you a invitation by email that you can print out to bring or send to the embassy have done this option too! You need to fill out the application, you can fill this form out when you are at the consulate! Also you need to go to cvs to make passport size photos. And you need a cover sheet stating your name and itenery just make up something on microsoft word. The last thing you need is money depending on hoe fast you want the visa. Also ai have found out washington dc is usually the eaiest conslate to go through twice i have driven down there and got here before 1130 paid the 300 dollar processing fee and picked up my visa in the afternoon! The only bad part about a tourist visa is you only have the 30 days ( well it can be up to 32) cannot be extended was depressed when this happened, and if you overstay you can have big problems in russia the same goes with registration you must remember o do that within 3 days of arrival and departure) So the second time i went i had a homestay which is good for 90 days and can be extended Good luck with which ever one you choose it seems long and confusing is very easy and if you an you can always just have a travel agency do everything for you just is more expensive. And both times i went to russia i did nothing until 4 days befoer he trip drove down to washington dc got the visa. the next day i bought aeroflot tickets for two days later jfk to moscow to ufa! So time is no problem at all today is a sunday night you could leave tuesday night if you had to!!!
HAVE FUN