Russia Visitor Visa

[baron555 934]

Alla and I have begun to make plans for our triumphant return to Russia as a family. We are looking at next July.

I know that to stay with her at her apartment in Moscow and to travel and stay with the parents in southern Russia, I will need a Visitor's Visa.

Just want to check out my knowledge.

1. I need a letter of invitation from both locations?

2. Can I use the same visa while travelling back and forth in Russia? I know it is single entry only and we will not leave the country during the trip.

3. What if we decide to go to the Black Sea while there and stay in a hotel? Any other requirements for that?

4. What visa services have you used here?

I have downloaded the application form and printed a number of copies doublesided.

Tnx in advance, Phil

[HYENA 4]

Alla and I have begun to make plans for our triumphant return to Russia as a family. We are looking at next July.

I know that to stay with her at her apartment in Moscow and to travel and stay with the parents in southern Russia, I will need a Visitor's Visa.

Just want to check out my knowledge.

1. I need a letter of invitation from both locations?

2. Can I use the same visa while travelling back and forth in Russia? I know it is single entry only and we will not leave the country during the trip.

3. What if we decide to go to the Black Sea while there and stay in a hotel? Any other requirements for that?

4. What visa services have you used here?

I have downloaded the application form and printed a number of copies doublesided.

Tnx in advance, Phil

Russia? Isn't Stalin there? I thought we had an embargo with them! LOL!

[1HappyGuy 45]

I'm curious why you don't apply for a multiple visit visa? Unless it's much to difficult to obtain. It seems that if you plan a Black Sea visit, you will have to insure you only go through Russia and avoid the nice resorts in Ukraine, otherwise your one trip visa will no longer allow re-entry.

To me, it just doesn't make sense why Russia doesn't loosen up its visitation policies. Who doesn't want more tourist dollars these days.

[SMR 368]

Alla and I have begun to make plans for our triumphant return to Russia as a family. We are looking at next July.

I know that to stay with her at her apartment in Moscow and to travel and stay with the parents in southern Russia, I will need a Visitor's Visa.

Just want to check out my knowledge.

1. I need a letter of invitation from both locations?

2. Can I use the same visa while travelling back and forth in Russia? I know it is single entry only and we will not leave the country during the trip.

3. What if we decide to go to the Black Sea while there and stay in a hotel? Any other requirements for that?

4. What visa services have you used here?

I have downloaded the application form and printed a number of copies doublesided.

Tnx in advance, Phil

This is a complicated question since every city in Russia has slightly different registration requirements.

In reality, the visa is the simple part, especially if the duration of your stay is under 30 days. You can use any number of services online and get a visa with essentially no questions asked. It will run around $200, maybe a bit more. If you are pressed for time it costs more. But if you plan ahead expect to pay about $200. It really doesn't even matter where your letter of invitation comes from. I used http://www.russia-visa.com/, but I know there are others available.

If you want to stay longer, you have to get a homestay visa which requires Alla to go and invite you personally. This is more complicated and I haven't done this myself so someone else can advise you better. You can also get a business visa which is more expensive but lasts longer and is multiple entry. This is can also be obtained through an online service but costs more (I don't remember how much).

You shouldn't need separate invitations from different parts of Russia and you shouldn't have to go through any sort of visa control inside the country.

Now, to the difficult part of your question. Registration or, as it recently was renamed in Russia, notification. Although the law is standard everywhere, it is applied slightly differently everywhere. By law, if you will stay in a city for 3 or more days, you must notify the city (OVIR) of your arrival in the first 3 days. You must also notify of your departure within 3 days after your departure. However, you can't do this for yourself. A Russian entity has to do it for you.

In Moscow and St. Petersburg, there are travel agencies that will do the notification for you. If you use an online service to obtain your visa, they will also point you to an agency to register. The agency will collect it's own fee, probably around 1000 rubles. Even if you don't use an online service for the visa, these agencies will still be willing to help you for the same fee. If you need an address, I might be able to get one for you in Moscow.

If you want to save money, the owner of an apartment can register you at his apartment by going directly to the OVIR. There is also a fee but it will probably run about 200 rubles. You may have to go in and then return the next day. You may need passport photos (the rules change all the time). The difficulty with this system is that the person who registered you will have to go back and say that you are gone once you are gone. (The agency has to do this, too. They just ask you at the beginning when you will leave and take care of it for you.)

In Southern Russia, you may be able to find a travel agency or hotel that will register you for a fee. However, going in and registering you at an apartment is also an option. Keep in mind that the further you get from Moscow and St. Petersburg, the less standardized the application of the laws may be. If you go to a hotel, the hotel should take care of registration. Ask about it, but it shouldn't be a problem.

[kylejb 0]

Alla and I have begun to make plans for our triumphant return to Russia as a family. We are looking at next July.

I know that to stay with her at her apartment in Moscow and to travel and stay with the parents in southern Russia, I will need a Visitor's Visa.

Just want to check out my knowledge.

1. I need a letter of invitation from both locations?

2. Can I use the same visa while travelling back and forth in Russia? I know it is single entry only and we will not leave the country during the trip.

3. What if we decide to go to the Black Sea while there and stay in a hotel? Any other requirements for that?

4. What visa services have you used here?

I have downloaded the application form and printed a number of copies doublesided.

Tnx in advance, Phil

Hope I can help answer these....

1) You will NOT need a letter of invitation from both locations. Only one.

2) Yes, as long as you do not leave Russia

3) You have to register your visa while there. However, it is not really necessary. I have been there several times within the last year and register my visa, but if we travel, I don't have to re-register it.

4) The place I have used before is travelvisapro. They are VERY helpful and they take care of EVERYTHING. Including the invitation. I used this service that way I know there are no issues with paper work or anything.

I would get a multi-entry visa. It only cost $250 for this and $39.00 for the consolate fee. It is valid for 1 year. It is only $100 more than the tourist visa, which is only valid for 1 month. That is just my opinion of course.

[AKguy 1]

I used http://www.waytorussia.net/Travel/VisaSupport.html with great success last year in getting a double entry business visa. Fast and simple.

I will be using them again shortly for my New Year trip.

Anna is checking to get me a private visa, but from what I've read it's a PITA and takes awhile, but of course me telling her to just let me get a business visa doesn't work, she wants to take part in the process.

Good luck!

[SMR 368]

Alla and I have begun to make plans for our triumphant return to Russia as a family. We are looking at next July.

I know that to stay with her at her apartment in Moscow and to travel and stay with the parents in southern Russia, I will need a Visitor's Visa.

Just want to check out my knowledge.

1. I need a letter of invitation from both locations?

2. Can I use the same visa while travelling back and forth in Russia? I know it is single entry only and we will not leave the country during the trip.

3. What if we decide to go to the Black Sea while there and stay in a hotel? Any other requirements for that?

4. What visa services have you used here?

I have downloaded the application form and printed a number of copies doublesided.

Tnx in advance, Phil

Hope I can help answer these....

1) You will NOT need a letter of invitation from both locations. Only one.

2) Yes, as long as you do not leave Russia

3) You have to register your visa while there. However, it is not really necessary. I have been there several times within the last year and register my visa, but if we travel, I don't have to re-register it.

4) The place I have used before is travelvisapro. They are VERY helpful and they take care of EVERYTHING. Including the invitation. I used this service that way I know there are no issues with paper work or anything.

I would get a multi-entry visa. It only cost $250 for this and $39.00 for the consolate fee. It is valid for 1 year. It is only $100 more than the tourist visa, which is only valid for 1 month. That is just my opinion of course.

I don't know if it's against the terms of service to lie to Russian police but in regard to question 3, kylejb makes a good point. The simplest thing to do is fly into Moscow and register there for the duration of your stay in Russia (with a travel agency). Then, try not to get stopped by the police in other cities. If you do, remember that you came yesterday on a bus and are leaving tomorrow. Buses don't keep any records of who was on it and they will usually take your ticket leaving you without a stub. This is a good thing. Or you took an intercity taxi. Just remember that this isn't actually following the letter of the Russian law.

[baron555 934]

OK, everyone, the plan is to stay within Russia (for this trip) and a multi-entry may be warranted.

I will be staying in private residences, no hotels unless we do a short quickie down to the Black Sea.

Here is a summary of what I've found:

Russia Homestay Visa also know as Visitor visa. Issued to foreigners who have relatives or friends in Russia, and after enter Russia staying with them, rather than staying at a hotel. For Homestay visa, the period of validity is from one to three months, and the visas have only one entry. Your host in Russia will need to apply for an official invitation (IZVESHCHENIE) on your behalf from Russian local authorities (OVIR).

Tnx Tim for your help. We would plan to be in Moscow for about a week and then a week or slightly longer in Kislovodsk and then back to Moscow for a few days and then come home. We would train it back and forth between cities. We will have the little one with us, so this trip will be mainly for them to revisit and for me to personally meet the family and friends rather than on Skype or photos.

[1HappyGuy 45]

Sounds like you have it under control. If going to the Black Sea, try to book accommodations early as the best places fill up fast.

I'm sure you'll have a great time.

[Oksana81 0]

Just few tips:

1. Homestay visa is valid for 90 days and it takes 2-3 months for local OVIR to issue an invitation ("Priglashenie", not "izveshchenie") upon request of a Russian citizen living and working in Russia. Once the official invitation is issued, someone needs to mail you an original document which you will take to the Russian Embassy/Consulate.

2. It is much faster to get a Tourist visa which is valid for 30 days and can be a single or a double entry. Beauty of a tourist visa is that you can get it as fast as in 1 day through a travel agency accredited with the Embassy/Consulate.

Good luck!

[baron555 934]

Just few tips:

1. Homestay visa is valid for 90 days and it takes 2-3 months for local OVIR to issue an invitation ("Priglashenie", not "izveshchenie") upon request of a Russian citizen living and working in Russia. Once the official invitation is issued, someone needs to mail you an original document which you will take to the Russian Embassy/Consulate.

2. It is much faster to get a Tourist visa which is valid for 30 days and can be a single or a double entry. Beauty of a tourist visa is that you can get it as fast as in 1 day through a travel agency accredited with the Embassy/Consulate.

Good luck!

But can I stay with a private family at their residence with a Tourist Visa?

[ZorValachan 0]

Alla and I have begun to make plans for our triumphant return to Russia as a family. We are looking at next July.

I know that to stay with her at her apartment in Moscow and to travel and stay with the parents in southern Russia, I will need a Visitor's Visa.

Just want to check out my knowledge.

1. I need a letter of invitation from both locations?

2. Can I use the same visa while travelling back and forth in Russia? I know it is single entry only and we will not leave the country during the trip.

3. What if we decide to go to the Black Sea while there and stay in a hotel? Any other requirements for that?

4. What visa services have you used here?

I have downloaded the application form and printed a number of copies doublesided.

Tnx in advance, Phil

Also, make sure that your printer does not leave off the bottom line or such and do NOT 'shrink to fit'. I did both and had both returned to me and told to do it again.

Also, depending on what cities you visit, it may cause a problem if you try for a tourist visa instead of a 'homestay' visa (friends-family). Homestay requires the people you will stay with to fill out forms (can take up to 3 months to process). Former 'Closed cities' are still tough on foreigners. Moscow/Peterberg are cakewalks

[ZorValachan 0]

If you stay at any place/city 3 or more days you need to register with the police. Officially registered Hotels normally do this. 3 days INCLUDES the first day of arrival. Even if you arrive at 11:59:59 pm on a Wednesday, you have to be registered before the police is closed on Friday. And they have different hours for each day in which they are open. Otherwise fine-bribes.

Sometimes the form that you must fill out are not at the police station, but instead at the post office. If you do not stay at the same place (passing through) keep train/plane tickets to prove you did not stay at 1 place.

One the visa application write ALL cities you will visit. Then the one visa will allow you to go to all of these.

[ZorValachan 0]

Just few tips:

1. Homestay visa is valid for 90 days and it takes 2-3 months for local OVIR to issue an invitation ("Priglashenie", not "izveshchenie") upon request of a Russian citizen living and working in Russia. Once the official invitation is issued, someone needs to mail you an original document which you will take to the Russian Embassy/Consulate.

2. It is much faster to get a Tourist visa which is valid for 30 days and can be a single or a double entry. Beauty of a tourist visa is that you can get it as fast as in 1 day through a travel agency accredited with the Embassy/Consulate.

Good luck!

But can I stay with a private family at their residence with a Tourist Visa?

It depends on the police man's mood that day. I went in Feb. on a tourist visa. Stayed in apartment. Police said I should have got the homestay visa and would not accept my registering. At least 1/2 of my trip was going every day to this police station/post office/calling agencies to correct it and worrying I would get arrested.

I finally did it through the postal system. but left my 'receipt' at the apartment when I left. It caused me to get hauled to the police station when I tried to leave the city.

Then again, I was in a former 'Closed City'

At Moscow they looked at the blank paper shrugged and motioned me to pass.

[Oksana81 0]

Just few tips:

1. Homestay visa is valid for 90 days and it takes 2-3 months for local OVIR to issue an invitation ("Priglashenie", not "izveshchenie") upon request of a Russian citizen living and working in Russia. Once the official invitation is issued, someone needs to mail you an original document which you will take to the Russian Embassy/Consulate.

2. It is much faster to get a Tourist visa which is valid for 30 days and can be a single or a double entry. Beauty of a tourist visa is that you can get it as fast as in 1 day through a travel agency accredited with the Embassy/Consulate.

Good luck!

But can I stay with a private family at their residence with a Tourist Visa?

yes, you can. Registration is now done by mail at any local post office. No more going to the OVIR or local police to register. It's a relatively new rule that went into effect 2 years ago.