Going to Russia in December (hopefully)

[Pupsik 4]

The wifey and I are trying to plan a trip to Russia over the holiday/New year. We are still about 2 weeks away from our interview but hoping for the best. This is the only time that we have time to go and her grandmother is not in the best health. So the time is now. Maybe the plane tickets and plans can be used as evidence of a bonafide relationship???

Im totally lost with getting a tourist visa for the trip. We will be staying with her (our) family so we have no hotel reservations or itinerary.

I am trying to fill out the online forms to get the process rolling but it is asking for tourist reference numbers and company name. we have none of this. Am I missing something??

maybe this should be in the Russian Forum???

[Pinenut 1]

For any Russian visa, you need an official invitation (confirmation and voucher). You can get this invitation and the reference numbers online or by fax through many tour agencies that work with Russia. You could use http://www.waytorussia.net/Travel/VisaSupport.html and click "get it online now". My friends have used that site and their visas went through just fine. If you don't live near a consulate or don't have time to stand around in Russian lines, you would probably benefit from using a tour agency for the visa anyway since you can't send applications to the consulate by post anymore.

[ONA 133]

Go on the Russian embassy website.

Actually... here is the link: http://www.russianembassy.org/Embassy_eng/Consulate/tourist_visa.html

They have the links on the agencies' websites right there. Pick one (my husband always used travisarussia.com), you can fill out the visa application form right on the agency website and get a voucher from them if you pay a little extra. Russian visa is very easy to get - you just need to pay some money and you'll be fine.

The voucher doesn't mean that you're going to stay in the hotel. My husband has been to Russia 3 times and he was always staying in the apartment with me.

[Pupsik 4]

thanks much...ill check those out tonight!

[Pupsik 4]

thanks much...ill check those out tonight!

[Pupsik 4]

Go on the Russian embassy website.

Actually... here is the link: http://www.russianembassy.org/Embassy_eng/Consulate/tourist_visa.html

They have the links on the agencies' websites right there. Pick one (my husband always used travisarussia.com), you can fill out the visa application form right on the agency website and get a voucher from them if you pay a little extra. Russian visa is very easy to get - you just need to pay some money and you'll be fine.

The voucher doesn't mean that you're going to stay in the hotel. My husband has been to Russia 3 times and he was always staying in the apartment with me.

so i just have to fill out like i am staying in a hotel? i thought i read somewhere that I could be stopped and have my papers inspected. Would it look bad if I had a visa that said i was staying in a hotel but had no reservations??

[ONA 133]

so i just have to fill out like i am staying in a hotel? i thought i read somewhere that I could be stopped and have my papers inspected. Would it look bad if I had a visa that said i was staying in a hotel but had no reservations??

I'm pretty sure my husband was filling it out like he was going to stay at my address, cause that's the only address he knew in Russia.

Then there was a question somewhere "What cities are you going to visit?" or something like that - he was always writing "Moscow, Voronezh", cause he was flying to Moscow and then staying in Voronezh. Then he would just send it all out like that and the agency was taking care of it. And every time when he was getting his papers back, he had a visa in his passport and a voucher for hotels in both Moscow and Voronezh. We never used the vouchers, we never had any hotel reservations and nobody ever looked at them neither at the customs, nor at the OVIR when I registered him.

[Pupsik 4]

nor at the OVIR when I registered him.

how does that all work?

[ONA 133]

how does that all work?

It's explained here: http://www.fms.gov.ru/useful/migrate/index_eng.php

They have instructions in both English and Russian. It's not as hard as it seems actually

[Pupsik 4]

one more question Ona....about how long does the whole process take from application to receiving the visa??