Russian Visas

[cliffo]

Hi People,

In my trip next year i'm wanting to go to Russia and thought i'd share the info i've obtained on the process of doing so incase anyone else plans to do the same at some time.

To get a visa you are required to obtain visa support from within Russia, be that a hotel or hostel, have your accommodation prebooked and supply your itinerary (with dates) to officials before your visit and this is meant to be done in your home country. Now, for me this isn't possible as i don't know exactly when i'll head to Russia once i land in Europe.

I stumbled across this site http://members.aol.com/imershein/Page4.html#kind and emailed the site admin (Ruth), who emailed me back the following useful information explaining how to obtain a visa for Russia in Latvia or Lithuania (you can also obtain one in Estonia). I have her permission to post the email here:

Probably the easiest place to get a Russian visa is Vilnius, Lithuania or
Riga, Latvia because there are no health insurance requirements, there are
travel agencies with connections in Russia and the consulate there issues
them all the time since a significant portion of the population has ties
to Russia.

In either city, it is my understanding that the way to go is to get the
application online, bring some photos with you and look for a travel
agency near the Russian consulate. A friend got a Russian visa that way
this summer. He went one day and found a company (they were hading out
leaflets to people in line in front of the consulate) and the next day he
went back and picked up the visa. Total cost was $100 and he was able to
register easily in Moscow. This was in Vilnius.

You need the agency to provide the necessary visa support documents. This
generally costs about 15-40$ for a 20-30 day tourist visa.

If you have more time, it can probably be arranged for less money.

If you want to stay longer, it will cost more money. It is getting harder
for travelers to obtain a 90 d business visa. 30 or 90 day visas can be
issued that are double entry but you will need to give outside dates and
explain that you plans to travel and return to Russia are vague.

BTW it is almost impossible now to obtain a 6 or 12 month multiple entry
visa.

Any my final note is DO NOT plan to arrive in Moscow or Petersburg without
housing, at least for the first night or two. There are very limited
inexpensive accommodations and you don't want to be stuck in either city
without some place to stay.

Again I don't know if this is of use to anyone else but i thought i'd post it anyway so that the info is available on the boards for anyone who plans the same kind of thing as me at some point.

cheers guys,

cliffo