Obtained visas for Russia - not that hard

[kaymoz]

In advance of a cruise later this summer that will include 3 days in St. Petersberg, and in anticipation of other travel to Russia in the next few years, my DH and I arranged for 3 year multiple entry tourist visas. It wasn't as hard as we'd been led to believe.

I found this website helpful as I worked out how to obtain our visas: https://waytorussia.net/Travel/VisaSupport.html

While we could have applied for our visas directly to the Consulate for the Russian Federation, we chose to apply to the Russian Visa Center (Invisa Logistic Services, ILS), which is evidently their official contractor for handling the visa process. While there is a slight additional fee to go this route, it meant that I would not need an appointment to drop off the applications, and I'd read that arranging appointments at the consulate isn't easy. ILS has branch offices in several cities in the US with walk-in services, including ours, so that was a plus.

An "invitation" is required for the visa application, from a "sponsor." If you have a friend in Russia, they could do this for you, but most tourists evidently arrange these invitations through an agent for a small fee. We used the group that ILS suggested, making the arrangements online (with a couple of phone calls for questions -- they were very responsive). Their charge was $25 each, and we had the requisite invitation & voucher in hand within three days.

Next, we completed our visa applications, using an online form. It was very detailed and it took us well over an hour to finish it, mainly because we had to list all the countries we had visited and when. That was the worst part of the whole process!

We printed and signed our completed application forms, and assembled each with a hard copy of the invitation/voucher, a passport photo, and the passport. I made a trip to the ILS office and walked right in to an agent to submit them (with no waiting), fully expecting to be told we had made some mistakes in our paperwork. No problems, the guy said, everything was fine. He carefully glued the photos to the applications, told me exactly when to return to pick up the visas, and sent me to the cashier where I paid $303 each, in cash.

When I returned to collect our passports with our new Russian visas attached, again there was virtually no waiting. I was out of the office in less than 15 minutes!

We started the process with our requests for the invitations on 7 May, turned in the applications to ILS on 14 May, and the visas were ready on 23 May. Overall, obtaining these visas didn't seem as difficult and time consuming as I'd been led to believe, though it was expensive, as we'd been warned. (Evidently the price for the multiple entry visas jumped last year from $193 to $303.) But it will give us the freedom on this upcoming visit to wander freely in the Hermitage (for example) and explore what we want without tourgroup constraints.

[CruiserBruce]

It is easier right now because of the major sports event (World Cup Soccer?) being held in Russia. Russia has loosened the gates some.

 

It could easily reverse after this event, particularly for Americans, given the state of affairs.

[DipBrat]

I don't think world cup has an impact. Ticket holders don't needs visas at all. If you use a visa company the process has always been straightforward if expensive. Americans actually have better access to visas than many other countries (multiple entry for example is standard) due to a bilateral agreement signed when relations were on the upswing.

[Coral]

It also helped that you lived near a Visa Service. I do not. I do not live near a Russian Consulate or Visa Service.

 

I have gotten my Russian Visa 2x for travels to Russia.

[dogs4fun]

I also use ILS but have to pay for the expensive "mail" service as I don't live near a Russian consulate. I don't find it difficult to obtain a Russian visa but mine certainly takes more time to receive than yours (I am currently on my 2nd visa).

Other than the laborious listing of all countries visited, I found the education section particularly frustrating (listing all schools attended with addresses, dates, etc.). In keeping my license current, continuing education is required - it is practically impossible to recall the dates of every university attended over the past 30 years. In any event, I printed a copy of my initial visa application and have used it as crib notes for subsequent visa applications.

[kaymoz]

Yes, I did have a challenge with the education section, since the off-campus program through which I did a masters' degree had been dis-established many years ago so the original address is now OBE. I figured I should use a current address for the university that granted the degree, but which department? That took some online research and phone calls to nail down. But you do raise a good point about how far do we go with reporting education -- do we just list degree-oriented coursework or include every class we have done for self-development, even hobby or exercise classes? I can't imagine they want to know about music classes I did for fun at the community college.

[marylizcat]

Wow! I couldn’t possibly list all countries visited and when! No way can I remember that! No Russian visa for me then.

 

 

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[kaymoz]

At one point someone advised me that listing the visits covered on the current passport would be sufficient, so that was my focus. It was interesting to go back and try to decipher the stamps!

[Coral]

At one point someone advised me that listing the visits covered on the current passport would be sufficient, so that was my focus. It was interesting to go back and try to decipher the stamps!

 

I was advised that also! I also struggled with the Education part having attended multiple schools and some just for a few classes.

[marylizcat]

At one point someone advised me that listing the visits covered on the current passport would be sufficient, so that was my focus. It was interesting to go back and try to decipher the stamps!

Oh, that is not so bad then. I thought I would have to remember 60 years of visits. Recent ones I can still remember, and if it is only ones where the passport was stamped, that is even fewer as many countries don’t stamp the passport.

[kaisatsu]

I keep a file with a running list of travel dates. Not only is it useful for visa applications, but when the IRS audited my tax returns, they asked for a few relevant years of travel history.

 

(Unfortunately they also asked for the time I entered and exited the US! Since it depends on when you actually clear immigration, who even knows that?! I gave them scheduled flight times with a footnote pointing out that it didn’t account for flight delays or immigration queues.)