Way to Russia Talk Lounge

kath1 · Just Starting Joined: 12 Aug 2009 Posts: 1

Hi guys,
I'm in a bit of a pickle here regarding Russian visas and wondered if someone could help me. I'm a British national in Shanghai and in 6 weeks I'm planning to take the trans-Mongolian train direct from Ulan Baatar to Moscow. I wanted to spend 2 nights in Moscow and a night in St. Petersburg, before heading off to either Finland or Estonia on the bus.
I wanted to go on a Russian transit visa- I can technically get a tourist visa as I'm a Chinese resident but my boyfriend who's travelling with me is only on a Chinese 90 day tourist visa. I've heard you can get a Russian tourist visa without Chinese residency in Shanghai rather that Beijing, but am not sure whether this information is outdated.
I was wondering how easy it was to get a Russian transit visa in Ulan Baatar, whether it lasts for 10 days, and whether we can make a stop in St. Petersburg as well as Moscow (or do we just have to get out of there as soon as possible?).
We were thinking of sending my boyfriend's visa down to Hong Kong to get a Russian tourist visa there, but aren't sure whether you can do that by post or whether you need to be there in person (I know Monkey Shrine in Beijing do a postal service but we need to book a tour with them which we don't really have to money for).
All in all I don't know what to do. I'm determined to make this trip, but am worried it will be difficult for us to get transit visas in Mongolia and we'll ust be stuck there. If Moscow is the only possibility with a transit visa, we can skip St. Petersburg.
Heeeeeeellllp!!!

Listvianka · Frequent Guest Joined: 29 Jan 2008 Posts: 46

Good luck .