Way to Russia Talk Lounge Q&A Forum - Recent questions tagged russian-visa

Visa Support questions; arriving via cruise

Tue, 02 May 2017 19:26:23 +0000

We will be arriving in St. Petersburg on a cruise on July 18 and leaving on July 19. We don't want to do the organized tours through the cruise company. We want to get a tourist visa and see the city independently. We will sleep on the ship.

I assume we need a multiple entry visa and we will have to go through immigration each time we leave and return to the ship. Is this correct?

On the request form for visa support (for multiple entry), it is asking for travel dates (1st entry, 1st exit, 2nd entry, and 2nd exit). I'm a little unclear on how exactly I should do this. Should I complete it like this:

Entry 1: July 18
Exit 1: July 18
Entry 2: July 19
Exit 2: July 19

I am confused if this is the way to do it or a single entry would suffice simply with an Entry date of July 18 and exit date of July 19.

Visa questions for cruise ship arrival in St. Petersburg

Tue, 02 May 2017 19:24:53 +0000

If my passport expires in January 2019, can I apply for the multi entry tourist visa?

Sun, 19 Mar 2017 15:01:16 +0000

We don't really plan to go back to Russia, but the single entry and multi entry are the same price. For a multi entry do I just make my date of exit 6 months before my passport expires?

Business Visa for Freelance Purpose

Wed, 30 Nov 2016 15:47:12 +0000

Hello,

I want to travel to Russia to work as a freelancer, i traveled to Russia before many time but was for study and tourism. I should hold the Business Visa prior for acquiring the job offer in Russia so most probably i will not be able to get an invitation from a Russian Company to issue the visa.

What kind of visa should i go for and can Way to Russia support me in issuing such a kind of Visa?

Regards,
Mohamed

My passport expires 5 months and 2 weeks before my proposed exit date, can I still get a visa?

Sat, 26 Nov 2016 21:19:30 +0000

Hello!

My finance and I are getting married in 5 weeks, but when applying for my visa I've seen that my passport actually expires in late June. All of our application forms and other documents have been notarized, copied and approved by zags. We've also made our holiday and travel arrangements (Zags approved the forms yesterday, Friday 25th of November) They are expecting me to arrive on the 23rd of December to prepare for the wedding which is on of the 30th of December.
Is there anything that can be done to apply for my visa?

Please, if there is anything that can be done to help- I'm not sure what to do now!

Thank you very much!

Long term visa

Wed, 16 Nov 2016 14:54:14 +0000

Hello Way To Russia, I hope you can help me, I have a unique situation. I am a Canadian female riding a motorcycle around the world on a self-guided route which includes Russia. The easiest visa I can apply for is a tourist visa, which only gives me 30 days in Russia. I need much more time than that as I am writing a book and documenting this trip in every aspect. I cannot ride my motorcycle safely across Russia in only 30 days. 60 days would be better, 90 days perfect.

I understand i can apply for a private visa and perhaps have some friends invite me but this takes time, paperwork and is costly.

I am not travelling into Russia until the summer of 2017 BUT I need to apply for the visa BEFORE leaving my country of citizenship, which is Canada. I am starting the second part of my world tour before Christmas, so I really need this visa BEFORE Christmas this year.

My thought was to try and apply for the Long-Term or Business visa. My question to you is, in your experience, how successful do you think I will be applying for a business visa? I have no contacts in Russia to do with business BUT I am including Russia in my book (I am a professional writer with many published stories). I can say I'm using the trip to RESEARCH my book and perhaps I can find a conference or two to attend in the country.

Do you think this will be a good enough reason to apply for the business visa or do you have doubts and can you suggest something, anything, that can get me more time in Russia and is something I can do quickly because of my time frame.

Thank you very much for your help and advice.

Heather
ridingfullcircle.com
ridingfullcircle@gmail.com

Can your service apply for a business visa for Canadian citizens?

Fri, 16 Sep 2016 09:20:02 +0000

Business Visa - providing details

Fri, 20 May 2016 05:15:34 +0000

Dear forum members and waytorussia team,

I am having difficulties with acquiring an invitation, support letter for a 12 month business visa.
While proceeding on this very website (12 months multi-entry; 21 working days; no telex; 139$ model) I am being asked about the company I am going to visit plus phone number and name of contact person.

However, I am not aware of these business opportunities yet. To explore them is what my business visa is meant for.

Does anyone here have some ideas or suggestions please.

My initial thoughts were that I will be provided with such company on the invitation. But seemingly not.

I kindly ask for an answer by some of the staff and/or forum members with knowledge.

Thank you in advance

Tourist Visa Question- Previous Visits

Fri, 29 Apr 2016 21:24:45 +0000

Hi there-

I am unsure about a part of the tourist visa application. I have been issued two Russian visas in the past, and there is a part of the application that asks "When and where" they have been issued. My visas say when they were issued, but not where, so I am not sure how to answer that part. Both times I applied for my visas through a travel company, so I never went to a consulate to have them issued. Help appreciated!

Kasey

Mutliple-Entry "Business" Visa, from UK - How do I go about this?

Wed, 06 Apr 2016 07:50:13 +0000

I am based in the UK, and visited Moscow over New Year's 2015-16, on a single-entry tourist visa. A Russian friend of mine is moving back there soon, and I would like to visit her whenever I can. Is it a relatively easy procedure to obtain a long-term multiple-entry business visa to do this? What steps would I need to take?

Thanks for your time.

Tourist Visa Request

Sat, 02 Apr 2016 05:21:26 +0000

I did a visa request on Thursday, Russian Tourist Visa SSSD-3131611115373-46581DB44-RC, i pay 27euro on my visa card and i was suppose to receive it on 24hours but i didn’t,
To take care off all my issues in Russian embassy i need that documents i wanna know what is going on with it because im getting out of time to get everything done for my journey

Visa for Chinese Passport

Wed, 30 Mar 2016 16:08:57 +0000

Hi there, my friends and I are heading to Russia for holiday. I would like to apply the tourist visa voucher via your link. One of them has a Chinese Passport and I couldn't find that on your drop down list of citizenship?

Can you please advise?

Thank you.

Visa for Crimea

Wed, 30 Mar 2016 07:02:28 +0000

Hi. I am from Australia. I am planning a trip to Crimea. In the online form (http://waytorussia.net/Services/VisaSupport/Tourist.html?Submit=Get+It+Online+Now), where I select up to 5 cities from the list, there are no Crimean cities available to choose from.

I'm not sure what to do! Hope you can please help! :)
Thank you

Can I apply a visa in other country?

Tue, 29 Mar 2016 01:03:58 +0000

Hi. I am a Filipino citizen from the Philippines. I am planning to have a tour in Russia specifically in Moscow. But I am working in Thailand. Is it possible to apply for a Russian Visa in the Russian Consulate here in Thailand given that I already have the Russian Visa Support? Thanks.

Russian Tourist Visa in Ulaanbaatar Mongolia for Switzerland Citizens?

Sun, 20 Mar 2016 12:28:47 +0000

Lonely Planet says in its Mongolia guidebook that "some" countries cannot get a Russian tourist visa in Ulaanbaatar/Mongolia - only a transit visa. It says nothing about Swiss citizens. Because we want to continue from Mongolia to Vladivostok to take the ferry to South Korea, a transit visa might be to short.

Can I apply for a multy-entry business visa if I visited Russia before with a guided tour from a cruise ship? Thanks

Thu, 17 Mar 2016 13:56:42 +0000

Malfunction on your Business visa support page

Thu, 10 Mar 2016 21:04:10 +0000

Hi,

Several times today I have tried to apply for support documents for a 30-day single-entry Business visa on your site. After selecting the 7 day delivery opinion at $125, I have completed the entire form. Upon clicking Submit, it keeps rejecting the submission because it says that the email address has not been entered, but it has been entered and it is correct.

I have had to find another service, but it would be good for the future if you fix this bug.

BTW... My browser in Google Chrome.

Will Russia allow me to have Tri-citizenship?

Thu, 03 Mar 2016 14:18:31 +0000

I am an American male and I have dual citizenship to two countries. I have passport to both countries. USA is my homeland and Iran(because my birth father is from Iran)

I have always wanted to live in Russia for a long time and it has been 5-6 years overdue (Either the city of Moscow or St Petersburg). I have a big passion for the culture, and I want to have a fresh start by going to school there and I can work as an English teacher until I am able to open up an establishment in Russia.

My main questions are:

1. I want to know how much it will cost for me to move to Russia and I want to know how I can immigrate there without much problems.

2. If I wanted to obtain permanent residence and get Russian citizenship, will I have to surrender my two passports to USA & Iran?

I read somewhere that if you want to become a full russian citizen, you have to give up your original citizenship and you must know fluent russian(that is why I am taking the time to learn russian at my own pace). will marrying a russian woman give me a little more leeway to not surrendering my citizenship to 2 other countries? will Russia allow me to be a tri-citizen?

I would like to know for more information and information that is to the best of your knowledge. thank you

12 Month Business Multiple Entry visa for Canadian citizen

Tue, 01 Mar 2016 09:33:23 +0000

Hello!

I am curious about a few things:

1. How long is the processing time normally? I have already had 5 tourist visas to the same place I will be going with the business visa
2. At the moment, I don't have an actual company I have to work for. I am an English teacher and I am going there to study russian and figure out if there is a market for teaching english.
What should I put in the "Traveller Employment Information" section and/or the organization I will be working with. If worst comes to worst, I have a company will to take me on there.
3. Any other suggestions?

Thank you!!!

Business Visa for 12 months

Fri, 19 Feb 2016 10:06:36 +0000

I am an American student who is planning to study in Russia, and my situation is a little complicated: I have been accepted to study the Russian language in Petersburg from June 20 to August 15 this summer, and I am waiting on the results for my application for an archival research grant in Russia from September to May afterwards--but I wont know if this application would be successful until April. If I receive the grant, I would like to travel to Russia for June 2016 to May 2017 (June to August-- language, September to May--research). But, if I don't receive the grant, then I would like to only go from June to August. And so I am trying to decide what I should apply for, in order for these options to work.

I was thinking that I should apply for a 12-month single or double entry visa (this will be my first trip to Russia, so I can't apply for a multi-entry visa, right?). But, I couldn't find that option on this site: http://waytorussia.net/Services/VisaSupport/Business.html?Submit=Get+It+Online+Now
If I can't apply for the 12 month, would it be possible to renew the visa or apply for two visas (the 3 month single-entry visa followed by a 12 month multi-entry?).

Essentially, this trip is actually two trips: language study (June to August), and research (September to May). The former is assured, and the latter is still up in the air.

Regarding invitations, are they to be provided by the institutions that I will affiliated with, or by the places where I will be living (landlord or hotel)?

If the institutions, should the language institute (for the first part of the trip (May to August) provide the invitation? The latter (research) will be at GIII (State Institute of Art History at St. Petersburg); should they provide the invitation?

Should I receive the research grant, I would like to do research in both Petersburg and in Moscow. Do I need separate invitations and do I need to register for both cities?

Sorry for the long and complicated message!
Thank you so much for your help!

EDIT: Since the chances of receiving the research grant are pretty slim would the following work:

Feb/Mar: Apply for VISA to study language and to do a little research from May to August (3 month business visa).

April: I will receive news of the research grant. If I receive it: apply for a 12 month business visa to do research in Petersburg and Moscow from September to May. If I don't receive the grant: I won't apply for the second visa.

I think that this is a better plan than what I mentioned above, do you think that this could work?

Americans/Australians applying for a Russian Visa in Riga/Tallinn?

Thu, 18 Feb 2016 04:39:54 +0000

Hi we're looking for the quickest possible processing time for Russian visas in Europe. We're EU residents (not citizens) and our local consulate uses VHS to do all of the application work. They have a minimum 10 day turnaround and only count 3 working days a week. Has anyone (esp. American/Australian) had faster visa processing elsewhere?

Any help is appreciated?

Changes in cities listed on tourist confirmation

Thu, 04 Feb 2016 16:09:00 +0000

I am staying 8 nights in Moscow then 7 in St Petersburg then 14 in Moscow. If my plans change and the last 14 are spent in Kostroma what do I need to do? Will it be a big problem?

I need a invetation fro Russian visa for Vietnam citizen

Mon, 04 Jan 2016 00:45:04 +0000

I need a tourist invetation for Vietnam citizen what plan to come at Russia from Netherlands.
I not founded Vietnam at "Personal details " -> "Citizenship:" input box. Is that possible case?
Also can that man take Business visa at Netherlands if he have only tourist Shengen visa.

Best visa option for long stay?

Fri, 18 Dec 2015 10:35:00 +0000

I am going on a business trip for 6 months early next year and I am trying to figure out the most preferable visa to allow my girlfriend to be able to move out there with me (neither of us have been to Russia before and never applied for a visa). It is tricky as work is completely doing my work permit so I am not too sure on the procedure either.
We have been told a private (or guest) visa will be the best option when speaking to the consulate for advise but I just wanted to see if this is the best option.
I have read on this site that you can chose visa types based on cost, length of application, etc. and a business visa has been mentioned a lot, the type of stay you actually plan on doing doesn't matter as long as the paperwork ties up. However I have been led to believe that this type of visa requires the person to have a certain amount of backup cash in the bank per day they plan to visit (example: say £100 a day for 10 days, therefore requiring £1000 to be granted the visa).

Thanks

Mark

Is it true that a multiple entry visa is only available for people who have been issued a Russian visa before?

Thu, 15 Oct 2015 08:52:03 +0000

Hi,

I'm entering and leaving Russia twice, by train, in a period of 4 or 5 months, so I can't use a double-entry business visa for 3 months... And if I'm correct a double-entry business visa for 6 months does not exist... So my only option seems to be a multiple-entry business visa for 6 or 12 months. But now I read that this is only available for people who have been issued a Russian visa before... Is this correct? And if so, is there any way around this? Is there a solution for my problem?

Kind regards,

Sam

When to expect purchased visa support document

Thu, 10 Sep 2015 16:15:03 +0000

Hi - I used your great site to purchase two visa support letters (one transaction) two days ago. My $60 payment went through, I got an email from the company that the payment was received, but I have not received my support letters. Based on your website, I expected them 24 hours later. I have tried to email and call the company to learn when I can expect the letters, but have not been able to make contact. These days, it is very easy to be distrustful of internet transactions, especially when they do not occur as you expect and when you cannot reach someone to help you. Is it normal for this process to take more than 24 hours? How much longer? Anything you can do to help me understand when the invitations will arrive or how I can make contact with the company would be much appreciated. Thank you very much!

Indian Citizenship

Wed, 09 Sep 2015 07:53:19 +0000

Hi,

I am trying to buy an invitation but when I proceed to select my citizenship (Indian) from the list in the form it doesnt give me an option for an Indian citizen. Can someone let me know why this is?
Thanks.

can't figure out how to enter dates for double entry visa

Sat, 29 Aug 2015 17:32:21 +0000

I'm trying to fill in this form for the visa support document, but don't know how to enter the dates for each of the entries (double entry). I've tried several combinations, but it keeps telling me the dates are not valid. I want to go for a short visit in November of this year, and again next year. Can someone tell me how to do this correctly?

which russian visa is best for me ? and how to get it?

Wed, 24 Jun 2015 23:17:25 +0000

hi everyone ,

i am a student from india and i have never gone outside india , and i have a girlfriend in russia and i am so deeply in love with her and now my passport is ready and i want to go to russia for at least 20-30 days . so can you please tell me which visa is best for me ? which i can get easily ...

Regards

Non latin characters in name

Wed, 10 Jun 2015 14:46:37 +0000

My name contains an ö character: Lövgren

This is printed in my name in the normal name entry in my passport like this: LÖVGREN

In the Visa application form on visa.kdmid.ru however I am asked to enter a version of my name without the Ö, which is printed on the bottom of the page in my passport, like this: LOEVGREN

Which version of the name should go in the invitation letter, LÖVGREN or LOEVGREN?

Best Visa in my situation

Fri, 22 May 2015 05:48:27 +0000

I returned from 2 weeks from Russia 22nd March 2015. I got engaged and now her sister is getting married in late June and we thought we would do the safe way as apply for personal visa as I’m going only over for 9 days. Looks like we are running out of time to get this in before i fly out, unless she takes time off work, sends original to Australia express, which is $$$ and pay extra to process it faster as its cutting it fine.

Question: visiting my girl, going to her sister wedding, what visa I should get.
Note I have fully paid for hotel for all the nights apart from the last 2.
the last 2 nights are in a location where the reception will be hard to obtain a tourist visa invite as they are very old school and no English, and will pay on arrival. Single entry only required for 9 days, from Australia.

Question: The best visa? If Tourist visa too soon after last? Length of stay and wedding may influence it being a tourist even tho whole time will be at hotels. Only ever held 1 tourist visa before which was my march trip.

Question : How can i get a invite letter for the last 2 nights, i can for all the days as it’s as the same place, is MAX 2 invites for tourist correct?
What’s the safest option?
Note our proposed marriage has been lodged with Australian immigration from where i will be departing from to attend her sister’s wedding in Moscow. She is still living and working in moscow until this is finished.
Thanks for any advice, hope it’s enough info for best option as I need this visa soon
Thanks

Why are Russian Business Visas SO expensive for UK Citizens?

Sun, 17 May 2015 11:35:07 +0000

I am currently planning a return trip on the Trans-Siberian railway to Asia and back. As I will be entering Russia twice over a 6 month period, I will require a multiple entry business visa. However this visa is vastly more expensive for UK Citizens (£200 standard service) compared to £30 for most other EU countries. Do you know why this is and asides from getting a transit visa on the return leg (I'd prefer not to have to spend so much time on a train in one go), do you know of anyways around having to fork out so much money? Many thanks

Applying VISA outside of home country - where is the best/fastest?

Sat, 16 May 2015 15:20:02 +0000

Hello,
I am planning to travel to Russia in less than two weeks. However I have encountered many difficulties and I am just one step away from getting the VISA.

I currently have:
application (will be filled very quickly)
4 passport sized photos
Air tickets in and out of Russia
a valid Passport of Japan
cash for application
invitation letter
Hotel voucher
Tour voucher

My question is: In Europe, where is the most efficient place to acquire visa within 3 days. Money is not the problem, I need the visa since all bookings are made in advance. I have heard that in Lithuania it is speedy to have visa issued for Japanese citizen. Or if possible I would like to know where I can have my visa problem resolved, may it be UK, Croatia, Poland, etc... Thus I would like to confirm with you before hand.

Thank you very much for your patience and answer!!

Michael

Russian Transit Visa from Tbilisi for UK citizens?

Wed, 08 Apr 2015 01:32:26 +0000

Hello,

Does anyone know if it is possible for UK citizens to obtain a Russian Transit visa from the consulate in Tbilisi, Georgia? We are currently in Armenia so obtaining one here may also be an option but we are really struggling to find any information on this.

We plan to drive from Georgia to Kazakhstan in 2 days.

Any help or advice greatly appreciated

Emma

Russian Visa Registration - Staying in hotels + friend's house

Sun, 05 Apr 2015 14:21:37 +0000

Hi, I'm quite confused about the whole visa registration process. I'm planning on taking two friends to Vladivostok, Khabarovsk, Irkutsk and Moscow in June - the whole trip will most likely last around 16-17 days. One of them is a UK citizen, another is a citizen of Hong Kong. In Vladivostok, Khabarovsk and Irkutsk we plan to stay at hotels - in Moscow, on the other hand, they'll be staying at a friend's house.

Would it be necessary to register them if they're staying at a friend's house in Moscow for longer than 7 days? If so, where should they be registered?

Are there any loopholes in this process? Does they need private visas in this case? Or can they get tourist visas and still stay at a friend's house when they get to Moscow?

UK citizens need to get Russian tourist visa in Australia / China

Thu, 26 Mar 2015 15:40:47 +0000

We're a couple of British citizens who have been travelling for seven months. We will spend a month in Australia from 12 April, a few days in Beijing then get the trans-Sib train to Moscow. Will be in Russia for about 2 weeks. What's the best way of getting a tourist visa? Can we follow your guide and turn up at the Russian embassy / consulate in Sydney / Canberra with the relevant docs & photos? Thanks in advance!

I can't select 'Malaysia' from the dropdown menu for 'Citizenship'. How do I fix this?

Mon, 23 Mar 2015 07:44:39 +0000

I am a Malaysian applying for a tourist Russian visa through your website.
However, while I can select 'Malaysia' for the 'Country applying in:' field, there is no option for 'Malaysia' under the Citizenship field.

Please advise.

Russian visa outside home country

Sun, 22 Mar 2015 03:18:53 +0000

We will be leaving Australia more than 90 days before we start our Trans Siberian Train trip to Beijing from Moscow. We contacted a visa agent in London to organise getting visas for Russia, Mongolia and China when we arrive in the UK in 6 weeks time, only to be informed that the Russian and Chinese Embassy's only issue visas to residents of the UK. We have paid for the train trip, and flights out of Beijing back to Australia, plus various hotels along the way. If we can't get the visas, it looks like we will have lost the lot ! Any advise would be gratefully received, Thanks.

Business Visa Inquiries

Thu, 19 Mar 2015 20:11:48 +0000

There are several questions I’d like to ask here. To give a quick overview of the situation, my fiancée is currently pregnant and living in Russia—it was a bit of a surprise for us as we hadn’t been planning to tackle the whole immigration thing for another year now, but it’s made the issue of a Russian visa all the more important (before we had been meeting in Chile where her parents live and we both have visa-free travel).

Initially I had wanted to secure a three year visa since that’s the most economical and would allow us to more easily travel back and forth as needed. To this end she suggested I get a business visa and secured me an invitation from a friend at another company, which I currently have in hand. There are several issues that worry me though:

First, the dates I initially requested for the invitation were the beginning of May to the end of August—123 days. We had thought that the “six month validity” meant that you could stay for up to six months, but as I understand it now it rather means that it allows you a stay of up to 90 days within a six month period. So, would this request cause the visa to be rejected, or would the embassy simply restrict the amount to no more than 90 days and still approve it? I already have the invitation in my hands with the official seal stamped to it, so I can’t really make any changes at this point.

Second, I’d read that a multi-entry business visa is more likely to be scrutinized and rejected if the person hasn’t previously received and respected a Russian visa and thus has some sort of history for them to go off of. Would it be more likely to succeed if I applied for a single-entry visa? While it’s not as effective, my primary concern right now is to just be able to be there with her rather than getting the best value.

Third, if my application is rejected, can I apply again immediately, say for a tourist visa instead? We admittedly tried to get a tourist visa for my fiancée to come to the US but the American consulate rejected her, and a contact she had at the embassy stated that while you can reapply as soon as you want, once you’re rejected they’ll basically keep on rejecting you unless something significantly changes your case (or the interviewer just really decides they like you), so you basically have to wait six months or so before re-applying. I’m wondering if it isn’t the same for Russian visas, where once they decide to reject you they aren’t going to seriously look at your case again until so much time has passed.

Last, as a more general curiosity, how often does the Russian embassy actually call people in for interviews?

Visa registration less than 7 days

Tue, 17 Mar 2015 07:30:01 +0000

I am planning a trip to Russia (Moscow and StP) that will be less than 7 business days in total. Will I at any point need to register my visa? If not, does it matter what hotel I select when applying for visa support via your website? And I would assume I don't need to pay for the extra registration service you offer?

Reason I ask is that I am planning on using airbnb but have not got round to selecting a place but would like to get my visa organised.

Visa for the conference in Russia

Mon, 16 Mar 2015 15:44:16 +0000

Visa of which type is needed when one is invited to participate scientific conference in Russia and give a talk there? The invited speaker is not going to be paid for his participation. The institution which invites him will not provide any visa support. Is it legal to apply for visa via waytorussia.net web site?

Visa registration when travelling by train

Mon, 16 Mar 2015 11:56:18 +0000

Hi,

I am planning to travel the Trans Mongolian this summer. For obtaining a visa, I would like to use your invitation system. But how often do I need to register my visum then? The total stay in Russia will exceed the 7 working days.

You usally let your hotel arrange this for you, but when you sleep in a train, this is not possible. Do I need to go to the police at every stop or will one validation by the visa issuing company will sufficient?

What about when I have been given two phone numbers?

Sun, 15 Mar 2015 00:24:57 +0000

One number is in the email with their address etc. The phone number on the official tourist invitation is different. I'm assuming this is the one I should use though coz it's on the official document?

When I fill out the Visa Application Form, what phone number do I put down for the hotel?

Sat, 14 Mar 2015 01:07:52 +0000

I am filling out my visa application. The phone number from the "inviting company" is different to the phone number on my official tourist invitation which is also different to the phone number on the hotel website.

Which phone number do I use?

Applying for a visa away from a consulate or application center in US?

Sun, 08 Mar 2015 16:42:01 +0000

I do not live near any of the major consulates, embassy's, or visa application centers and I am applying for my visa. I am assuming I will have to print out my visa and mail it in, but I also have to mark down where it will be processed here in the states (QUESTION: Select the location where you will be applying for your visa). Does it matter which location I select since I won't be able to go there in person? Or should I select "Embassy of Russia in United States"?

Russian Tourist Visa for Indian Citizen

Sat, 07 Mar 2015 00:04:22 +0000

I want to travel to Volgograd, Russia and I would like to know the procedure to obtain the tourist voucher. I tried buying it from your site but it doesn't shows the option for Indian citizenship. Other than the tourist voucher, what documents do I need? Do you have any suggestions for Indian Travel Agency to do the procedure for me?

Pinakin

Dual citizenship and Russian visa

Thu, 05 Mar 2015 22:01:10 +0000

Hello everyone,
I am russian citizen, was born in Russia and still have my parents in Moscow. In addition to that, when I moved with my wife to New York I did not drop my housing record (propiska) in Moscow, so for russian authorities I am considered "temporarily away from Russia". Recently I have received US citizenship based on refuge status. Now I feel totaly lost, because I need to travel to Russia often and I don't know what kind of visa I need to get or, I don't need any visa since I have both US and Russian passports. As I understand I can use russian passport to enter and leave Russia, but how russian and US authorities will react on the fact that I don't have a visa?
It would be very helpful if you can clarify this for me.

Russian Visa, Dual Citizenship, Travel Agencies vs Consulate

Thu, 05 Mar 2015 21:53:49 +0000

Hi, I was wondering if someone could shed some light on this. It is my understanding that if you were born in Russia but left before 1992 you're not a citizen of Russia but still have to provide proof of this when applying for visa. If you left after 1992, you are a citizen no matter what, and will not get a Russian visa unless you renounce your citizenship.

Now, I left as a kid with my parents after 1992. I never had my own internal or foreign Russian passport. I am a US citizen now and have been for a while. I think i'm still registered somewhere in my home city in Russia, since my relatives still get notices for me to be in army once in a while. However, I've applied for visa with travel agencies before and always have gotten a visa. I put down the real year I left russia on the application and also the fact that US Passport is only one i've ever been issued by anyone. So I'm wondering what the deal is? WOuld i be refused a visa if I went to the consulate myself? How do travel agencies are then able to get me visas? Do they have some kind of "arrangement" with consulates? This is very intersting to me since I dont know if I should or can get a Russian passport, since the only russian thing I have proving my identity is my birth certificate, and no way or proving when I left or anything else. Or, do they Russian authrotiies not consider me a citizen at all since i'm not in any internal databases and never had any kind of Russian passport?

Thank in advance.

UK Visa invitation letter for a Russian friend...

Thu, 05 Mar 2015 21:49:56 +0000

Hi.

Just two quick questions regarding visa invitation letters for Russian friend travelling to the UK.

What details do I need to write... other than why and when they visit?

And do I write the letter to my Russian friend or if I am wring to the embassy? For example... Dear Visa Issuing Officer.

Thanks very much for any help..

Russian visa when Couchsurfing?

Thu, 05 Mar 2015 21:27:09 +0000

Hi!

We want to go to Russia this summer, but we only have a little money, so we decided to get hosted by CS members.
Maybe you know this site: http://www.couchsurfing.org, the main idea is described in the "About" section.
So you can sleep at strangers' houses for free. We're not worrying about serial killers or something, just a question:
We can get visas and invitation letters, but what about registration? who should give us that? (We're planning to stay only about 3 nigths at each host).
Thank you for your help.