I have tried to search FT for the process of obtaining a Russian tourist travel visa, but couldn't really find anything other than going through some kind of agency. Since I can easily get to the Russian consulate in San Francisco, and we are not leaving until the end of June, I have decided to at least try and secure the visas myself. Currently, my wife is waiting for her renewed passport, so I can't do anything until she gets it. There will be three of us going on this trip.

I have done quite a bit of researching on the internet to find out exactly what is required, as I found the Russian embassy website to be rather vague. As I understand things, the process is as follows:

1) Securing visa support letters. We are staying at a Marriott in Moscow (three nights) and a B&B in St. Petersburg (two nights). My understanding is that we need to get a visa support letter from each place. I have read that the major hotels usually only charge US$1 for such letters while smaller hotels, such as B&B's can charge around US$25. Indeed, my B&B in St. Petersburg is charging US$30 for each passport. I have not yet contacted the Marriott in Moscow. We will also be spending two nights on a train between Moscow and St. Petersburg, but I don't think any kind of visa support letter is needed for that.

2) Submitting the visa support letters to the consulate. After receiving the support letters from each of the two hotels, I am supposed to bring those, along with completed applications, flight tickets, passports, and US$100 for each passport to the Russian consulate.

If I have the above steps right, then the process seems pretty straightforward. However, there are still a few things that I cannot quite sort out. One is that on the Russian embassy web page, it states that a cover letter from "your travel agency in the USA" is needed with the application. I did not go through an agency and booked everything myself. How do I get around this?

The website also states that a "standard tourist confirmation from a hosting authorized Russian travel agency or a hotel, registered with the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and a voucher from your hotel or travel agency in Russia" is also required. Am I correct in assuming that this is the visa support letter I will be receiving from each of the hotels?

Once I do get to Russia, it is my understanding that the hotels in which we stay will stamp our visas, or some other document, that has to be surrendered when we leave the country. I have read of situations where people have had to pay fines upon exiting Russia because certain things are not properly documented. What could that be?

So, is there anything I am leaving out? Anything I should be aware of? If I have the process right, then it doesn't seem too bad. What are the major hassles involved that make paying to go through an agency so much better? Any help anyone can provide would be greatly appreciated.

So, is there anything I am leaving out? Anything I should be aware of? .Yes. The Visa section of the Russian Consulate in San Francisco is fairly picky. [Nothing compared to what Russian citizens have to go through when dealing with US authorities of course, but still greatly annoying] I've seen the SF staff turn back applications that were done using the form posted on the embassy site because the SF consulate happened to be using a slightly different form at the time. Applications can get bounced because no photocopies of the vital pages were included, or the paperwork wasn't submitted stacked in the order specified, etc, etc. Also pay attention to the acceptable forms of payment and the mail/delivery services accepted by the consulate.

What are the major hassles involved that make paying to go through an agency so much better? The major hassles are the risks of getting your visa applications rejected or delayed over any of a number of the pesky details. The better visa service agencies know the current quirks of the consulate and try to head off various problems.

Also, while there's a consulate in SF, you do NOT want to go there if you can avoid it. I've had to visit the SF consulate visa section a number of times to personally support visa applications for various reasons and believe me, you'd be better off if you never have the experience of a consulate visit. You can wait in a small, crowded waiting area for hours while one consulate officer works the visa window -- slowly. And then disappears for 45 minutes for a coffee/smoke break. And then turns away people who have been waiting for hours since it's noon and the visa section closes at noon. There's also not much parking around the consulate and what there is limited to less than what you'll spend inside waiting.

We got our own Russian visas- I can't remember the consulate but we live in KS and did it by mail and it wasn't San Francisco. We also made our own arrangements so I made up a travel agency "itinerary" with a cut-and-pasted logo of an airplane at the top! It all passed muster and we got them with no problem.

If I remember, you actually get 2 pieces of paper from thehotel/B&B. One is a letter of invitation and another is the voucher syaing that you've paid. You send both. The Marriott may charge less than the B&B- we stayed at the Radisson in St. Petersburg and there was no charge.

Have a wonderful time. We were in St. Petersburg for 6 nughts and there was so much there we would have liked to stay longer!

I found the process of obtaining a visa to be tedious but not difficult at all. Did it two years in a row, both times through the Seattle Consulate.
San Fran Consulate has its own web site, http://www.consulrussia.org From there, it is easy to get the info on the visa requirements, along with the forms which may be specific to San Fran. I've noticed that the main application form on San Fran site has New York Consulate logo on it. Maybe it is the same form that both consulates are using. I know for sure that the Seattle application form looks slightly different. If in doubt, you may e-mail San Fran Consulate and confirm with them. The e-mail address is on their site.
Regarding a conformation from your "travel agency", all you need is a printout of "Your Itinerary" with your flights. I printed it out from the United site and just highlighted the flights in and out of Russia.
About visa supporting documentation from the Russian "host": after I made the reservations at the Sheraton Palace and at the Marriott in Moscow, I e-mailed them my conformation number and requested the info about visa. They sent me back Visa Request Form to fill out. It was a short form that I e-mailed back quickly, along with a cover letter summarizing the details of my stay. Two days later, they faxed me back a conformation cover letter, Visa Support Document, and Tour Services Voucher, one for each guest.
From the Document and the Voucher it is clear that both, the Sheraton and the Marriott, have the authority to be a "receiving organization" and that both hotels have some sort of connection to the accredited travel agency with its own reference number. Btw, there was no charge for any of the hotel documents. I am surprised to hear that your B&B is asking $30 for these services.
The rest of the stuff was easy: a cover letter to the Consulate outlining the details of the trip and asking for two single entry tourist visas; the original passports, along with the copies of vital pages; Visa Application Forms ( pain in the bu..tt to fill out); photos; hotel conformation and visa supporting documentation, one for each guest; UA Itinerary; money; and a pre-paid return envelope.
It took about (10) days for the Seattle Consulate to send us back our visas and passports. Piece of cake (but $200 poorer).
On arrival to Russia, you will be left with some sort of a "departure card" after you clear passport control. You'll surrender it when you leave Russia.
Good luck. And if you need more info, feel free to e-mail me.

Actually, the 'departure card' is called a Migration Card.

This will be stamped on arrival and you must carry it with you at all times (or so they say). My guide book suggested taking a copy of this with your passport details page and your visa page to present to 'police' if stopped (that way they can't necessarily hold your passport ;) )

Your visa will be 'registered' on the migration card. That is, the hotel will stamp the bit of paper and make a note of your passport details. I don't know if the B&B can do this. If not, you'll need to go to the PVS (or OVIR) to get it registered. Though I'd be they can do this for you.

My guide book suggested taking a copy of this with your passport details page and your visa page to present to 'police' if stoppedYou might want to consider getting another guide book -- a photocopy of the passport is going to be as useful as a photocopy of a 10 pound banknote :).

True.

However, the suggestion came as they were pointing out that sometimes, some off duty police decided to try one on with the tourists and check their papers (for purposes of extracting a 'fine'). The advice was to show them the photocopy (though keeping the real thing on your person). If they were not off duty and you felt they were genuine, then you had your real one to hand.

BTW, that was in the Lonely Planet guidebook. Not the best, I would agree and will get a better one for the next vist. And it didn't happen to me, but it was the one thing I was a bit paranoid about when I was in Moscow.

LP to Russia, Ukraine and Belarus is total crap. The 2nd edition (Russia and Belarus only) is slightly better but I wouldn't rely on it as your only source of info. (The Rough Guide to Moscow is much better)

Yeah, but I thought I'd get one at LHR when I left. Unfortunately, I took SAS and the shops aren't open at 5:30am. That meant shopping at ARN -- what crap! I'll check out the Rough Guide for the upcoming trip.

I know there are many who go thru the "getting my Russian Visa by myself" process, but me thinks it is a lot more convenient and a lot less complicated and time consuming to have a local Visa/Passsport Service Agency do all the paper work for you. This is not a "Travle Agency" necessarily, but a travel firm that specializes in applying for, and processing Passport applications and renewals, as well as Visa applications.
These particular firms take care of all of the paper work including the needed letter of invitations, and so on. They will also, submit all paper work including your passport to the Russian Embassy. It cost more, and is usually depended upon how long of a lead time they have to process you Visa application. If you need a visa in 1 week it is one price. If you can give them a month or two, then it will be for a much reduced price.
The process of registering yourself in Russia is quite simple. When you submit your passport to the hotel upon checking in, they will simple stamp and valildate the "departure" portion of your migration card. Each hotel will do this.
Since you are near the Russian Embassy in SF, you should have no problem. You will save some money, but you still need to get all of the other paper work prepared and submitted to the Embassy. I would strongly suggest you contact someone who specializes in the business of 'getting passports and visas" for people and let them do all the work.