Russia - query on short-term Visa to Russia from UK

hello i am after some advice please,

i am a uk citizen of 21 years old and am looking to go to russia for a week to visit friends. ive been looking up on visas and it seems such a hassle ... i have no specialist trades or anything special just a simple dead end job at current with not a lot of money to my name. what are my chances of a visa for one week, how much will it cost and any good resources?

thanks in advance!

Welcome to Flyertalk markyyy!

Can you get a visa for one week? Yes! It is always best to plan as early as possible ahead though.

How much will it cost? Depends on how fast you want it done, and if you try and deal with it all direct with the Embassy or through an agency (you'll probably find less hassle getting an agency to handle it). You're looking at £75 and upward I guess - been a couple of years since I last got one.

Any good resources? In the UK many people I know (and me myself) have had a good experience with Scott's Tours (http://www.scottstours.co.uk/russia.php#visas). They are worth calling/e-mailing to find out what the exact requirements might be in your case. E.g. if you want to stay with friends, but they can't go the time-consuming process of arranging a private invitation, an agency like Scott's can help arrange a tourist invitation. I've always found them very friendly and helpful. Another option is Real Russia (http://www.realrussia.co.uk/visa/visa_support2.asp), although I've never used them myself.

There is also a Russia section on Flyertalk: http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/russia-485/

Everything's a hassle in Russia! Sorry to say it, but it is true.

bcmatt thank you so much mate! will check out the links.

Russian visas are expensive. The fees you’re looking at are roughly:

£20 tourist voucher from agency
£5 postage
£50 visa
£25 processing fee
£8 return postage

That’s if you do it yourself. Really, there’s no reason to go to an agency except for the tourist voucher. They charge a lot for just filling in a form that you can do perfectly well yourself.

markyyy, welcome to FlyerTalk! Let me move this to our Travel->Russia forum, with a more descriptive thread title. Ocn Vw 1K, Moderator, TravelBuzz.

I've always used this service to get the invitation: http://waytorussia.net/Travel/VisaSupport.html - worked always smoothly.

They also have information about the procedures in the UK: http://waytorussia.net/RussianVisa/Insider.html

That’s if you do it yourself. Really, there’s no reason to go to an agency except for the tourist voucher. They charge a lot for just filling in a form that you can do perfectly well yourself.

As discussed before on this board, I would associate their charges more with close contacts to the local Russian consulate staff and the benefits for the visa applicant that come with those.

Great, thanks again all, I shall stick around here :) seems a nice community ^

As discussed before on this board, I would associate their charges more with close contacts to the local Russian consulate staff and the benefits for the visa applicant that come with those.

Tочно! Well said mosburger.