theurban

Hello all, first time poster, etc.

I am in the process of applying for a business visa. Our partners in Moscow have sent me many documents, including the invitation letter for a three-year multiple entry business visa. This will be my first trip to Russia. I do not read Russian, but as far as I can tell, it is one of the "new" ones, and is stamped by the firm, not the foreign office or whoever used to do this.

I am located in Boston, and therefore am applying through NYC. I am using Travisa, for better or worse.

After I sent in my forms and passport, Travisa is telling me that for the three-year multiple entry business visa, a) I will probably need to go to NYC for an interview, and b) it is unlikely to get the visa. Finally they say that I will need to get a new letter from my host company to get the one year multiple entry visa. The host company says this is wrong, and I should contact the embassy. Of course, they have no idea how hard it is to contact the embassy

My questions are a few:

1) Does anyone know if this sounds right? Would I need to get a new letter?
2) What have people heard about the three year multiple entry business visa? Is it that hard to get?

Thanks!

LeftsideWindow

Does anyone have recent experience in applying for Russian Visas in NYC? The website is somewhat contradictory:

So which is it? Should I apply at the Consulate or Invisa Logistics Center?

ncvet61

I've not used the NYC location, but having said that.... Before the changes you could send your application to the Russian Embassy's yourself or through one of many, many agencies. That all changed and now ALL mailed in Visa applications must go through "Invisa Logistics Services LLC" company. You can still apply to the Embassy, but it must be in person and can't be mailed in.

You can do either one. I always use the agency as I live a good 3 1/2 hour one way drive from the nearest Embassy.

LeftsideWindow

Excellent! Thanks for the quick response. ^

The Consulate location is a bit more convenient than Invisa for my in-person application. Hopefully it won't be too painful in person...

thewayofthefuture

I believe you can go to either, but I can vouch for the good service at ILS. They are good at anticipating any questions the consulate might have with your application or supporting documents, and will work with you to make changes on the spot, if possible. I've been to ILS twice recently with no appointment and waited no more than 10 minutes either time.

koreanair720

Can anyone tell me how long it takes to get a tourist visa through the DC consulate? We talking a week, or something more?

ncvet61

Depends on several things. You can pay for a 3 day turnaround, 10 day turnaround and if your going to Sochi you can request same day issue. I've never appeared in person. My applications going through an agency usually takes 15-20 days.

Hopefully someone who has used them in person can better answer your question. http://www.ruscon.org/visa_dep_ENG.html

bankops

I can't remember for sure, but I thought that they would only issue a visa for more than one year if you had at least one visa of 1yr or less already in your passport. In other words, you cannot have a 3yr visa as your first one.

sidne

Any advice on obtaining an invitation letter for a business visa (applying with a U.S. passport)?

A colleague and I are attending an education fair in Russia. We are representing the U.S. university where we are employed. We are trying to figure out a way to apply for the visas. The materials from the fair organizer “strongly suggest” that we obtain business visas for the fair. They also state that they (the fair organizers) "are not authorized by the Russian authorities to issue visa invitation letters and cannot assist with this process.” They do suggest a few expediters who issue invitations. But when we contact the expediters, they tell us they need the name of the inviting company in order to issue the invitation. And that is exactly what we don’t have.

I think maybe the issue is that fair organizer is not a Russian organization. The invitation letter guidelines (taken from one visa expediter site) state that: “The invitation must be from a Russian company or organization and not from a representation office of a foreign company there. Please make sure that your inviting company is duly registered in Russia and is not a 100% foreign investment company. “

We have e-mailed the organization arranging the fair in Moscow for guidance, but it’s been several days and we haven’t heard anything.

Quite frankly, I don't care how I get the visa. I've had a tourist visa before and I just bought an invitation that had little (no?) relation to the hotels I actually ended up using. I thought the business visa situation would work in a similar manner. But so far the expediters are insisting we need to provide the name of the host organization.

If I were sure that I wouldn't run into any problems participating in the fair (and the related business meetings) if I had a tourist visa, I'd be happy to go with that option. It's easier, faster, and definitely cheaper.

Any advice?

ncvet61

Did you ask the same company that you bought your tourist invitation from for a Business invitation?

When Russia changed the Agencies in Russia who could issue business invitations I started using Go To Russia and they issued the invitation. They will do Full Service Visa or just the support letters. There are other agencies out there, but I've had success over the past 15 or so years and I've stayed with them.

sidne

I actually used Go To Russia for my tourist visa. (Which was in 2007, I didn't realize it was that long ago until I looked it up!)

Even the business invitation request form from them asks for the name of our business host. GTR and other services will deal with getting the invitation from the Russian Ministry, but they apparently don't provide a business to be the host.

So this is not the same situation as tourist visa invitations where the names of hotels can be provided as part of the invitation letter but the traveler may not actually stay in those hotels.

Nevertheless, from additional information I have received from others in a similar situation it appears to me that it is extremely common to use a tourist visa for the type of visit we are planning. We are not actually signing contracts or buying or selling goods or services at this time. The tourist visas are SO much easier to get, I can understand why people are going this route. So I think we will get and use tourist visas at this time. If, in the future, we develop partnerships with Russian organizations we will, of course, apply for and use business visas.

AFAM-DFW

Don't know if I just got lucky but my wife and I got three years as our first visa.

flyerhog

Chiming in, my friend who was an US national did not even get 1 yr on his visa. He only got the 14 days as specified on his itinerary. This was his first visa btw.

Xyzzy

A standard tourist visa is for up to 30 days but is generally issued fr the time listed on the applicant's itinerary. The 3 year visas are new. You have to specifically ask for a 3 year visa in order to receive one.

ajamieson

I have a single-entry business visa valid until the end of April. Can I use it instead for a tourist trip?

The visa was obtained on the possibility that I might need to travel urgently to Moscow for work. That possibility has diminished, and I'd quite like to visit St Petersburg. It seems a waste of a visa to apply anew, but I wonder if I will encounter issues upon arrival given that the 'invitation' for the visa listed a hotel in Moscow. Or maybe immigration officials don't care as long as you have a visa and intend to leave?