Is it possible to obtain a year long tourist visa because it gets expensive to get a new visa every 3 to 4 months.

As far as I know, for tourists who want a 1-year visa, you must get a 'business' visa. I have just applied for business visa invitation - cost is $200 for 18-business day processing + $60 shipping of original letter(required); cost does not include actual visa. For my tourist visa invitation, I used www.waytorussia.net, and had no problems; so, I am using them for the business invitation, also.

ya i figured I would have to do that but I thought i would have to provide some additional documents i dont have. I do know its quite expensive!

I think a HIV test is the only additional requirement. I am not sure how much more the visa costs, I have been told it is more, but not that much more.

Is this complicated to get?

The thing that intrigues me is that you don't actually need to have a business to get this.

The ability to come and go and stay as long as necessary would be super convenient

Greetings,

We obtain at least 2-3 1 year business visas for our clients every month. The biggest advantages include (a) no need to apply (and wait) for a visa on each trip, (b) the ability to another country during your trip (i.e., dual entry) without deciding in advance the EXACT dates, (c) the ability to stay longer than 30 days at a time (although you can't stay more than 180 days total per year with the one year visa).

Registration can sometimes be a challenge, so especially if you are not staying in a hotel you'll want to work with people who know what they are doing.

At least the NY Consulate does not currently require an HIV test, at least for those who previously had a tourist visa. The documentation required is the same for a 1 year visa as it is for a 30 day tourist visa (at least for our clients).

Costs - Business "invitation" 150.
Embassy Fee - 150
Total = 300?

Two visits to Russia and you've hit that.

Yes, the registration can be a ....., but the latest rules help. 7 days. I usually end up getting a hotel, not wanting to inconvenience my friends with the registration, which is entirely in Russian, and PAIN. Waiting at the post office, getting in line, EEH.

At the lowest costs it will take about 5-7 weeks in total to process (4 weeks to get the invitation, another 2 weeks to get the visa).

FYI regarding DIY (verbatim from the Russian Consulate's website):

<b>Attention:In order to streamline and improve the visa obtaining process as well as for security concerns the Russian visa section is no more processing visa applications by mail, starting from June 1, 2010.
In the meanwhile the applicants unable to be present in our visa section in person are strongly recommended to rely on the services provided by the local travel agencies <b/>

At least in New York the Consulate often has slower processing from May to September as well for individuals applying.

All in all, though, it is cost effective if you plan on going at least twice in a year, or plan on any flexibility in multible entry, or may need to leave on a moment's notice (in the past we were able to get same day tourist visas issued in about four hours--pricey but do-able; that is not readily available now, usually the fastest turn-around we can do is two business days).

http://www.gotorussia.com/visa_servi...ia_support.htm

If you just want to buy an invitation, these guys are good. I've used them in the past for one-year visas. $139 for the invite, which includes the cost of FedEx-ing the original invitation to you. Then you can take it to the consulate yourself or have an expediter handle it.