Russian visa nightmare
 

I am trying to get a visa for my trip to russia in March,it seems to be a very complicated procedure,does anyone have any advice as to the EASY way to get one?It seems i have to pay £20;00 for a voucher,then fill in an online form,then go to the embassy to have fingerprints taken,is this correct?Any advice would be very much appreciated.:confused::confused::confused::confuse d:

Sounds about right. You might want to google 'Russian Visa UK' to find some agencies that can help along with some of the legwork.

Well,with this sort of procedure,it's a wonder anybody goes there,do they not want tourism?

Do you think getting a UK visa here is much easier?

This.

It's fairly certain that the new regime is to even the playing field for Russian nationals trying to apply for a UK visa. Don't you love schadenfreude at this time of year?

However, the OP, and most Brits have it easy compared with most Russians. A quick train in from Slough (For goodness sake, it even takes you to Paddington, i.e. not far from the consular offices (if that's where they are taking your fingerprints)) would be luxury. My in-laws have to make the equivalent of a transatlantic flight to get their fingerprints taken, as the distances in Russia are so much greater. My wife's cousin spent a total of 5 days on trains as a preference to flying....they still denied her visa!

The problem arises from Russia's involvement in the Ukraine,as a consequence the EU has applied sanctions to all Russians travelling abroad,so,Putin has reacted likewise,and forced fingerprints on others travelling to Russia,seems the 'cold war' is back.Never mind,I will get it sorted and visit Russia,always wanted to go.:D

I've only gotten one Russian visa, but it was by far the longest visa form I've ever filled out, and the fee/charges were almost as much as the RT fare from the US. Granted, I did get a pretty low fare, but I won't make the mistake of buying a mini-jumbo without knowing visa costs.

Yes,my fare return to Moscow (Easyjet)was £60:00,to get my Russian Visa done is going to cost £130:00,DOUBLE the air fare,plus 2 trips to London for forms and fingerprints.

This has nothing to do with the reality.

Your visa, if a tourist, will be for 3 years now so really you're getting exponentially a better ROI than at any time in history. As painful as they are to get you only have to go through the cost and angst of it 1 time in 3 years these days. That's a positive!

It probably won't as the author is from the UK. The 3-year visas are for US citizens only

I have had good experience with Real Russia - they are based in London, not far from Old Street. They arranged last year for a 1 year multi entry business visa, rather quick and hassle free. Was not cheap though.

The pain of visa application has always been there on both sides but with significant denial chances for russians.
Actually it is a bit easier and more organized now

Yes,I am getting mine done with them,but they are closed now,as Russian embassy staff are on holiday,got to wait until thursday,have a few problems with the forms.

That was very Ameri-centric of me! My apologies. Nice catch.