Accommodation for Russia tourist visa
#1
Original Poster
Join Date: May 2018
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Accommodation for Russia tourist visa
Hello,
From my research, it seems like you need a registered hotel or other accommodation to give you a specific number to include in your visa application after reserving said hotel/accommodation.
I was wondering if you can get a visa then cancel the hotel reservation and reserve something else. I don't know if it'll open things up to scrutiny or if you must stay at the hotel stated in the application that gave you the number for the visa.
From my research, it seems like you need a registered hotel or other accommodation to give you a specific number to include in your visa application after reserving said hotel/accommodation.
I was wondering if you can get a visa then cancel the hotel reservation and reserve something else. I don't know if it'll open things up to scrutiny or if you must stay at the hotel stated in the application that gave you the number for the visa.
#2
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Based on my experience, I would assume no. The routine seems to be that you pay the hotel to have an employee who is a Russian citizen "invite" you to visit Russia so that you can get a visa and, when you arrive at the hotel, they register your passport for the exact length of your reserved stay. If you're switching hotels or cities, this can be a problem.
#3
Join Date: Nov 2011
Posts: 201
It is possible to get a visa based upon staying at a specific hotel, but then cancel the reservation after receiving the visa. I have done this several times during visits to Russia. You still will want to have the hotel you end up staying at register you though, or else you will have trouble exiting the country. When staying privately, we have made hotel reservations to get the visa invitation letter, then cancelled the hotel reservation, and stayed with a friend who did the registration procedure through the local city office. If your stay is short enough, 48 hours, I think, not counting weekends, you don't have to register.
#5
Suspended
Join Date: Nov 1999
Posts: 24,153
If you do make a res at a hotel you dont plan to keep, Make sure you read ALL the fine print, alot of hotels will charge you if you do this after they registered you, Fee varies. At least thats what I found when I was planning my trip to LED a couple of years ago
#6
Join Date: Apr 2005
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Russian visa hotel invitation
For what it is worth, when I got my multi-entry tourist visa (US passport holder) for Russia, I had booked a hotel that provided a "complimentary" tourist invitation letter, but was advised by the hotel that should I cancel or not show up for my reserved stay, they would charge me a penalty roughly equivalent to $100USD. I had to present this invitation letter to SVO airport in Moscow.
As a follow up question for everyone more familiar with Russia travel, my visa was processed December 5, 2017 and valid for multi-entry between January 5, 2018 through March 19, 2020. I already have the visa and made one stay (December 2017 until January 2018) and am not planning a return trip. Do I need another invitation letter from a hotel to show at the airport or a rail crossing? I am planning a return trip to Moscow for next month (December 2019) and have the option of either traveling by train from Poland through Belarus to Moscow (which I am considering because I believe that Belarus now allows visa-free for 30 days for US citizens) or flying directly into Moscow and departing DME Moscow airport. I believe this question is still relevant for the original poster on a subsequent trip... is the invitation required for each subsequent visit to Russia?
As a follow up question for everyone more familiar with Russia travel, my visa was processed December 5, 2017 and valid for multi-entry between January 5, 2018 through March 19, 2020. I already have the visa and made one stay (December 2017 until January 2018) and am not planning a return trip. Do I need another invitation letter from a hotel to show at the airport or a rail crossing? I am planning a return trip to Moscow for next month (December 2019) and have the option of either traveling by train from Poland through Belarus to Moscow (which I am considering because I believe that Belarus now allows visa-free for 30 days for US citizens) or flying directly into Moscow and departing DME Moscow airport. I believe this question is still relevant for the original poster on a subsequent trip... is the invitation required for each subsequent visit to Russia?
#7
Join Date: Aug 2018
Location: LAN
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I am planning a return trip to Moscow for next month (December 2019) and have the option of either traveling by train from Poland through Belarus to Moscow (which I am considering because I believe that Belarus now allows visa-free for 30 days for US citizens) or flying directly into Moscow and departing DME Moscow airport. I believe this question is still relevant for the original poster on a subsequent trip... is the invitation required for each subsequent visit to Russia?
I don't know enough about Russian visas to answer the first part of the question.
Last edited by VitaliU; Nov 5, 2019 at 6:36 am
#8
Join Date: Apr 2005
Location: Where my head rests (presently MIA)
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While I have heard cases of US nationals traveling overland MSQ to MOW, since my trip is short I have decided to avoid risk and fly into MSQ then transit RIX before landing in DME. Cheers, Robert
#9
Join Date: Aug 2012
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I used one of the online services that offers invitation letters (~US$20), and stayed with friends, so had no hotel registration record. No issues arriving or leaving.