Visa "Invitation Letter" questions
 

A couple questions:

1 - Do I have to have every single day accounted for with "invitation letters" for my visa application?

2 - How do I handle one night on a train? (I don't have to do it, but it does seem to be part of a Russian experience and I'd like to do it at least once.)

I have a 12 day trip to SVO booked in late August.

I made reservations at a Holiday Inn in Moscow for the first 4 and last 3 days.

The middle 5 days I plan to go to Saint Petersburg - 4 hotel nights and 1 overnight train night.

Upon my email request the Moscow Holiday Inn sent me a form to fill out and send back to them, and they will in turn issue an "invitation letter" to me so I should be OK there. It is the other 7 nights I'm concerned about.

Thank you,
Romelle

I just clicked on the link TelevisionTdTina supplied for mailing visa applications to the San Francisco consulate. The following text was on their front page:

"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.":(

They did then show a couple links for services who do the process for people.

Sorry to burst anyone's bubble.

Though it probably saved me, as if I possibly can take a run at something and do it by myself, that is the usual choice. And I probably would have gotten in trouble doing it.:D

Romelle

However, I believe you can still go to the San Francisco consulate in person to apply for a visa (yeah, I realize that's only useful if you live in, work in, or visit SF).

I looked over the application at http://www.consulrussia.org/docs/Vis...eng_letter.pdf

...and had a laugh over some of the questions. The whole process and the application sound like a holdover from the Cold War era. ("30. Do you have any specialized skills, training or experience related to fire-arms and explosives or to nuclear matters, biological or chemical substance? If yes, please specify." Plus other rather paranoid-sounding questions.)

They don't supply enough space to answer question 25 -- "List all countries you have visited in the last ten years and indicate the year of visit." Jeez! I've probably visited at least 20-25 countries in that timeframe.

They don't even give enough space to list more than two "educational institutions" under Q28 -- "List all educational institutions you ever attended, except high schools."

Are you supposed to attach a continuation page if there's not enough space on the application? After all, they do say "all countries" in the last ten years and "all educational institutions you ever attended" -- not just some of them. :eek:

How do you spell "reciprocity"?
 

You may be even more amused to learn that it's but a faithful replica of the US State Department's DS - 157, Supplemental Nonimmigrant Visa Application ;)

Oh, OK. Yeah, I know about "reciprocity" -- I've been to Chile. ;)

And that's a Cold War era skill the Russians have mastered . . . so you can be assured that they will strive to provide you with an authentic experience that is steeped in same indignities that are generously doled out by the US Embassy in Moscow, down to the prison-style bullet-proof glass, the courier services...I am honestly surprised they haven't yet set up a 1-900 number for telephone inquiries and fingerprint scanners ... that was perhaps too much even for them :D

If you haven't gotten your visa yet, you want want to consider paying the extra money to one of the visa services. No documentation (plane ticket, hotel) is required.

Last week, I FedExed them my application (planning two days in Moscow on the way home from a Gulf vacation). They called me to confirm that everything was in order, but they wanted to confirm I hadn't made a mistake in my dates on my application. When I told them that I was going to be in Moscow for just two days, they said, shouldn't we make it for a month, and so they decided to make my entry date about two weeks before I will arrive, and my exit date about two weeks after I would leave. They also confirmed that I need not arrive on the first day of validity; I just need to arrive and depart within the validity

Spent_All_My_Miles

Thanks for the info. While I'm sort of a confirmed DIYer, I thought this too fraught with peril so did submit my application to a service. It actually is supposed to come back June 29 (this coming Monday). I'll report what the results are. The web site shows "approved", so I am hopeful. No phone calls.

Romelle

Got my Visa
 

I applied via computer to www.gotorussia.com Jun 10.
Mailed in my passport Priority Mail Jun 12.
The GotoRussia facility received it Jun 15.
I think it was the next day my file with them was marked "approved".
Also, the file said I would get my passport back with the visa Jun 29.
It arrived yesterday, Jun 29!

My trip is not until Aug 18 so there was no particular rush. They may well have turned it around faster if time were tighter?

I had asked for the $190 tourist single entry type visa. Had authorized an additional $15 for FedEx return. Had also authorized $45 for them to do the "check-in" thing one is supposed to do while in Russia. For some reason, they only charged me for the $190 and the $15, so I will do the check-in process myself via my hotels in Russia??

They had asked that I include a photo, which I did via the computer submission. It doesn't appear on the visa that was returned, just a silvery stamp. Not sure why they wanted the photo.

So, now to learn a little of that daunting alphabet, the basic phrases starting with please, thank you, yes, no, etc., and study some guide books. I have 12 days there so plan to go from Moscow to St Petersburg and back. Hotels are already reserved.

Romelle

I did the same thing, except I sent my questions by e-mail and they didn't reply. I guess I could call them, but in the meantime, I did my own sleuthing, studying the document carefully and deciphering some of the Russian on the left-hand side (which is entirely in Russian, unlike the right-hand side). The organization is apparently Europlaneta (that's shown in both languages), its "reference number" 0014 (in Russky only), and the place I'm supposedly residing is the Izmailovo Hotel (in Russky only). (Through Google, I learned that the Izmailovo is an enormous complex that was built in 1979, was used to house athletes in the 1980 Olympics, and has 7,500 rooms. :eek:)

So it looks like my only remaining question in filling out the visa application is this: for question 34, should I list the Izmailovo as my hotel, or the actual hotel I intend to stay at? Do they care? The Russian visa process is so Byzantine (hmmmm.... imagine that!) that it's hard to know what is important and what isn't!

You should list the place where you have "reserved and fully paid accommodations." That would be the place that OOO Europlaneta has stated they will put you up, not where you will actually stay.

Thanks! I thought so. I finished my application and took it and my passport and payment etc. to the Russian consulate here in San Francisco (in Pacific Heights, to be specific) on Thursday morning around 9:30 (their official hours for dealing with visas are from 9:00 AM to noon, M-F). I rang the bell and got buzzed into the gate and buzzed into the door, and entered to find quite a small room furnished with a few couches (helpful for family members waiting while the head of the household stood in line) and tables (presumably for filling out, finishing, or re-doing forms ;)), a Russian consulate person behind a window, and just two other parties in line ahead of me. :eek: I was surprised by how small and quiet the office was.

Anyhow, I had a fairly short wait while the consulate guy helped the others in line by answering questions and explaining things (both in Russian and English). When I got my turn, I found the young man to be friendly and chatty (rather the opposite of how such functionaries often are). He looked over my papers and engaged me in a bit of dialog, finally handing me a receipt -- a slip of paper that included the pickup date, which was just 11 calendar days after my application/dropoff date. (Maybe it would have been even sooner than that, but for the fact that the 11-day mark fell on a Monday!)

So far, so good.

Oh, forgot to mention: on my visa application I put an entire 30-day period starting on my planned day of arrival, even though my actual stay will only be a fraction of that. Thus I will be covered in case of unexpected delays in leaving the country (or even possible slight postponement of the trip). From what I've read here and elsewhere, trying to leave Russia with an expired visa is a no-go.

Good call. You should always pad your Russian visa. I padded mine just a few extra days. The next time, I will go further out.

Glad your visa process was smooth going! :cool:

I went and picked up my passport w/Russian visa today -- it was scheduled to be ready yesterday, but I just didn't manage to go to the SF Consulate until today.

The visa looks OK, i.e., has correct name, passport number, entry/exit dates, etc. So the whole process wasn't TOO bad (though far more complicated than for any of the other nearly 40 countries I've visited).

The main monetary costs were: $131 visa application fee payable to Russian Consulate (plus additional dollar or so to US Post Office for money order); $20 for invite/tourist confirmation paid to russia-visa.com (one-day turnaround by e-mail); and cost of passport-type photo. Other than that, the costs were my time spent figuring out how the process works, filling out the application, and going to the Russian consulate twice (once for dropoff, once for pickup).

Next time you can do it yourself for pennies.