AAaLot

I just applied for a Russian visa.

I am less than 45 years old so I had to fill out the additional form.

I was also surprised on the 'invitations' that were required.

Why do they make is so hard?

Has anyone ever been denied?

SkiAdcock

Are you referring to a tourist or work visa? BTW - US requires 'invitations' for Russians to get a visa as well, so it goes both ways.

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Sharon

epi231

Because the old Soviet mentality is still there!... I have avoided visiting Russia mainly because it is so difficult (i.e., such a hassle) to get the Russian visa and deal with the old Soviet bureaucracy. Fortunately, Ukraine dropped the invitation requirement, and it was fairly straight forward (though still not effortless) to get a Ukrainian visa last June (for a US citizen).

I am also curious as to people's experiences in getting a Russian visa.

B747-437B

The Russian visa form for Americans is ABSOLUTELY IDENTICAL to the US Visa application form that Russians have to submit.

epi231

Yes, but there are GOOD reasons for having a long application for a US visa while not really for a Russian versa. (For instance, what is the likelihood of an American staying illegally in Russia versus vice versa? Also, Russia is much more likely to derive economic benefits from Amreican tourists than vice versa.) Besides, such "inequality" in visa rules exits with regard to other countries as well (e.g., Israel, Czech Republic), so I still think a bit of Soviet mentality is behind the Russian visa rules.

cordelli

No hassles at all when I got mine, though that was before you had to give up your passport to get it (all you needed then was a copy of the main page). The only thing was it took about twice as long as they said it would.

Fill out the forms, send that, three pictures, the copy of the passport (which I believe is now the passport), the invitation, and the money, and five weeks later the visas came.

asnovici

My friend got a Russian tourist (ordinary) visa without any hassles, it took about 10 days to arrive.
Russian citizens are asked the same questions when filling out forms for the US visas as US citizens filling out forms for Russian visas (aka "additinal security questionnaire")

By the way, visas are not ONLY there to prevent "economic" immigration (as eri231 refers to in his/her post), visa regulations are there to REGULATE the entry and stay in any country, let it be Russia, US, UK, Sri-Lanka, Israel, Taiwan, you name it. These controls are there for the governments to have a clear understanding of purpose of visits, background of visitors, intentions of visitor's actions while in the country, etc. It does have to do with security, health and labor issues, not just "who wants to eneter the country and make a buck illegally."

By the way, process for getting a Russian visa is not at all cumbersome (if it is a tourist visa). You need an invitation (can be a telex from a hotel, takes 10 minutes to transmit, just make a reservation at the hotel, have them transmit the invitation by telex or fax to the nearesr Russian Consulate, and voila, you are ready to apply).

Happy Travels!

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epi231

While I agree with you that there are many non-economic reasons for issuing visas, I would strongly disagree that the process for getting a Russian tourist visa is "not at all cumbersome." The fact that one must know his itinerary in advance, in particular at which hotels he will be staying each day of the trip AND make those hotel bookings AND include confirmations of those bookings with the application, is already way too cumbersome. Compare that to backpacking through Europe or making spur-of-the-moment travel plans. (This is all assuming US citizenship of course.)

Alex

WHBM

Regarding the "invitations" thing it just makes much more readily understood by the consular officials.

Getting a business visa to enter Australia, although there is no requirement for one I got the company we were visiting in Brisbane to fax an invitation over anyway. I gave them the words. On taking the application in, in person, the consular official leafed through the paperwork, came across it, and said "ah, that makes things easy".

So it seems that a bit of something on a proper letterhead they recognise from their home country helps them.

asnovici

Alex,

True, compared to going to Europe for a backpacking vacation, Russian entry system is proving to be more difficult to deal with. However, I am sure you will agree with me that one cannot compare a country that has been so isolated behind the Iron curtain for many years and European NATO allies in terms of the ease of traveling there for an American citizen. All things considered, it could be much worse, and by the way, if you are a European citizen (that is a citizen of the EU), you can enter Russia for up to three days without a visa at all (provided you are entering the country through one of the three border points of entry: Vyborg (by land from Finland), Moscow (by air at SVO terminal 2), and St Petersburg (Pulkovo Airport LED). These regulations have been in place for about a half year now, however only a month ago it became more of a streamline process.

As I mentioned before, Russia is not a place you can just go on the spur of the moment (if you are a US citizen), but how many Americans would go to Russia without having their hotels accomodations and itenerary preplanned far in advance?

B747-437B

Have you ever tried to fill up a DS-158? Some of the questions they ask there are ridiculous.

And my pet peeve is the DS-157 box 9 where they ask you to list every country you have visited in the last 10 years, but don't allow you to attach an extra sheet. Yes, I know the form says you are SUPPOSED to be allowed an extra sheet, but they tend to give you a new form to fill from scratch and tell you to "write smaller".

Plus, various posts have documentary requirements more obscure than anything the Russians can throw at you. Ever had to dig up your mother's original birth certificate??? How about a copy of your brother's tax returns from 2 years ago??? No matter if you haven't spoken to him in 2 decades. And lets not even go into the inhuman treatment while waiting to meet a consular officer (is it really neccessary to take everyone's belt, tie and shoelaces away???). Plus, the fees are ridiculous (for a single entry US transit visa at the consulate in BOM, you will pay over US$200 including all fees).

For an American to criticize any other countries' visa regimes as excessive and/or unneccessary is truly the pot calling the kettle black.

asnovici

B747-437B,

I totally agree! Although I did not have to go through this insanity since I am a EU citizen as well (visa waiver for travel to the US), and now I have a green card, I have seen this way too many times happening to my friends, and by the way, the INS also requires one to carry all these ridiculous documents with you when you travel to the US, just in case a power-hungry INS officer with a GED in hand may be having a bad day and wants to harass you (citizenship doesn't matter, happened to Icelandic, Ukrainian and German friends of mine). So, virtually every visitor to the US that required a visa to enter the country has to carry a thick folder with all the possible documents on earth, trying to prove something).

Putting things in perspective, Russian visa is a breeze.

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andrzej

You have to be kidding!!!! To compare the the requirements, is like comparing apples and oranges. As stated before, and without knowing the actual statistics, I would guess, and I'm almost sure it's a very conservative guess, 1/2 of ALL legal entries into US stay beyond the visa deadline. In the 60s, 70s and 80s most of the legal"illegals" came from eastern Europe, with some from Africa, Asia, and Carribean. US had no choice but to crack down on so called "tourists" that became illegal immigrants, thus the requirenments. I don't think that Russia, China, or few other countries have the same problem, at least not with Americans. So please spare me the 'we are just doing what you are doing' lecture. There is a significant difference!!!

asnovici

And if your "statistics" is correct, and "at least 1/2" of all the visitor to the US stay beyond the dates stated in their visas, then why are these checks even being conducted? Are they useful? I think they would be useful if, according to "statistics", much fewer than 50% of the vistors would overstay their visas... something is of misconnect here, dont you think?

The original question was why is it so hard to get a Russian visa. The answers varied from "not that hard" to "complicated". I think the issue of "overstaying" on visa dates have little to do with procedures. The procedures are there to PREVENT these "overstays", afterall.

And yes, THEY ARE doing what US is doing, this is what countries do to protect their interests, even though sometimes it seems silly to some.

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andrzej

If you read my post, you would have noticed I said in the past, and that's why US Immigration service requires any national outside of the so called "westernized" countries to prove their real intentions when visiting here. I did not bring up the comparison, it was B747, and I just wanted to make sure that whoever reads this thread understands the real reasons why US has such requirenments, but I still don't understand why Russia and or China needs this as I'm willing to bet that most if not all Americans will leave these countries as soon as their tour/vacation is done. In Russia's case it is a left-over from the "good old days" of socialist paradise. For the sake of improving their tourism, I hope they drop this stupidity very soon. If they want to make money of the tourists, that's fine, do what some African, Carribean nations do, just charge $50-100 per visa, and stamp the passport at the point of entry.