Russian Visa - Washington, DC
 

Hi,

My brother is planning a trip to the Baltic countries at the end of April. Along with Latvia, Lithuania, and Estonia, he would also like to visit an American friend who is currently studying Russian in St. Petersburg.

My brother has been to Russia before, and had experience obtaining the Russian visa. However, he did this while he was studying in Paris.

My experiences with the consulate procedures in the US versus Europe were vastly different. In most foreign consulates in Europe, the standard procedure was to wait in line, usually on the street, during the consulate "visa service" hours, and then interview and obtain the visa in person (the same, or usually the next day after). In the US, since most embassies I got visas from were not in my hometown, I would mail my application along with the required documentation, and then wait anywhere between 10 days and 6 weeks to obtain the visa.

Knowing the Russian consulate is in DC, I would like to gauge what are the experiences of fellow US travelers applying for Russian visas. My brother lives in DC. What is the usual turnaround time of the DC consulate, and how reliable are they in regards to the process?

The ticket for my brother's trip is not cheap, but he would like to book it, book vacation days off work, etc. I just want to ensure that at the last minute the Russians will not fall behind of the bureaucracy and he will have to make costly adjustments to his journey.

Any feedback is appreciated.

Did you do a search? There is a lot of Russian visa information in the Russia forum: http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/forumdisplay.php?f=485

I have experience with getting a Russian visa at the Consulate in New York, and I would assume the experience is simliar to what your brother will experience in DC.

The turn around time depends on how much he is willing to pay - I had to get my visa last minute (long story), so I paid the $300 fee for same day service and had the visa in about 2 hours. If your brother has more time, there are $100, $150, and $200 options which range in delivery time from 14 days to next day.

Getting to the consulate/embassy early is really important - I arrived approximately an hour before the place opened, and there were probably already 30 people waiting. Luckily most of those people were not waiting for the visa services department, so I was able to get inside with the first group of people.

There wasn't much support or assistance inside, so it's important your brother arrives with all the required documents, and has the paperwork already filled out. He'll need the application, an invitation letter, photos, his passport, and a money order or certified check for payment.

All in all, it was relatively painless, with the exception of the $300 I dropped for same day service. Again, this was all based on my experience in NY, though I would assume that DC isn't that different.

Can your brother hire a visa service? I have not needed a Russian visa, but have used visa services for other countries, when standing in line myself was not practical.

They can tell you in advance the costs and turnaround times, and will help ensure that all your documents are in order; price will still increase as turnaround time decreases, and will include their fees as well as those of the embassy.