There are 3 different ways of making a Russian visa. You can have an agency do the whole process for you – this is usually done by local travel agencies. You can also bring your support documents to an official visa center authorized by the Russian consulate to process visa applications – this is the most convenient and less expensive way to do it. You will need to get your own invitation (visa support) and fill out visa application form online, print it out, bring it along with your insurance, passport and photos to make the application. Finally, you can also come directly to the consulate. It's the cheapest option, but they are not so friendly with visitors so you might have to bring more documents in and there will be nobody helping you with the application process.
Here we list some authorized visa centers around the world that do visa processing. We also list travel agencies that can do the whole process. If you
get your visa support (invitation) through this site you can then contact one of the agencies below, so that they do the rest. Normally it will involve helping you filling out the
Russian visa application form and bringing your documents to the consulate, so you don't have to deal with the bureaucrats or spend hours in the queues. They charge from $50 to $100 US for their services in addition to the consulate's fee, so see how you feel about it: once you have the
Russian visa support and the
application, it's easy to do it yourself and usually takes about 2 hours when you apply and half an hour when you get your visa back.
Here's some travel agencies we know about that will do a good job with your visa:
UK:
If you already got your invitation (visa support), just find the right visa center in UK on the website of ILS – the company officially authorized to process visa applications on behalf of the Russian consulate worldwide. You can then apply with this invitation and the application form that you can fill out on Ministry of Foreign Affairs' website. You will need to go to the center yourself, but it's the cheapest option.
If you don't want to go anywhere you can also use a local travel agency that can arrange everything by post. Here we list some agencies in France that can be trusted to do the job:
Real Russia
A specialist agency with offices in London, Moscow and St. Petersburg, has extensive knowledge on Russian visa application process and a very easy application process. They charge about £50 on top of the consular fee for their services.
3, The Ivories, Northampton Street, Islington, London
+44 (0) 207 100 7370
www.realrussia.co.uk
If you don't have an invitation yet, you can use this form to apply for full Russian visa processing.
USA:
If you already got your invitation (visa support), just find the right visa center in USA on the website of ILS – the company officially authorized to process visa applications on behalf of the Russian consulate worldwide. You can then apply with this invitation and the application form that you can fill out on Ministry of Foreign Affairs' website. You will need to go to the center yourself, but it's the cheapest option.
If you don't want to go anywhere you can also use a local travel agency that can arrange everything by post. Here we list some agencies in the US that can be trusted to do the job:
CIBT - The Global Visa and Passport Professionals
One of the major visa agencies, expedites visa applications for many countries around the world. The prices are a bit high though – they charge about $89 US on top of the consular fee for expedited visa service.
CIBT New York
60 E. 42nd Street, Suite 1250, New York, NY 10165
Phone: 800-929-2428
Walk In Hours: 8:30 am to 5:30 pm PST
CIBT Los Angeles
6300 Wilshire Boulevard, Suite 1520, Los Angeles, CA 90048
Phone: 800-929-2428
Walk In Hours: 8:30 am to 5:00 pm PST
CIBT Miami
169 E. Flager Street, Suite 1522, Maimi, FL 33132
Phone: 800-929-2428
us.cibt.com
customerservice@cibt.com
TraVisa
A smaller agency with offices in major US cities. Charges $55 for expedited service on top of the consular fee.
Central office: Washington DC
1731 21st. St. NW Washington, DC 20009
Tel: (202) 463-6166
russia.travisa.com
washington@travisa.com
Germany:
If you already got your invitation (visa support), just find the right visa center in Germany on the website of ILS – the company officially authorized to process visa applications on behalf of the Russian consulate worldwide. You can then apply with this invitation and the application form that you can fill out on Ministry of Foreign Affairs' website. You will need to go to the center yourself, but it's the cheapest option.
If you don't want to go anywhere you can also use a local travel agency that can arrange everything by post. Here we list some agencies in the Germany that can be trusted to do the job:
Vostok Reisen
A specialist travel agency with a focus on Russia and China. They charge about €35 to submit your documents to the consulate on top of the consulate's fee, but don't get visa support through them – too expensive (€45 vs standard €25).
Address: Weinbergsweg 2, D-10119 (Mitte) Berlin
Öffnungszeiten: Mo - Fr: 10 - 13 und 14 - 18 Uhr
Telefon: +49 (0)30 30 87 10 20
mail@vostok-reisen.de
www.vostok.de
PRO Visa
A small agency specializing in visa services. They have quite low fees and two offices: one in Berlin and one in Frankfurt-Am-Main.
Professional Visa & Consular
Consulting GmbH
Ferdinand-Scholling-Ring 62
D-65934 Frankfurt/Main
Tel.: (069) 138 25 200
Fax.:(069) 138 25 199
www.pro-visa.de
frankfurt@pro-visa.de
France:
If you already got your invitation (visa support), just find the right visa center in France on the website of ILS – the company officially authorized to process visa applications on behalf of the Russian consulate worldwide. You can then apply with this invitation and the application form that you can fill out on Ministry of Foreign Affairs' website. You will need to go to the center yourself, but it's the cheapest option.
If you don't want to go anywhere you can also use a local travel agency that can arrange everything by post. Here we list some agencies in France that can be trusted to do the job:
Visas Express
54 Rue de l'Ouest, 75014, Paris
Telefon: 08 25 08 10 20 (indigo, 15c/min)
www.visas-express.fr
China:
If you already got your invitation (visa support), just find the right visa center in China on the website of ILS – the company officially authorized to process visa applications on behalf of the Russian consulate worldwide. You can then apply with this invitation and the application form that you can fill out on Ministry of Foreign Affairs' website. You will need to go to the center yourself, but it's the cheapest option.
If you don't want to go anywhere you can also use a local travel agency that can arrange everything by post. Here we list some agencies in France that can be trusted to do the job:
Beijing Room 539, South Block, Tower C,
Raycom InfoTech Park,
No.2 Kexueyuan South Road,
Haidian District,
100190
Local Phone: +86 (0)10 84053493
Fax: +86 (0)10 84484283
Working hours:
Mon - Fri 9.00am - 6.00pm
