averageg
Frequent Guest
Joined: 16 May 2006
Posts: 23
Location: Ontario, Canada
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 Posted: Tue Sep 08, 2009 9:39 pm Post subject: Just paid for Tourist VISA - but no hotel; is this ok? |
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Hello everyone,
I just paid for a Russian Tourist VISA at an agency in Toronto (Canada) that said they will be supplying the invitation and obtain the Russian Tourist VISA from the Russian Consulate for me, for $246.
They did not push me to book a hotel with them, so I am very concerned about this. From reading through various forums, some people are saying it would be near impossible to get the Tourist VISA registered when I land in Russia without the sponsoring hotel that provided me with the invitation.
I am planning to meet with my girlfriend in Moscow and she will have an apartment booked. My question is, Can I get my Tourist VISA registered at this apartment?
I didn't go for the Private VISA because she resides in Chita, and is going to Moscow as well. Aside from legal policies, it's very important for my Russian VISA to be registered because we're going to get married in Moscow.
Thanks for all your help.
Regards |
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romdur
Lounge Lizard
Joined: 17 Mar 2010
Posts: 189
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| Posted: Tue Sep 08, 2009 11:23 pm Post subject: |
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Dear average,
As I understand it, the concept behind registration is to officially connect a person with an address, for a specific range of dates. It would seem that in theory, if the invitation for a tourist visa comes from a hotel, the tourist would be registered by that hotel.
But as far as I can tell, in practice, no one enforces such a linkage. For example, a tourist invitation doesn't have to come from a hotel - you could book a tour from a travel agency, and get the invitation from them. The agency is not a hotel, so if during your tour you stayed in town more than 3 business days, you would have to register, and you would (in theory) be registered not by the travel agency, but by the place where you sleep.
Where theory and practice get even farther apart: it is a common practice for travel companies to register a non-hotel tourist (like yourself) into a "phantom address" where you aren't actually staying. This certainly goes against the letter of the law ... but many travelers who don't stay in hotels, have been doing this for years without trouble. Normally, nobody checks up on this.
Registration is required by law, even apart from needing this for your marriage. You can handle this several ways:
1. Have your girlfriend contact the company through which she booked the apartment. Often, they can register your visa for some fee.
2. Contact the agency you are using to get your visa. Often, they will have a partner company in Moscow that will register your visa, again for a fee.
3. I have seen claims online that there are travel companies in Moscow that will register any tourist visa (again, for a fee), regardless of who issued the invitation. I can't confirm that this is true, and I don't know how to find them, but perhaps some here - or a web search - will help.
4. If your invitation is from a hotel, "bite the bullet" and contact them. If you are lucky, maybe they will register you for the price of one or two nights stay. But be aware, that registration is for a definite number of days: make sure you are registered to your last day in Moscow. |
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averageg
Frequent Guest
Joined: 16 May 2006
Posts: 23
Location: Ontario, Canada
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| Posted: Tue Sep 08, 2009 11:58 pm Post subject: |
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| Romdur, I really appreciate your thoughts on this. I'm definitely going to ask my girlfriend to contact the flat about its VISA registration services before we actually choose one. It gives me some hope that everything will be fine, because it has been a rough ride for me the last couple of months. Who knew it would be such a challenge to marry in Russia...hehe. However, everything should be in order now. Having someone look for a flat in Moscow would save me about $2000 for 24 nights. |
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