Way to Russia Community and Forum

sjef_fredrik · Just Starting Joined: 22 Jun 2009 Posts: 1

I have used Waytorussia's visa service twice before to apply for tourist visas from the Russian consulate in Oslo, Norway. Both times were smooth.

Now, there seems to be a new warning posted on the embassy's website:

"WARNING! There are several web-sites in the internet which offer to buy “invitations” to the Russian Federation, both tourist and business. Be informed, that according to the Russian legislation selling and purchasing of such documents via Internet is illegal, “invitations” obtained via Internet can not be the reason to get the Russian visa and won’t be accepted by the Consular Section of the Embassy. "

See: http://www.norway.mid.ru/webko/visa_eu_en.html

Is this a reason to worry? According to Waytorussia, your service is 100 % legal and reliable. What to I do if they for example require proof of hotel bookings? Can you fax the invitation letters to the consulate if they require this (I currently have invitations letters for our next trip to Russia).

WayToRussia · Posted: Tue Jun 23, 2009 1:53 pm Post subject:

The information posted on the website of the embassy is a nonsense.

What is an "invitation" (also called "visa support")? It's a document that confirms the fact that a travel agency is organizing your trip to Russia and has taken care of booking accommodation for you. This document is required by Russian consulates to issue tourist visas. Now, there's no law in Russia or anywhere else that forbids to sell these documents through the internet. It works the same way when you buy tours, flights, train tickets over the internet.

I won't be surprised if one day, when EasyJet manages to get a cheap route to Moscow, there'll be posts on Russian consulate websites saying something like: "WARNING! There are airlines that sell cheap flights over the internet (OMG! The internet!) We advise you that their services are not reliable and illegal according to the Russian legislation (where's the reference to the law, please?)

Anyways, now that I had a go at it, I want to answer your practical concerns.

The Russian consulates in Scandinavia are famous for making the life harder for travelers. So they might say that the visa support is not enough and that you need a proof of a fully paid accommodation in Russia. The invitation is a proof of a booking, but obviously as you pay only $30 US for it – the accommodation is not fully paid. Now, in this case your only option really is to book a hotel for the whole period of your stay. You can ask the visa support agency to do it when you get your invitation. They have good deals with hotels and will be able to find a good hotel for you and fax / email the paid booking confirmation.

Another option is to get a business visa, in this case the consulates are not so strict. But that's more expensive and takes a bit longer.

Hope that helps!

Listvianka · Frequent Guest Joined: 29 Jan 2008 Posts: 51

A person leagally residing in Russia can not invite annother unless the person has a 5 years residential visa (or is Russian). i.e. A 3 year residential visa dose not surffice!!

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