Way to Russia Talk Lounge

BigFeat · Just Starting Joined: 15 Jan 2008 Posts: 6

Is the Visa Registration process supposed to be handled separately by me if I elect to go through Way To Russia? I signed up for an invitation letter for $30, however, I received an email with the following:

Russian Visa Registration

Please note that if you are staying in Russia for more than 3 business days
your visa must be registered.

If you are staying in a hotel, the hotel will register your visa. If at a
private place, please contact our office immediately upon arrival for
detailed information on the registration procedure.
For complete registration information in Moscow, St. Petersburg and other
Russian cities please go to
xxxxxx

If you haven't booked your accommodation yet, please see
xxxxx
xxxxxx
When submitting your request for a Moscow Apartment, include the Reference
Number listed above in the Comment field and get a 5% discount.

Should you have any further questions, please don't hesitate to contact us.

From the above, it appears that the service will only provide me with a letter and the rest is up to me. I intend to file my Visa through a local agency. However, they have requested that I get my invite letter and fill out the official Visa form first. So for the $30 service fee for the invite letter through this website, does my local agency have to handle this registration process? I understand that the invite letter will automatically reserve a hotel (reservation only) for me, but I can stay any where else. However, how do I handle this if I intend to stay at an apartment. This might be a request I'm not sure my lanlord (booked through here) may not be able to accommodate. What address is the official Visa form supposed to include. The one booked by this service are the actual address I intend to stay at. I am planning on visiting Moscow and St. Petesburg. I have a confirmed booking for the apartment, but nothing confirmed for St. Petersburg yet.

WayToRussia · Posted: Mon Jan 21, 2008 4:30 am Post subject:

No, the registration cannot be done neither by the agency that issued your invitation, nor by the agent that assists you in getting your visa. The law says that either the hotel, the accommodating party, or the landlord can register your visa. So in your case, if you're staying in an apartment, just ask the people who are renting the apartment to you (friends or a company) to register you. For them, it's pretty straightforward: they take a copy of your passport, go to any post office, fill out a couple of forms, queue for about 30-40 mins, pay 150 R ($6) and it's done. They need not to forget to send another form when you leave though.

Even though it's quite easy, it may seem like a hassle to your landlord, so they might want to ask you some money to cover the queueing etc. (Russian people hate queueing -- it's like being back in the Soviet times). That's basically why you usually end up paying $20-$50 for it.