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Visa information for someone not going to a hotel

Way to Russia Talk Lounge Forum Index -> Russian Visa Forum

Author	Message
Neiltjie Just Starting Joined: 17 Aug 2004 Posts: 2	Posted: Tue Aug 17, 2004 5:45 pm    Post subject: Visa information for someone not going to a hotel Hi I will be going to visit a friend in Moscow and stay with him at his flat for a week. Now I've been looking up information about tourist visas and I first have to get an invitation document to get a visa. It says that only Hotels issue these documents. I don't want to stay in a hotel, so is there an alternative way of obtaining an invitation. Also, is there an alternative way I can get my visa registered once I am here if I am not staying in a hotel?
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toby Just Starting Joined: 13 Aug 2004 Posts: 2 Location: Moscow	Posted: Wed Aug 18, 2004 11:48 am    Post subject: Hi there, once here in Moscow you will need to register at the OVIR or something. If you stay in private home you will need so many documents (statement of who owns apartment and his authorisation to live there), that I recomend to to get the invitation over a visa support agency, reather than a private invitation by your friend. There are many offering visa support in the net, even over this site I saw you can have such support. Normally the one inviting you should also take care of your registration here. Registration in Moscow you will need it in case police checks your visa on the streets.
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waytorussia Frequent Guest Joined: 17 Mar 2010 Posts: 14	Posted: Wed Aug 18, 2004 2:28 pm    Post subject: You can get a tourist visa support through this site, apply for a tourist visa at a Russian embassy and then, when you arrive to Russia, register your visa with the travel agency that issued your visa support for $50 US. They will take care of all the paperwork and it will take 2-3 days. You can also register your tourist visa by yourself (with help from your friend), the travel agency will be happy to tell you exactly what should be done and it will cost you about $10 (the official fee charged by police department) and a few hours queueing in various police departments, local housing departments, banks (to pay your fee), etc. In the latter case, your friend will have to go with you. So, unless you want an authentic experience of the Russian bureaucracy, I advise to go with the $50 option.
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Neiltjie Just Starting Joined: 17 Aug 2004 Posts: 2	Posted: Sat Aug 21, 2004 11:07 pm    Post subject: Thanks for the advise. I will go through a travel agency. So it is possible to get an invitation and then tourist visa without booking into a hotel? I really don't want to pay expensive prices for hotels. I would rather stay with my friend.
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Randy Lounge Lizard Joined: 13 Jul 2003 Posts: 115 Location: Texas, USA	Posted: Sun Aug 22, 2004 4:45 am    Post subject: Each year it seems there are new challenges to receive a visa to visit Russia. I just recently returned from St.Petersburg, using a tourist visa. As in the past I paid a travel agency to take care of the invitation, and visa. Again, as in the past, I took my visa, and $10, and put them inside my passport, then went to a prominent hotel, handed these items to the desk clerk, then walked out with my visa stamped with the registration. I have never stayed in a hotel, and have never had any problems when my documents have been checked by the police, or at the airport. Maybe I am very lucky, or maybe Moscow regulations are different. Is Moscow more strict than St.Pete? I have never flown into Moscow before, and have only been there by train.
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wavetossed WayToRussified Joined: 27 Jun 2004 Posts: 339	Posted: Sun Aug 29, 2004 11:12 pm    Post subject: Hmm... do I understand this correctly? I think what our site admin is saying is that if you arrange the tourist visa through this site, he deals with travel agencies that also provide the necessary visa registration service for you when you are in Russia. In other words, I think he is saying that he offers an extra service, unlike the average visa support agency. I have certainly read on other sites that you can only get registration stamps from hotels and from OVIR offices, but maybe that's because the other sites don't have a local travel agency partner in Russia. I also think that a lot of people don't fully understand the connection between "visa support" and the "invitation". I.e. if you get visa support you end up with an invitation, not a visa. The second step is to get the visa itself from your local Russian embassy.
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