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sirwilliam5333
Just Starting
Joined: 04 Dec 2004
Posts: 2
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 Posted: Sat Dec 04, 2004 11:42 pm Post subject: Finding Russian business for "Invitation" |
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| Where do I, as President of a company involved in buying walnut tree burls, find a Russian company so that I can acquire the all-important Letter of Invitation or whatever you call it? Or do I try to get a letter from any business there? I have written wood companies there and most do not respond when I ask them for the letter. One wrote me today referring me to THIS SITE. I want to get the Business Visa for 6 months or more and multiple entries since I will be in Ukraine also buying mature walnut plantations and setting up a dating agency. |
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wavetossed
WayToRussified
Joined: 27 Jun 2004
Posts: 339
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| Posted: Sun Dec 05, 2004 1:24 am Post subject: |
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You misunderstand the meaning of a business visa.
The Russian government will issue you with a business visa if the purpose of your visit to Russia is a business purpose. This means that if you intend to buy or sell in Russia, to negotiate agreements in Russia, or to meet with potential Russian business partners, then you can receive a business visa. Along with yout visa application, the Russian government would like to receive a letter from your company that states who you are and the purpose of your business trips to Russia. I believe the letter also must guarantee that your company will be responsible for your expenses in Russia. The Russian embassy website in your country will have more detailed information.
In addition, the Russian government wants assurances from a local Russian organization that they will take responsibility for your travels in Russia. There is a system in place for providing that assurance in the form of an invitation (priglashennie) however this is not an invitation directed to you. It is a document that goes directly from a Russian organization, eligible to issue invitations, to the Russian embassy or consulate where you will apply for your visa. The consulate or embassy, matches up the invitation with your application, and when they are satisfied with the details, they put a visa page in your passport. The invitation can only be issued by an organization that is certified to do so. Unfortunately, the many companies who offer visa support for Russia, don't make it clear that this support includes making arrangements for the official invitation. The visa support company will apply on your behalf to a domestic Russian organization such as the Ministry of Agriculture. You will not even know which organization issued the invitation until you see the name in the visa in your passport.
This is a hangover from Soviet times when it really was necessary to be invited by a specific organization and then you were not free to go anywhere unless you were accompanied by employees of the organization. Nowadays, the paperwork is still necessary to get the visa, but once you are in Russia, you are free to go anywhere you please to arrange your business affairs.
I suggest that you are writing the wrong letters and therefore you are being ignored. Here's what I would do if I were in your shoes.
1. Plan a date at least 2 months in the future for your business trip.
2. Apply for a one year multi-entry business visa through the link in the upper left hand corner of this page.
3. Write a generic business letter that says you are planning a business trip to Russia, you plan to be in city X from date A through B and you would like to meet to discuss buying mature walnut plantations to harvest burlwood. Explain what burlwood is so that your correspondent knows and so that your translator can translate more accurately.
4. Find a Russian translator to translate your letters to Russian. Give the translator a list of names and dates. Ask them to provide you with a clean printed copy of each letter in English as well as in Russian.
5. Send each of your contacts both the English and the Russian letter.
Buy tickets, an Ectaco pocket translator, and get going.
Now, you did say something about Ukraine in your message. You should be aware that Ukraine is another country and if you intend to travel in both Ukraine and Russia, then you need visas for each one.
P.S. if I were you I would ask your business contacts to look out for other species of mature trees that may also have interesting burlwood, but might not be available in North America. You might be able to extend your product line with exclusive new exotic woods. |
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sirwilliam5333
Just Starting
Joined: 04 Dec 2004
Posts: 2
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| Posted: Sun Dec 05, 2004 3:43 am Post subject: business visa |
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thank you very much for your information. I have no problem writing an informative letter on our letterhead to the Russian Embassy visa section decribing the nature of my business in Russia. But, you have lost me as far as understanding where exactly I find both, as you say, a Russian Organization, eligible to issue the paperwork. Where do I find this, as you say, "Priglashennie" agency or document? Also, I think you are telliing me that we must also find a wood company there in Russia whom we might do business with. Where do we find such a company?
Thanks,
Bill Warren |
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wavetossed
WayToRussified
Joined: 27 Jun 2004
Posts: 339
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| Posted: Tue Dec 07, 2004 1:31 am Post subject: |
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Simple.
You go to the link on this page, in the top left hand corner, where it says Russian Visa. In there you will find a questionnaire that you can use to send a request for "visa support" to a Russian company that will organize your visa.
But you still have to go out on your own and identify business contacts in Russia. Can you hire a local Russian speaking person to do some research for you? There is a website at http://www.rbc.ru that has a lot of business information on Russian companies. They are rather like the Reuters of Russia. Also, your researcher could use a search engine like http://www.rambler.ru to identify areas where walnut trees can grow. But birch trees are so common in Russia, far more common than in North America, that I wonder if you can find old birch trees with burlwood as well. Also, pine is known for getting rather twisted and gnarled when it gets old, and there is a lot of pine forest in Russia as well.
Your business dealings are entirely separate and independent from your travel arrangements. A visa support company can help you with travel, but they are unlikely to have any contacts in the wood products industry. |
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