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Gavmundo
Frequent Guest
Joined: 04 Jul 2003
Posts: 17
Location: Morecambe, UK
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 Posted: Fri Jul 04, 2003 3:14 am Post subject: A Visit to Moscow ... not quite as simple as i thought |
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I'm off to visit my Fiance in Moscow. We met over a year ago and i've never visited Moscow but she's stayed with me in the UK a few times though it was difficult to get her Visa being a single female traveller (her Dad being a diplomat helped her get a Visa tho.  Something about seeing as her father was an influential etc). Well now it's my turn and was confident it would all be sorted by August ... till i visited this site lol.
Lots of helpful info here. She is in the process of sorting out my Invitation but we though it would only take a couple of weeks. A Friend of hers has sorted some Invitations out before and said it takes a Month minimum .. so better get a move on! Once i've received that I know i have to send it to the Consulate and the helpful info on here informs me London is one of the few places that encourages Postal Applications. Not sure if it takes longer to apply for the visa or Invitation but i suppose it depends on the case involved.
Still hopeful i might just be able to make it for the 22nd August when i booked my holiday from work but looks as if it maybe very tight. This will actually be the first time i've travelled abroad for ten years and my first 10 yr passport, never applied for a Visa before so has come as a bit of a shock lol I mean this is the 21st Century 
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Gavmundo
Frequent Guest
Joined: 04 Jul 2003
Posts: 17
Location: Morecambe, UK
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| Posted: Wed Jul 09, 2003 11:15 am Post subject: Noooooooooooooooo |
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Just found out the Invitation side of my Visa could take upto One and a Half Months to sort out  and that's before i apply for my Visa. I'd planned to visit on 22nd of August but that looks dead in the water! Apparently it can take a couple of weeks long because of me being British ... I thought the Cold War was over ?? |
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Bender
Frequent Guest
Joined: 02 Feb 2003
Posts: 24
Location: savannah, ga. U.S.
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| Posted: Fri Jul 11, 2003 12:17 pm Post subject: |
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| no shit. its pretty bad. very hard to get a russian woman over to u.s. lots of red tape. |
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Pasha
Frequent Guest
Joined: 25 Apr 2003
Posts: 38
Location: Moscow
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| Posted: Thu Aug 07, 2003 3:07 pm Post subject: |
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I consider visas to be limitation of personal freedom and discrimination based on nationality. But anyway... When it comes to this matter I prefer dealing with agencies if the prices are fair. Here, at Waytorussia, we've found a reliable one with good prices. And it takes MUCH less time and efforts to get an invitation.
http://waytorussia.net/Services/VisaSupport/Tourist.html
If you ask someone for a private invitation he/she will have to collect all the necessary papers, bring them to OVIR (waiting in a long line), pay some fees through a bank, wait for 4-7 weeks (checking whether it's ready or not), receive a small green piece of paper which is actually an invitation (need to wait in another line), then send it to you. Snail mail is slow and DHL-like services charge about 40$. And the price of the tourist invitation trough Waytorussia is $30 US, including taxes...
So you see the point. |
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Gavmundo
Frequent Guest
Joined: 04 Jul 2003
Posts: 17
Location: Morecambe, UK
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| Posted: Thu Aug 07, 2003 9:49 pm Post subject: |
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Ok so my next question would be how the hell does it take one and a half months to organise a n invitation through the normal channels and one day through an agency? Is it a case of slipping a few Rubles to the people concerned??  Thanks for that anyway my application has been in for a month now so it may be sorted soon though not looking like i can manage to afford a flight till next month now anyway.
Another question is how long, on average, does it take to sort the Visa itself out? Once i have the invitation i'd have to post it to London's Consulate, course if this takes as long as the invitation i'd be looking at November before i could get over to Moscow! |
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martyboy
Frequent Guest
Joined: 19 Jul 2003
Posts: 12
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| Posted: Thu Aug 07, 2003 11:27 pm Post subject: A question for pasha |
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I know this is pretty of subject but it would be great to get some advice on 2 subjects:
1) The visa support sounds great, pasha. Are you aware of any similair, reliable people who would provide a similair service in Belarus and the Ukraine?
2) The visa support form for russia only needs to say which cities I will visit, not what hotel or exactly which nights i'll be staying? Is this correct?
Thanks in advance for any help... |
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UsualSuspect
WayToRussified
Joined: 08 May 2003
Posts: 324
Location: The Land of Oz
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| Posted: Fri Aug 08, 2003 4:22 pm Post subject: Private Visa's et al |
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Gavmundo,
In the Soviet regime, Private Visa's were still available but subject to intense scrutiny by the KGB and Militia. One thing about the Private Visa is that your sponsor assumes full responsibility for you, in every legal sense. Nowadays, once all the doco is filed, this file goes off to the FSB and there is a "standard" 30 day turn around. However, like all shifting goalposts, the applicant has to supply even more documentation to Ovir in the first place. How do I know? I have visited 3 times on Private Visa's, and we always start 3 months before I intend to go. This last time, place of document lodgement changed and so did the "proof of ownership" (for the flat) requirements changed. Once the permission is issued, I generally get it sent over to me via UPS (5 days max) and pay the money back ($65 from Krasnoyarsk).
Regards
UsualSuspect |
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Brent
Lounge Lizard
Joined: 05 Jul 2003
Posts: 91
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| Posted: Fri Aug 08, 2003 5:39 pm Post subject: |
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| I took advantage of the service provided on this site, paid my $30 and had my invitation faxed the following day. The invitation only listed the cities I was visiting. For your visa application you will just have send confirmation that you have accomodation in Russia. Myself I just booked my first night in a hotel so I could get my visa registered, then I stayed in hostels and apartments. When sending your visa application to your consulate, be sure to have all the proper documentation or they will reject it. |
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Pasha
Frequent Guest
Joined: 25 Apr 2003
Posts: 38
Location: Moscow
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| Posted: Tue Aug 12, 2003 4:14 am Post subject: kgb... |
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Well, UsualSuspect was right when he said about KGB. Russians even
need to supply a copy of the main form and two photos. In private talk,
I've found out that one copy stays in KGB achieve. Everyone who works
there knows that it's a bullshit and I've never hears about refusals.
But such rules are so difficult to break, so every person in the chain
needs to perform his duty.
Now, why agencies are fast? They usually make invitations as for organized
group tours and in this case there are different, more flexible rules. |
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Pasha
Frequent Guest
Joined: 25 Apr 2003
Posts: 38
Location: Moscow
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martyboy
Frequent Guest
Joined: 19 Jul 2003
Posts: 12
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| Posted: Tue Aug 12, 2003 12:03 pm Post subject: |
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| Thanks for that Pasha. They look good. |
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Guest
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| Posted: Fri Aug 15, 2003 2:11 am Post subject: |
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My other half just told me the Invitation arrived today (her Mum applied for it) so i'm halfway there .. well a little over half as it's taken just over a month. she's posting it by Fedex so i should get it by Tues then just have to post it to the Consulate in London.
Found the London C's site very easily thanks to this site so going to look over it over weekend and fill my application in. Still not there but inching closer. Looking forward to visiting Moscow. Only been abroad 3 times (once to Spain and twice to France but when i was a teenager and the French seemed almost normal lol)
I really appreciate this site it's a fountain of knowledge for us Visa Grunts lol |
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Gavmundo
Frequent Guest
Joined: 04 Jul 2003
Posts: 17
Location: Morecambe, UK
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| Posted: Fri Aug 15, 2003 2:12 am Post subject: |
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| oops that last post was me i forgot to log in |
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Guest
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| Posted: Fri Aug 15, 2003 2:34 am Post subject: |
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This is gonna sound a little silly at this late stage buy you can actually download an app form for your Visa i mean you don't actually have to order a form from the Consulate by post?
There are pdf forms on the site so i'm assuming it is ok. |
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Gavmundo
Frequent Guest
Joined: 04 Jul 2003
Posts: 17
Location: Morecambe, UK
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| Posted: Fri Aug 15, 2003 2:35 am Post subject: |
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| Arghhhhh log me in you git lol |
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