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zcrar70
Just Starting
Joined: 26 Jul 2009
Posts: 1
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 Posted: Sun Jul 26, 2009 5:46 pm Post subject: Tourist visa invitation - address in Russia |
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Hi,
I'm considering two options for getting a tourist visa invitation - this site, and expresstorussia.com (http://www.expresstorussia.com/russian_visas.html). The Express To Russia website is slightly cheaper (18USD vs 30USD), but doesn't seem to include a hotel booking like the service hosted here does.
I'm planning to visit Russia for two weeks with my gf, arriving at St Petersburg and leaving from Moscow, possibly visiting other cities in between, although we haven't made any firm plans or hotel reservations yet.
I was wondering whether:
* It was better to get the invitation with the included hotel booking, or without (given we won't be staying at St Petersburg the whole time, which will be obvious as we leave the country from Moscow.)
* If I got the invitation without a hotel booking, would it be sufficient to book a hotel for the first few days in St Petersburg, and put that down as our address in Russia, even though we wouldn't be staying there the whole time. (i.e. would the hotel be contacted and asked to confirm the duration of our stay there.)
Any help greatly appreciated.
Thanks,
Nick |
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jarman_ah
Frequent Guest
Joined: 23 Jul 2009
Posts: 14
Location: Australia
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| Posted: Thu Jul 30, 2009 2:38 am Post subject: |
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I don't have an answer to your question, zcrar70 (though I am keeping track of any answers that do come in, as I need to know also).... but I am going to complicate things still further.
This difference in cost for different companies is, indeed, a bit of a worry, as I am not sure what you get for your money, or what the Russian consulates think of ANY of the providers. I note that a third company -- http://www.realrussia.co.uk/visa/tourist_visas2.asp -- offers a similar service, but its price is a whopping 115 British pounds and upwards for what seems to be essentially the same service as WTR and Express! Is there something in the fine print of each of these that I need to read?
I guess by the time I shut down the computer today I will have found two or three more companies with two or three more prices. Dunno what to do! |
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thndersnow
Just Starting
Joined: 27 Jul 2009
Posts: 4
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| Posted: Sat Aug 01, 2009 7:00 pm Post subject: |
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| I believe jarman is referring to the actual visa and not the visa invitation you are asking about. The actual visa officially costs $131 + any agency fees because you cannot take it to a consulate yourself. As for the $18 vs. $30 for the invitation, I do not see a difference in the hotel booking because you could always do that on another website for free. If you are staying at a hotel or hostel though, I would suggest finding that first (quickly), and then asking them to provide you the visa support letter. That way, they will be able to register it for you as well. I have found that nicer hotels will do this for you for free, but hostels will charge you around $15 for the invitation and about $5-7 for the registration upon arrival. Usually they will give you the invitation for your entire stay in Russia I have also found. Good luck! |
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jarman_ah
Frequent Guest
Joined: 23 Jul 2009
Posts: 14
Location: Australia
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| Posted: Mon Aug 03, 2009 1:44 am Post subject: |
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Thndersnow makes a lot of sense, and I'm pretty sure he will be right about that 100-plus-British-pounds fee.... it probably includes taking you through the whole visa process as well as the visa support letter, since otherwise the fee wouldn't really make much sense.
Actually, I rather liked ALL the advice he gave, and I am inclined, at this stage of my "learning curve", to simply contact a hostel (or one of those hotels that do it free) and ask them to provide a letter for a "real" booking, rather than do one of these "phantom" bookings with hotels written in that you don't actually plan to visit... seems safer to do it legally, and then you don't have to look away guiltily when they start asking you questions!
So, Thndersnow, if you're checking this thread (or anybody else; I'm not particular!), maybe you can clarify one further point: if I wanted to book in to a hostel in St Petersburg for, say, three nights, and then to travel on to Moscow (overnight train) and book into a Moscow hostel for a couple more nights, would that mean that I would really need to have two separate visa support invitations -- one from each -- to make sure that all bases were covered? Will the night on the train/bus -- which, of course, is NOT supported by either invitation, and which won't actually be booked at the time we apply for the visa -- constitute any difficulties for the Russian consulate, or are they at least flexible enough to handle this degree of independence?
And, finally, I'd rather like to give myself the option of arriving a couple of days early (if, for instance, we can't get the bus or train on the day we want) and leaving a couple of days late (if, for instance, the departure flight suddenly got changed) without finding myself violating the terms of my visa support letter(s) or the dates on the visa; so happiness would be a visa which actually covered extra days at each end. How friendly are the consulates to this idea (which seems, on the face of it, commendably prudent -- although maybe they assume that this means we're trying to pull a fast one)?
I actually wrote to the Sydney consulate several weeks ago and asked these questions (without mentioning the bit about a "fast one"!), but so far have not received a response.
Thanks again for all advice! |
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romdur
Lounge Lizard
Joined: 17 Mar 2010
Posts: 189
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| Posted: Mon Aug 03, 2009 11:33 am Post subject: |
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1. A visa requires exactly one invitation.
2. The only way for a tourist to be strictly "by the book" is to either (A) get an invitation from a hotel etc., and stay there the entire time; or (B) get an invitation from a registered tour company, and stay/travel with them the entire time. As soon as you make an independent trip to another city, you have left "the straight and narrow." But this is what many of us do, and it is very rare to have problems about this.
3. The consulate doesn't care what you do, after they have issued the visa (seriously, unless you are later charged in Russia with a crime or administrative offense). Who theoretically could care, would be police or immigration officers. In the unlikely event that anyone checks, as long as your visa was registered at your first city, they will probably be satisfied. You aren't required to register while you're actually in motion (train, bus, etc.). Much more about registration on this site.
4. As to timing, when I apply I set the start date for my earliest possible arrival date, and the end date 30 days later (the maximum). It is absolutely no problem if you arrive after the start date, or leave before the end date. |
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