Requirements for visiting Russia

[casanovawa]

I'm thinking of visiting Russia later this year, do you have to get a letter of invitation or something similar and how easy is it to get such a letter?

 

[Katie]

Yes, you need a letter of invitation which you then use to get a visa. That's about all I know as my only Russian visa was a work multi-entry one year visa. I'm not sure of what's different for tourist visas.

 

[ChrisFlyer]

If you are doing a guided tour, you can usually get a letter from the tour company, and if you're travelling independently, you can make a hotel booking, and then ask the hotel to provide one for you. Do be sure to ask what their fees are for doing this, as some may do it for free to win your business, and for those that charge, the rates may vary. IIRC you also need to provide a copy of your confirmed flight itinerary to apply for the visa, though there's nothing stopping you from making a fully flexible (and refundable) booking to satisfy the visa application (and to mitigate any financial risk should your application be denied), and then cancelling and rebooking on a cheaper fare once you have obtained your visa.

 

[sergeyvzn]

No need to provide your flight itinerary.

Also, you can buy your invitation letter from any Russian travel agency that is accredited with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and has their reference number. This reference number is pretty much all Russian consulates need to issue you a visa.

There is a million of Russian travel agencies online, just do a google search on "russian visa" and there will be an ocean of possibilities

Feel free to ask me any other questions about Russia - I'm a dual Russian/Australian citizen and travel there every year. Also have had a number of times to organise a Russian visa for my Australian partner so I know what I'm talking about

 

[Pozza]

As Sergeyvzn said if you plan on traveling around Russia a bit rather than just staying at one hotel it is much easier to just go through an online Russian travel agency for the visa.

For what it's worth December last year I did 3 weeks in Russia starting on the train in Beijing and ending in St Petersburg with a few stops on the way. We used Real Russia — Hotels, Trains, Visas, Tours, Trans-siberian experts for our invitation letters and train tickets. Might not have been the cheapest, but are well regarded from what I could tell and really responsive and helpful with all my questions. It made organising the visa for 6 people a hell of a lot easier.

Cheers,
Poz

 

[Wezza]

No need to provide your flight itinerary.

Also, you can buy your invitation letter from any Russian travel agency that is accredited with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and has their reference number. This reference number is pretty much all Russian consulates need to issue you a visa.

There is a million of Russian travel agencies online, just do a google search on "russian visa" and there will be an ocean of possibilities

Feel free to ask me any other questions about Russia - I'm a dual Russian/Australian citizen and travel there every year. Also have had a number of times to organise a Russian visa for my Australian partner so I know what I'm talking about

Does your Australian partner need an invitation to travel to Russia? I heard that if you are married to a Russian citizen that there is no need for the invitation (private visa)? My fiance is Russian & when she moves to Australia later this year it will be hard to organise an invitation to visit later on. I've been twice now on a private visa & they are a bit of a stuff around but at least they are valid for 3 months.

 

[sergeyvzn]

Does your Australian partner need an invitation to travel to Russia? I heard that if you are married to a Russian citizen that there is no need for the invitation (private visa)? My fiance is Russian & when she moves to Australia later this year it will be hard to organise an invitation to visit later on. I've been twice now on a private visa & they are a bit of a stuff around but at least they are valid for 3 months.

Wrong. A visa is still required regardless whether you're married or not unless you take the Russian citizenship and this is very hard. Also, a private invitation is harder to make and process (youre right) so my partner gets a "priglashenie" (invitation) from a whatever random travel agency and then on it's a simple enough thing

 

[NM]

You can use a specialist travel company like Gateway Travel (Russian Gateway Tours) to arrange visas etc for you. I used them many years go for travel to Ukraine and they were very knowledgeable and efficient.

 

[Wezza]

Wrong. A visa is still required regardless whether you're married or not unless you take the Russian citizenship and this is very hard. Also, a private invitation is harder to make and process (youre right) so my partner gets a "priglashenie" (invitation) from a whatever random travel agency and then on it's a simple enough thing

I knew the visa was still required, I just heard that the invitation wasn't required & you could apply for the visa without it. Obviously I heard wrong information. I can get my future sister in law to organise and invitation anyway. Cheers.

 

[Must...Fly!]

and to mitigate any financial risk should your application be denied

AFAIK, most fares allow for a full refund in the case of a visa denial by a country, if the airline is supplied with supporting documentation of refusal of visa.

 

[sergeyvzn]

I knew the visa was still required, I just heard that the invitation wasn't required & you could apply for the visa without it. Obviously I heard wrong information. I can get my future sister in law to organise and invitation anyway. Cheers.

Sorry, I was too quick adding your post and misunderstood you. Yes, if your Russian wife/husband/children are traveling with you, you can get a single or double private visa for 90 days without an invitation. It's the same $110/190 , takes the same time and involves the same bureaucracy. You only save $20 or so on the invitation. Since me and my partner are not married (no same sex marriage in Australia -) this is not an option for us. It will work for you though but you need to get married first

 

[ChrisFlyer]

AFAIK, most fares allow for a full refund in the case of a visa denial by a country, if the airline is supplied with supporting documentation of refusal of visa.

You learn something new every day!

 

[Wezza]

Sorry, I was too quick adding your post and misunderstood you. Yes, if your Russian wife/husband/children are traveling with you, you can get a single or double private visa for 90 days without an invitation. It's the same $110/190 , takes the same time and involves the same bureaucracy. You only save $20 or so on the invitation. Since me and my partner are not married (no same sex marriage in Australia -) this is not an option for us. It will work for you though but you need to get married first

Thanks for the information! Really helpful!

 

[casanovawa]

Ok, good to see i'm not the only one who benefited from this info...

And I am planning to be in Europe for about a week and half or so in July, so will probably fly from FRA to MOS and do 3-4 days or so in Moscow, catch an overnight train up to St Petersburg for 3 days or so then a train round to Helsinki for a few days before flying back down to FRA and on to the US... Its either that way or start in HEL and fly out of one of the airports in MOS... Just get a cheapy open jaw fair of expedia.ie flying Air France or Air Baltic or something so hopefully if i'm refused, whcih i can't see why i would be, i can do something with it...

Not sure if i will hotel it, hostel it or even do something like couchsurf or a combo of them so sounds like just getting the letter of invitation for $20 is the way to go??? Hopefully after that it isn't too difficult getting the visa, i think i recall reading last year and it only requires about 5 working days or so, but i often leave things till close to the last minute... Bad habit...

 

[sergeyvzn]

Ok, good to see i'm not the only one who benefited from this info...

And I am planning to be in Europe for about a week and half or so in July, so will probably fly from FRA to MOS and do 3-4 days or so in Moscow, catch an overnight train up to St Petersburg for 3 days or so then a train round to Helsinki for a few days before flying back down to FRA and on to the US...

what a coincidence that I will be in St.Petersburg in July as well...and also flying in via FRA (via BKK) travelling on a *A award fare in J and flying back to SYD via Istanbul and Shanghai

there isn't much to do in Helsinki, it's a relatively small quiet place, 2 days there would be quite enough. Also, if I were you, I'd spend more days in St.Petersburg than in Moscow. Moscow is like NYC with horrible traffic, crowds and noise, not much history, St.Petersburg is far more interesting

 

[casanovawa]

Well there you go...

I fly out of Perth 10th July-BKK-CDG-FRA stop then fly out of FRA on the 23 July-LAX (stop) then 10 August-ICN-SIN-PER all in J... Although still pondering breaking it in ICN and then flying over to Japan for a week or so and then getting cheapy LCC flights back down to Perth while thinking about the couple of J SQ fares i let go...

And i've heard Helsinki isn't the biggest of places but it will complete my scandinavian capitals to go with Stockholm, Copenhagen and Oslo... Was talking to a lady on the Travbuddy website who lives in HEL and has offered to show me around but yeah i think 2 days could be sufficient... And ok, always up for advice on the weightings of different places... I've read quite a bit about Stalin and that whole era of show trials and all, so would be good to see some of the interesting places in Moscow and tour the Kremlin etc... Just saw Die Hard 5 on the weekend, and though it won't win any academy awards would have like to have been to Moscow first to get a sense of the place then see movies... Might have to re-watch the latest Mission Impossible when they blow the Kremlin up as well... But yes i imagine St Petersburg would be pretty amazing...

 

[sergeyvzn]

But yes i imagine St Petersburg would be pretty amazing...

I come from St.Petersburg so might be prejudiced

 

[Wezza]

Saint Petersburg is absolutely beautiful! You should definitely spend the most time there.

P.S. Moscow hotels are generally very expensive.

 

[casanovawa]

Yeah, I had heard that its the most expensive place on earth almost, that's why i thought i most likely will hostel it or find someone to stay with if possible...

 

[horseman]

I reckon warm clothes would be a requirement.