Russian visa

[RooFlyer]

I was going to post on a minor point about my recent application for a Russian tourist visa, but thought I'd add a bit.

I'm travelling in late September, so applied early within the three month time period mandated, although that limitation, like a number of things in the overall process is a bit ambiguous. The Visa application start page is here. Note that they say they 'may' respond to urgent visa enquiries by e-mail here. Elsewhere they say they will not.

The application is long and complex. be prepared to give names, address, phone no. etc of your last 2 employers; parents' details etc. Oh, and your 10-year travel history, with dates. Fortunately the site runs out of space after 30 country visits. .

Photo specs are given so that your head has to be pretty exact within the shot.

You have to get an 'invitation' from an accredited tour operator (-s ... up to two!) who will invite and vouch for you for your ENTIRE visit. There is only an option of 'tour operator' details on the website form, not a hotel. My tour operator in Irkutsk doesn't issue invitations, neither did the other 2 I tried. Yikes!! So I emailed my hotel, The Courtyard Marriott if they could do an invitation for the entire stay, notwithstanding I was only staying with them for 3 out of the 6 nights. Got a reservations guy with excellent written English, and also OK spoken English. I phoned by Skype as I wanted to be really, really sure we were talking about the same thing. Words used by them in their e-mail reply were slightly different from what the visa application form wanted. Anyway, sorted it out, and they e-mailed me the invitation with stamps, two critical reference numbers and it covered the entire week. Although the visa application form only specifies 'tour operators' for invitations, it stands to reason that it doesn't have to be a tour operator - not everyone uses tours, right?

Gulp. When I finished the form and printed it out, it actually said 'tour operator/hotel' in the space, so that was a relief.

I'm in Tas, so sent the form, passport, photo, money A$135, return express envelope etc to the Sydney consulate via express post.

Delivered next day - tick.

Web site says 12 business days processing if applying by post. Now, my experience in applying for visas by post is that they generally get issued in only a couple of days, so I started looking at the AusPost tracking site after a week.

Nothing . And nothing after 2 weeks (10 biz days) . I was getting worried. Nyet ! enquiries by phone or e-mail remember. Would I have to fly up to Sydney??

On the 13th biz day, the tracker got a hit that it was on its way and it was delivered today. Hooray!

Funny thing. I have an earlier Russian visa in this passport. The visas have my name in 'English' and in Russian. My Russian surname is different in the 2 visas. The machine-readable English text along the bottom is the English phonetic spelling of the Russian pronunciation, and is also different, matching the changed Russian spellings.

And they've chopped the top of my head off when transferring the photo of me digitally onto the visa. So much for being very careful with all the alignment!!

Anyway, happy now. Getting a Russian visa is tricky, but visiting the country is very rewarding.

 

[n7of9]

Thanks so much for posting this, Russia's next in my list so will keep all this in mind

 

[RooFlyer]

You'll love it. Destination Trip Report index here remember.

 

[jastel]

Did this a few months ago myself...

Had a laugh at the questions about "experience with nuclear weapons, biological agents and terrorism"
Listing the exact arrival and departure dates of travels over the last 10 years took me nearly all day...luckily I keep diaries.
I attached a separate page as my TA said.
It came back within the month specified.

On arrival, apart from 1.5 hours immigration delay, no EU lines, only Russian and the rest, the girls painting their fingernails barely glanced at it.
You have to fill out a form and keep the other half for departure...very important the guide said.
As we drove out instead of flying the border agent threw it in the bin...

 

[Spongbob]

I like the visa application question "Name of your chief?".

 

[kpc]

One of the most annoying Visas to obtain, and we paid some online travel agency in Russia for an invite...we took my 80 yo mum with us. I asked her where she trained in Melbourne, and she said that hospital has been torn down. I asked her who her boss was, she said she died years ago. i asked her what the phone number was, and she gave me a weird look....so I just put in a random Melbourne phone number of some current hospital. The Q about exact dates of entry to every country I had been to in the last 10 years nearly killed me but after i entered about 30, the system wouldn't let me put any more in so I just stopped....anyway eventually got the visa after 2 weeks from the Russian consulate in Woollahra covering the date we arrived til the very day we left....not sure what would have happened if our flight ex DME was delayed....!!

 

[RooFlyer]

The limit on inputting countries in the travel history was there even when it was a form to fill out (I got my first Russian Visa about 6 years ago, then again 4 years ago).

I suspect that they are not so strict about arrival/departure dates - I know my last arrival was supposed to be abt 11pm but it arrived 12:30am & not a problem. Also, on my first trip, we moved around a lot - St Petersburg, canal cruise to Moscow, couple of places within Moscow ... I learned later that each place you stay at is supposed to mark your visa with from-to dates so on exit, all your itinerary can be accounted for. I think only 2 hotels marked the visa and again, not a problem.

The current visa application says a maximum of two (emphasised) places can sponsor/invite you, but that has to cover the entire (again, emphasised) time you are in Russia. Don't know what happens if you are moving around, although one trick I was told was to make a hotel booking in your first city for the entire length of your stay (first night deposit), get the invitation, stay the first night, cancel the rest and then go wherever.

 

[Jacques Vert]

For our visa I booked a hotel in St Pete for the maximum period we were thinking of staying. Then I asked them to send an invitation; received no problem. Applied for the visa for this period and it came back a week or two later; again no problem.

Then I confirmed our transport arrangements, changed the hotel booking to match and all OK.

FWIW, IME you are fine provided you don't arrive before your visa is valid and perhaps more importantly, leave after your visa expires. Best to leave an extra day or two on the departure date to allow for delays, cancellations, etc. If a late night flight/train/ship is delayed a couple of hours you could tick over to the following day (not a good idea in Russia). YMMV

 

[OATEK]

For our visa I booked a hotel in St Pete for the maximum period we were thinking of staying. Then I asked them to send an invitation; received no problem. Applied for the visa for this period and it came back a week or two later; again no problem.

Then I confirmed our transport arrangements, changed the hotel booking to match and all OK.

FWIW, IME you are fine provided you don't arrive before your visa is valid and perhaps more importantly, leave after your visa expires. Best to leave an extra day or two on the departure date to allow for delays, cancellations, etc. If a late night flight/train/ship is delayed a couple of hours you could tick over to the following day (not a good idea in Russia). YMMV

Yes, we also had the hotel on St Petersburg provide the sponsor references, but we were not going elsewhere in Russia. We arrived/departed by train and the border guards gave us a thorough inspection (party of 5 covering 3 generations). But all went smoothly, although $135 for a 4 day visit did seem steep.
The funny part was arriving back in St Petersburg a year later on a cruise ship. Our shore excursions meant going though immigration multiple times over 2 days, and on one of these the officer asked why MrsOatek was entering on an out of date visa. She explained that she was not using the old visa, but was relying on the arrangements through the cruise line and had already been ashore twice without an issue and had stamps to show it. The fellow put his hat on, got up and started yelling. Eventually a young fellow about 20yo from the shore agents came and tried to translate the discussion. Eventually MrsO was allowed ashore but the officer was none too happy it seemed, frowning as she moved off.

 

[RooFlyer]

FWIW, IME you are fine provided you don't arrive before your visa is valid and perhaps more importantly, leave after your visa expires. Best to leave an extra day or two on the departure date to allow for delays, cancellations, etc. If a late night flight/train/ship is delayed a couple of hours you could tick over to the following day (not a good idea in Russia). YMMV

Isn't this hard to do in practice?

You are supposed to get the letter of invitation from your accommodation/tour for the entire length of stay. I think you also state the from/to dates on the application form. So, unless the hotel agrees to mis-state your stay, then there would be a mis-match of dates. Now, I'm not sure if this would matter in practice, or what date they would choose if they did spot the mis-match, but I wouldn't like to try it, in case the application got rejected.

That said, recalling my last visit, I'm pretty sure I didn't have the entire visit covered by invitations, as I moved around a bit, although the requirement may have changed since then.

 

[Drakecula]

Gee - that sounds like a lot of effort. I'd like to go to Russia one day though

 

[Jacques Vert]

Isn't this hard to do in practice?

You are supposed to get the letter of invitation from your accommodation/tour for the entire length of stay. I think you also state the from/to dates on the application form. So, unless the hotel agrees to mis-state your stay, then there would be a mis-match of dates. Now, I'm not sure if this would matter in practice, or what date they would choose if they did spot the mis-match, but I wouldn't like to try it, in case the application got rejected.

That said, recalling my last visit, I'm pretty sure I didn't have the entire visit covered by invitations, as I moved around a bit, although the requirement may have changed since then.

Wasn't a problem in practice. I've applied for a visa twice. First time the airline went belly-up so we ended up going elsewhere. Second time we arrived by train and left by ship.

Let's say you want to spend a total of two weeks in Russia. You book a hotel in St Pete (or wherever) for the entire two weeks on a flexible rate. You ask the hotel for an invitation and they send you one. You apply for the visa with the invitation attached. Once you have your visa, you change your booking to what you really want to do. At least that is what I did.

After all, plans change all the time; don't they?

In my experience on our visit, no one in Russia really cared about the fine details. The only times our visa was checked was entering and leaving. Provided you arrive within the validity period of the visa, and leave before it expires, you should be fine.

BTW, don't take photos of the immigration officials. Someone on our train took a photo of them as the train arrived at the first station inside Russia. Within seconds she was surrounded by at least 6 very unhappy people in uniforms.

 

[RooFlyer]

In my experience on our visit, no one in Russia really cared about the fine details. The only times our visa was checked was entering and leaving. Provided you arrive within the validity period of the visa, and leave before it expires, you should be fine.

BTW, don't take photos of the immigration officials. Someone on our train took a photo of them as the train arrived at the first station inside Russia. Within seconds she was surrounded by at least 6 very unhappy people in uniforms.

I agree re the details after you arrive. My first stay wasn't stamped by the accomms along the way (except twice) and no one cared.

There's another thread current about photographing immigration officials - this one in UAE and it ended unhappily

 

[jetpack]

All these stories make me so glad I took advantage of the visa free arrangements during the World Cup.

 

[RooFlyer]

As long as you weren't one of the ones that got their visa summarily cancelled Or was that a beat-up? i didn't see the conclusion.

 

[Chief Wiggum]

Looking for some help and info.

• How / when do you pay for your Russian Visa?
• Do they send an email invoice for payment when/if your application reaches approval status?

I sat down to do my Tourist Visa application for the Russian Federation today using the process and info from the Russian Embassy website Tourist visa - Embassy of The Russian Federation in Australia and Заполнение электронных форм визовых анкет for the actual online form.

I completed all the info, printed all the docs, passport and mailed it all off to INTERLINK SERVICE address in Sydney by Express Post as per instructions. Only then did I realise... "Hang on... they never asked for any money or payment details" Or mentioned how/when the payment would be handled.

Thanks for your help - Tim

 

[RooFlyer]

The system has changed ... paging @JohnM to the white courtesy phone ...

 

[JohnM]

Looking for some help and info.

• How / when do you pay for your Russian Visa?
• Do they send an email invoice for payment when/if your application reaches approval status?

I sat down to do my Tourist Visa application for the Russian Federation today using the process and info from the Russian Embassy website Tourist visa - Embassy of The Russian Federation in Australia and Заполнение электронных форм визовых анкет for the actual online form.

I completed all the info, printed all the docs, passport and mailed it all off to INTERLINK SERVICE address in Sydney by Express Post as per instructions. Only then did I realise... "Hang on... they never asked for any money or payment details" Or mentioned how/when the payment would be handled.

Thanks for your help - Tim

They will send an invoice by email - I think when they START processing (bizarre - but, hey, everything about the Russian visa process is bizarre) - which could be a week or more after you sent the application. Pay it (by CC) smartly to ensure no further delays.

It’s almost a worse system than before - but costs more.

 

[Chief Wiggum]

Thanks for your advice John and for putting my mind at ease. Greatly appreciated.

 

[Chief Wiggum]

I received an email this morning from Interlink Service with an invoice attached for payment. No option to pay by CC, only by bank transfer using their BSB/ACC details. Which I have done and emailed the payment-receipt from my online banking to the two nominated email addresses on the invoice.

Invoice Due Date: 27th Sept = 3 days for payment and fund to clear.

Invoice AUD $209.00 total made up of:
$120 Consular Fee Single Entry Ordinary
$39.09 Service Fee
$36.3636 Postal Visa Application Processing
$5.45 Signature on Postal Delivery

I noticed also this morning that for the question of Nationality I put AUSTRALIA, instead of AUSTRALIAN. Hopefully, they don't get too pedantic about these things.