Information about the different types of travel visas to Russia, Belarus, and Ukraine - Russian Ukrainian Belarus Travel Music Woman Dating News

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Information about the different types of travel visas to Russia, Belarus, and Ukraine
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Posted by: Khashyar

Hello Everyone,

Someone had emailed me about the best way to receive a visa to Belarus, and I thought that it would be helpful if we started a thread as to the different options for receiving a visa to Russia, Belarus and Ukraine, as well as evaluated the different Russian visa options...

I know of three viable types of Russian/ Belarusian (and probably Ukrainian) visas for someone who wants to travel to those countries:

1) Tourist visa
In order to get a tourist visa, you need to book reservations with a hotel and/or a travel agency in Russia, and then that hotel or travel agency can prepare the tourist invitation for you. You can also receive a tourist visa through an online Russia visa service company, and therefore many not need to make a reservation at a hotel (but you may need to at least book one night at a hotel even through a visa service, so someone please confirm this for us). I believe that tourist visas are limited to 30 days. Once you receive the tourist invitation, then you must apply for the official visa through the Russian Embassy in your country. Tourist visas are less expensive than business visas.

2) Business Visa
A business visa can be secured through an online Russian visa service (as can a tourist visa). You don't actually need to be doing business in Russia to receive a business visa, but I think that it would be a good idea to say you are on business if any Russian official asks you as you are traveling in Russia

. One advantage of receiving a business visa is that it is valid for more than 30 days (I received a 3 month business visa for my trip to Russian in the summer of 2002). With a Russian business visa, you are NOT required to book a hotel stay (thus you can stay at your Russian guests house, or rent an apartment). You have to receive an invitation from a Russian business (or visa service company), and then apply for the actual visa through the Russian Embassy in your country. Business visas are more expensive than tourist visas.

3) Private (or Homestay) Visa
You can receive a Russian private visa from a Russian citizen living in Russia. The Russian citizen must go through a bureaucratic process of applying for the private visa in their regional government (passport or police) office. You might save $50 or so by having your Russian friend do this, but it can take a lot of work and time on their part, and therefore it might be best just to apply for a tourist or business visa through a visa company. With a Belarusian private visa, you can stay up to 6 months. Lena and her mom went through a lot of time and repeated trips to the passport office in their Belarusian town to get me a private visa, and I think that, looking back, it would have been much less trouble for them if I would have just applied for a Belarusian business visa.

4) Transit Visa
Apply for this visa when you are just passing through Russia, Belarus, or Ukraine

A) You can receive tourist and business visas for single, double, triple, and sometimes multiple entries into the country. The more entries that you choose, the more expensive the visa.

B) Once you enter into Russia or Belarus (and I am assuming also in the Ukraine), you will need to register your passport in the local police or passport office. Although I registered my passport in Belarus, I did not register my passport (with a business visa) in Russia because I thought that I was not going to spend much time in Russia. But, legally, you are required to register your passport in Russia in the city that you are staying in.

C) You will also need to get some kind of medical insurance either before or after you arrive (Russia and Belarus, at least, requires this). You can buy cheap insurance in Belarus once you arrive, and I am sure that there are places in Russia where you can also purchase medical insurance for Russia. You can buy medical insurance for Russia online as well, but I found that the price to buy it in Belarus was much less than it would have cost me online. I didn't buy medical insurance for Russia because I spent almost all of my time in Belarus, although it might have been a good idea for me to have purchased it.

I wrote this information about visas to Russia based upon what I remembered from the time that I was doing research for my trip to Belarus and Russia in the Spring of 2002.

If you have any questions, information to add, or corrections to make (if I did not remember a fact correctly), then please feel free to post a reply here...

Also.... could someone please find the prices for the various visas from different countries?

Thanks,

Khashyar

Posted by: Keith

Khashyar:

So which visa (to Belarus) would you recommend since you've done this a couple fo times? Tourist or Business? Is there a big difference in costs between the tourist and business visas?

I keep reading to get at least three months on the visa but if the tourist visa can only be for one month, how does one get a longer one? Anyone know or would that, by definition, have to be a business visa?

Wouldn't a homestay/private visa be good support for the K-1/K-3 later? I know it's more work but.... How much time should one allow for a private visa if they decide to go that route?

I'm curious if the ladies in these countries even begin to realize the effort it requires to come see them? Anyone care to comment?

Keith

Posted by: dhutche1

Wanted to let you know that the Private visa for the Ukraine was a simple one for me to get. All I had to do was give them the address that I was staying at. No letter of invatation and no paperwork for my Fiancee either

. I do know that this has changed it use to be much harder to get this type of visa but its not a issue any longer.

Dave