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Applying For A Russian Tourist Visa In The UK
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Posted by: j_c

Hi Guys

I said I would , so here it is for those of you in the UK who want to know how to apply for a Russian tourist visa.

Firstly ,if you are visiting your lady , there are two types of visa you can apply for:

1) Tourist Visa - Valid for 3 months, single entry only, maximum stay of one month

2) Personal / Private Visa - For people staying with family and friends in private residences

Although I am staying with my Irina whilst I am in Russia , I applied for a Tourist visa , quite simply , because it was the easiest to get.

(I could of gone for the private / personal visa, but decided that it was not worth the hassle, or the effort required by Irina. It involves the person your visiting travelling to their local OVIR office and filling in official documentation , paying the fee $30 ( not confirmed) and waiting approx 45 days for checks to occur. If everything goes to plan your invitaion will be issued then.)

I did a lot of research on the web , and spoke to a friend who has already been to Russia, he advised using a service ( readily available on the internet) to get the whole process seen through from start to end. I was not so sure on this and thought I could do myself , and at a much cheaper rate!

(I will put some links for sites that I bookmarked in the next post!).

So down to the detail of applying for the tourist visa:

Step 1: You need an invitation

I found the easiest way to get this was to pay for it! The cost is approx £25 , I used ASLA Travel Group, and recommend them.
You basically send them the following details:
Full Name
DOB
Passport number
Nationality
Expiry date
Dates of entry and exit from Russia

They cannot currently process payments on the web for the invitation, but will happily take payments on the phone , or fax if you prefer.

Once they have this information , they can normally issue your invitaion the same day. They will send it by fax or post to you if required.

Stage 1 complete!

Stage 2 - Visa application through the embassy.

You must now complete a tourist application form to send to the embassy. This can be downloaded and printed of the internet ( link at bottom)
At first this for me was quite worrying , as I was scarred that if I completed it incorrectly , my application would be refused! I even scanned it and got Irina to check it!

For a tourist visa , you DO NOT need to complete the following sections:
Section 8 - Russian Departments or Organisations to be visited
Section 14- Place of work , study etc

Other than that , fill everything in !

Stage 3 - What else is required.

You can now either post your application , or apply in person. I personally , did not have the time to pop up to London , the opening times of the embassy are on the website ( link below).
I had no problems with my postal applicationa and recommend this approach.

But , before you go to the embassy or post your application , you need the following.
One passport photo , attached to the top of your application.
Your passport ( must be valid for 6 months beyond end of stay , and have 2 blank pages)
A copy of your invitation
A self addressed pre-paid envelope (recommend a jiffy bag)
And of course the Vias application fee (currently £30, payable by cash or postal order only))

Ok - if you are going to post , recommend you make photocopies of everything , including passport and postal orders!

Stage 4 - The wait!
Mine took 2 weeks , I was getting a bit edgy towards the end of the 2 weeks , and sent an email to embassy , just to check they had received my application and where processing it.
They replied the following day , saying that it had been processed and already sent out in the post!
So again , I recommend sending that email , just to check!

Posted by: j_c

Links :
I have attached a few links below , I hope that they fit with the forum rules , if not feel free to remove them !

ASLA Travel Group ( Invitation Service) - http://www.asla.co.uk/

Russian Embassy - http://www.rusemblon.org/
Visa Application Form - http://www.russialink.org.uk/embassy/forms/ukvisa.pdf

Other links that I found useful:
Visa information - http://www.russialink.org.uk/embassy/index.htm
http://www.waytorussia.net/RussianVisa/HowToApply.html
http://www.visaservice.co.uk/
http://www.therussiahouse.co.uk/RussianVisa.htm
Thats it!
I hope it will be of use to someone, and by all means if you need some help or have a question , just ask!

Regards

John