Planning a trip to Russia, some questions

[Taco1435]

Hello, I'm planning a trip to Russia to visit my girlfriend this summer. She will be sending me an invitation, so I can get the Visa that lasts 90 days.

Has anyone used this website http://www.russianembassy.com/ to take care of the paper work over the internet instead of going to the embassy? The nearest embassy is in San Francisco, and I'd rather not drive there.

Any other things I may need to know in terms of paper work would be helpful too.

Thank you!

[Faux Pas]

Hello, I'm planning a trip to Russia to visit my girlfriend this summer. She will be sending me an invitation, so I can get the Visa that lasts 90 days.

Has anyone used this website http://www.russianembassy.com/ to take care of the paper work over the internet instead of going to the embassy? The nearest embassy is in San Francisco, and I'd rather not drive there.

Any other things I may need to know in terms of paper work would be helpful too.

Thank you!

Any particular reason why you want a 90 day visa? I'm not sure but I believe it will require a business visa. They are more costly and require some degree of paperwork. I can't say for sure as I have only went for the tourist 30 day variety.

You can only download the application from the internet and a filled out application must be hand delivered to the Russian consulate office of the embassy. You do not have to do it personally but if you don't you'll have to pay one of the approved companies to do it for you.

Look over this company. They say they can obtain any visa http://www.travisa.com

I've used them before but only for tourist visa with good results. I would recommend that you get your invitation letter from them as well and leave the lady out of the loop. If nothing else, good decorum 

Good luck

[viking]

I have used www.visahq.com about 5 times and not once did I have a problem. They do everything for you. Fill in the online forms, send them your money and passport and a week or so later your passport comes back via Fedex. And why 90 days? 30 is too short? A 90 day visa can be much more money, especially if you are not staying that long.

[XMan]

I agree with FP.  Get the lady out of the loop.  

I have used:

http://www.gotorussia.com/index.htm

successfully several times.  But only the 30 day visa.  As FP said, I think the 90 day business visa requires some effort.  
Is a 90 day visa really necessary?  If it is your first trip, 30 days may be more than adequate.

[LAman]

It has been a few years but I got the invitation letter from gotorussia and dealt directly with embassy in SF, put all docs together and fedex envelopes both ways........
http://www.consulrussia.org/eng/index.html

[chivo]

The 90 day visa will be a business visa but it doesn't require any more effort. It does of course cost more, but not much more. Couple of things, I would use the service LAman suggested (have used them myself for my work visa in the past, and they're very good) and leave the lady out of it. Secondly, if applying for the 90 days business visa make sure it's the one with a double entry, which might be why he's thinking about getting it regardless of time spent there.

[Taco1435]

Hello again. I'm not quite sure why some of you are saying the 90 day visa costs more. It's less than 20 dollars more, based on the website Viking suggested. And I want the 90 because I intend to stay for a bit over 90 days.

What does double entry mean though? If I get a double-entry visa does that mean I can enter, leave and then enter again within those 90 days?

[Taco1435]

Edit: I answered this question.

[viking]

Taco

Let me very clear on this. 90 days means 90 days. Not 91. You could be in a bit of a mess if you over stay. Although Belarus is a pretty safe country, they are not on the best of terms with the U.S. In fact, they are on our sh**t list. Double entry is just that. Come, leave, go back a second time, and then leave. You might want to use this if, for example, you wanted to visit Kiev in the Ukraine.

I don't know if this is your first visit. If so, 90 days is a looooong time, and if things do not work out, I trust you have other plans to go by. Staying for this amount of time in Minsk will be very boring.  Most guys will visit for 1-2 weeks the first time around unless they plan to do a lot of exploring. If you never met your lady before, I think a shorter visit would be preferable. Also, if she is working, she will not take off 3 months to be with you, even assuming all goes perfect, so you will have a lot of time on your hands. Just an FYI.

[TwoBitBandit]

I have used:

http://www.gotorussia.com/index.htm

successfully several times.  But only the 30 day visa

I've also gotten several visas using Go To Russia travel.  It's always worked out and they do a good job.

[Taco1435]

Thanks for all the information everyone! Just needed someone to point me to a good website, and you have. O and I made a typo. I meant that I plan to stay for a little over 30 days, not 90. That would be ridiculous. Sorry for the confusion. I understand I cannot stay longer.

[Faux Pas]

Thanks for all the information everyone! Just needed someone to point me to a good website, and you have. O and I made a typo. I meant that I plan to stay for a little over 30 days, not 90. That would be ridiculous. Sorry for the confusion. I understand I cannot stay longer.

Keep in mind 30 days can be one helleva long time if the meeting goes South. Taco, most here including me encourage you to spend as much time with the woman as you can. IMO, it would be better to do the extended trips after the first one. It is a lot to take in on the first go around and things may or may not work out as you hope/expect

[Taco1435]

I'm not worried about the meeting going south. It will not be the first time we met. I met her in America. I didn't meet her over a website. I spent 3 months with her here this summer. So that is not the issue. Thank you though.

[Kunstkammer]

The 90 day visa will be a business visa but it doesn't require any more effort. It does of course cost more, but not much more. Couple of things, I would use the service LAman suggested (have used them myself for my work visa in the past, and they're very good) and leave the lady out of it. Secondly, if applying for the 90 days business visa make sure it's the one with a double entry, which might be why he's thinking about getting it regardless of time spent there.

No, not all 90 Day Visa are "Business Visas" Example:



You can get visas for longer than 90 Days, Example:



And these are not the only types of visas, some don't even get stuck in your passport, like 3 year long ones, Example: