Russian Tourist and Homestay visa confusion

[Faux Pas]

I have never had any problems with travel or documents during my multiple trips to Russia. I always attributed this to research beforehand to insure all my i's were dotted and my t's were crossed. But something I have found is confusing me. While attempting make arrangements for my upcoming trip to I see the Russian Consulate has now started outsourcing visas. They list 3 companies who are permitted to submit visa applications directly to the embassy. The embassy no longer accepts mailed visa applications and they must be submitted through one of the 3 companies listed on the embassy website. My first question is: am I understanding this correctly?

Previously, I had always bought an invitation over the internet and applied for a tourist visa. According to the information on the outsourced companies I will need to apply for a homestay visa which will require my fiancee to obtain an invitation letter from her OVIR office, is this correct? I see waytorussia.com is still offering invitation letters to apply for tourist visas. But, it appears that the consulate will not accept applications other than those from their selected companies. I have always previously applied to the consulate directly. Suffice to say, the approved companies require an additional fee. Which is the path of least resistance and ultimate documentation? :noidea:

[GoodOlBoy]

I have never had any problems with travel or documents during my multiple trips to Russia. I always attributed this to research beforehand to insure all my i's were dotted and my t's were crossed. But something I have found is confusing me. While attempting make arrangements for my upcoming trip to I see the Russian Consulate has now started outsourcing visas. They list 3 companies who are permitted to submit visa applications directly to the embassy. The embassy no longer accepts mailed visa applications and they must be submitted through one of the 3 companies listed on the embassy website. My first question is: am I understanding this correctly?

Previously, I had always bought an invitation over the internet and applied for a tourist visa. According to the information on the outsourced companies I will need to apply for a homestay visa which will require my fiancee to obtain an invitation letter from her OVIR office, is this correct? I see waytorussia.com is still offering invitation letters to apply for tourist visas. But, it appears that the consulate will not accept applications other than those from their selected companies. I have always previously applied to the consulate directly. Suffice to say, the approved companies require an additional fee. Which is the path of least resistance and ultimate documentation? :noidea:

Do you have a thread for this?

I just checked the Russian Consulate in San Francisco and there is nothing about it on their website?

http://www.consulrussia.org/eng/visatype.html

BTW... Have you thought about a Russian Business Visa. It really worked great for me.


GOB

[Faux Pas]

Do you have a thread for this?

I just checked the Russian Consulate in San Francisco and there is nothing about it on their website?

http://www.consulrussia.org/eng/visatype.html

BTW... Have you thought about a Russian Business Visa. It really worked great for me.


GOB

GOB

No just this http://www.russianembassy.org/ which is where I have sent all my previous applications. You may have hunt and search as if you were applying to see my dilemma. I have never really even thought about the business visa. Looking back from my starting point, may have been a good decision but, at this point no. I anticipate maybe one more trip this year and most likely one trip a year after this one

[I/O]

I see the Russian Consulate has now started outsourcing visas. They list 3 companies who are permitted to submit visa applications directly to the embassy. The embassy no longer accepts mailed visa applications and they must be submitted through one of the 3 companies listed on the embassy website.

it appears that the consulate will not accept applications other than those from their selected companies. I have always previously applied to the consulate directly. Suffice to say, the approved companies require an additional fee.

The "Russian Wheel", it keeps on turning.

I/O

[GoodOlBoy]

Hello Faux Pas.

I have used TRAVISA before (about 7 1/2 years ago when I started this madness), they were good folks to me, but expensive.

Look, I am going to give you my own personal experiences on this.

To me the Russian Consulate in D.C. is a bunch of "pricks".

I have had trouble with them in the past, then somebody on another RW site that I lurked on years ago suggested that I file my documents in San Francisco. I followed their advice and I have NEVER had any trouble since. The San Francisco consulate seems to be pretty laid back (typical West Coast attitude   ).

Good Luck.


GOB

[OlgaH]

The embassy no longer accepts mailed visa applications and they must be submitted through one of the 3 companies listed on the embassy website. My first question is: am I understanding this correctly?

As I have understood you should be present in person  with your application and all your documents: Visa applications are accepted Monday-Friday from 9 a.m. till 12.15 p.m. ONLY. If you unable to be present in person you should use one of indicated visa agencies.

DEAR     APPLICANTS
1. In order to streamline and improve the visa obtaining process as well as for security concerns the Russian visa section is no more processing visa applications by mail.

In the meanwhile the applicants unable to be present in our visa section in person are strongly recommended to rely on the services provided by the following visa services:....

[Ade]

This is similar to the way it works here in Norway; you can either go to the Consulate in person between 9 and midday (I did this once out of interest and it was a real PITA I can tell you), or you can mail everything to a courier (in your case an approved company) and get them to do the leg work for you.

Where the invitation comes from is irrelevant as long as it's a vaild one. Getting your girlfriend to do the invitation can be a real PITA for her and very time consuming; it's much more time and cost effective to buy a cheap invitation on the web. 

[TwoBitBandit]

Where the invitation comes from is irrelevant as long as it's a vaild one. Getting your girlfriend to do the invitation can be a real PITA for her and very time consuming; it's much more time and cost effective to buy a cheap invitation on the web. 

I agree 100%.  Don't make your poor girlfriend try to get you an invitiation for homestay visa.  It's a huge PITA for everyone involved.  Just use a visa agency that can get an invitiation for you and let them take care of all the details.  It is money well-spent.

[UTRO]

Agreed about the Homestay. A real PITA. Better to get a Multiple Entry Business Visa through an Agency. A lot more expensive, but no hastle for your GF in having to prepare an Invitation... and fairly quick to get, 22 days. Then when you have it you can go back and forth to Russia as often as you want, for a period of a year, so long as you keep the total number of days visited under 180.
That being said, Sveta has obtained 3 Homestay Visa Invitations for me in the past.
** As a foreigner you can no longer get a Business Visa processed in 1 day. That door was closed in July 2008.

[roykirk]

I stay with my fiancee' each time I'm in Russia, and we've never done a homestay visa.  I just do a normal tourist visa and she "registers" me at the local post office when I arrive.  Never a problem...except dealing with the post office hags. 

As far as the rest of the original post, it is true you can't just mail stuff in anymore.  Fortunately I live close to a Consulate, so I just drive it there personally.  I use Way to Russia for all invitations.

[Ade]

I stay with my fiancee' each time I'm in Russia, and we've never done a homestay visa.  I just do a normal tourist visa and she "registers" me at the local post office when I arrive.  Never a problem...except dealing with the post office hags. 

As far as the rest of the original post, it is true you can't just mail stuff in anymore.  Fortunately I live close to a Consulate, so I just drive it there personally.  I use Way to Russia for all invitations.

This is what we did last time; the invitation stated that I was staying in some hotel even if I was staying with her (I must admit to being a little concerned about the legality of that). We did the registration at the post office; that in itself was a real PITA so close to New Years when everyone was trying to send off packages. The paperwork there is reasonably involved too and required my fiancée to go back and forth to the window 4 or 5 times! With all the queuing and back and forth we were in there more than 2 hours. Next time should be faster though as she now knows what's required - maybe this is described online somewhere?

As for business visas; are these easily available for people without any business contacts in Russia?

[GoodOlBoy]

As for business visas; are these easily available for people without any business contacts in Russia?

Hello SeriouslyJaded.

A Russian "Monkey Business" Visa is NO big deal to fill out.

You can do it yourself. I used my wife's business address as the point of contact in Russia. The consulate never checked. If I remember right , I wrote that I was going to her firm and 3 others in Russia (Omsk, Moscow, St. Petersburg and Vladivostok) for consultations concerning security work (my field of expertise).

No problems, the San Francisco Consulate issued the Russian Business Visa to me.

My wife still had to "register" me when I stayed in Omsk, that was the only hassle.

When we went anywhere else in Russia, the hotels we stayed at always registered me.

The Business Visa worked so good for me, I renewed it again and again for several years until my wife came to the GoodOl' USA.



GOB

[UTRO]

I stay with my fiancee' each time I'm in Russia, and we've never done a homestay visa.  I just do a normal tourist visa and she "registers" me at the local post office when I arrive.  Never a problem...except dealing with the post office hags. 

I agree and I always stay with my Fiancee no matter what Visa I go on.... She Registers me too.
I have one warning. I used to go to the Russian Consolate in Toronto to get my own Tourist Visas. This was great until Sveta got me a Homestay Visa and I used it in April. The next time I visited, in July, I again went the Tourist Visa route because of the simplicity. When I went to the Russian Consulate, the Official looked at all the Visas in my Passport. When she saw the used Homestay Visa she gave me the evil eye and told me, "NYET! You are not a Tourist anymore, you have a Russian Girlfriend who you visit!!" Boy, what was I to do? I already had my flight tickets and vacation booked! So I ended up using a Service who backdoored through the Russian Embassy in Ottawa and got me a Tourist Visa. After that I used them to get me a Multiple Entry Business Visa because Sveta's mum has cancer and I may unfortunately have to travel to Russia at a moments notice.

This is what we did last time; the invitation stated that I was staying in some hotel even if I was staying with her (I must admit to being a little concerned about the legality of that). We did the registration at the post office; that in itself was a real PITA so close to New Years when everyone was trying to send off packages. The paperwork there is reasonably involved too and required my fiancée to go back and forth to the window 4 or 5 times! With all the queuing and back and forth we were in there more than 2 hours. Next time should be faster though as she now knows what's required - maybe this is described online somewhere?

As for business visas; are these easily available for people without any business contacts in Russia?

SJ, get your Girlfriend to go to the Postoffice or the Internet to get all the blank Registration paperwork beforehand, as well as copies of her and your Passports. She can then fill everything out at home. This way the next time you go to the Postoffice to Register there will be nothing but the wait for those behind the wicket to complete their paperwork. She`s a Pro now`;)
Just remember that when you leave she`ll have to send the paper you got at the Postoffice to the Ministry to let them know you have left the country.

Hello SeriouslyJaded.

A Russian "Monkey Business" Visa is NO big deal to fill out.
GOB

Russian Monkey Business Visa  ???  You mean to say that I`m not actually working for the Moscow Municipal Government, as described on my Business Visa!!!  ??? Shhh Who does it say you`re working for GOB  ???

[roykirk]

Hello SeriouslyJaded.

A Russian "Monkey Business" Visa is NO big deal to fill out.

You can do it yourself. I used my wife's business address as the point of contact in Russia. The consulate never checked. If I remember right , I wrote that I was going to her firm and 3 others in Russia (Omsk, Moscow, St. Petersburg and Vladivostok) for consultations concerning security work (my field of expertise).

No problems, the San Francisco Consulate issued the Russian Business Visa to me.

My wife still had to "register" me when I stayed in Omsk, that was the only hassle.

When we went anywhere else in Russia, the hotels we stayed at always registered me.

The Business Visa worked so good for me, I renewed it again and again for several years until my wife came to the GoodOl' USA.



GOB

I was so close to getting a business visa a few months ago.  I had actually clicked "purchase" to have Way to Russia send me an invitation letter for a business visa.  A few hours later they sent me an e-mail telling me they noticed I was going to Siberia, and that they didn't have anyone there to "monkey register"  my visa.  At the same time, I was looking at another website that said that my girlfriend would not be allowed to register a business visa at the post office.  Since I didn't know anyone personally who had a business that I could ask to register me, I started freaking out about having problems and finally asked Way to Russia to cancel the whole process.  It was probably unnecessary as it seems Russian Customs doesn't even look at registrations anymore, but I didn't want to take any chances.  Maybe I'll try it again sometime in the future.

[Ade]

Yes, she has all the paperwork now and has a list of things that need to be done. She also sent off my registration after I leftt which was a lot less hassle apparently.

These multi-entry "monkey business"   visas would certainly help ease the hassle though - I can see us going back at least once or twice a year, and this year, while we wait for the fiancée visa to be processed (maybe 11 months!) I will be taking maybe 3 or more trips there.  

[UTRO]

Yes, she has all the paperwork now and has a list of things that need to be done. She also sent off my registration after I leftt which was a lot less hassle apparently.

Yes, it`s always very important for her to send back the Registration voucher to the Interior Ministry when you leave!
This past September Sveta was called into the Interior Ministry offices where she was interrogated by 4 Officials asking her if I had left Russia(!) and if I had, why she hadn`t sent the voucher back. This was from my visit in July. They had absolutely no concern that she had Registered me on a Tourist Visa. I think they simply wanted the money the Fine would result in. During the interview it was `suggested` to her by one of the younger officials that all could be forgotten if she would perhaps go out on a `date`with him!   Another interview a week later and the fortunate intervention of her Dad a week after that, led to the Fine being dropped and the matter disposed of with the promise Moscow would never be consulted. A completely true and very stressful time for the two of us. The ministry could have fined us up to 5000R and prevented me from entering Russia for a year  
Yes RK, she can Register you on a Business Visa.

[roykirk]

That's good stuff to know, Utrobina.  It also makes me nervous.     My girl hasn't mailed in the required paperwork on any of my 4 visits last year.  I've politely suggested that she do it just in case we have problems, but so far she just waived me off with a dismissive hand like only a Russian woman can do.     Maybe your story will help convince her.

It is also good to know that she can register business visa.  I think I had read on some forum that the post office would not let her do that, but it appears that info was in error.

[Vaughn]

Sure enough, the DC Russian Embassy website refuses self-mailed visa apps now, and list three companies
from whom Americans can secure the visa. All three, according to their own instructions, accept only
invitations obtained from "approved" sources in Russia, ie OVIR-approved.

I just hopped off the phone with a friend who returned from Russia last week. He used gotorussia.net
as always, started his app process in mid-November (well AFTER the 1 November date of the Embassy's
announced change) and had no problems....gotorussia issues the invitation, saving the applicant a major
headache....  a quick check on gotorussia's site shows they are still accepting visa business....  ain't this fun?
No one seems to have the same 'facts' on hand.

I'm wondering if the Embassy only suggests the three companies listed, but will accept from other
recognized expeditors as well? 

[Faux Pas]

Sure enough, the DC Russian Embassy website refuses self-mailed visa apps now, and list three companies
from whom Americans can secure the visa. All three, according to their own instructions, accept only
invitations obtained from "approved" sources in Russia, ie OVIR-approved.

I just hopped off the phone with a friend who returned from Russia last week. He used gotorussia.net
as always, started his app process in mid-November (well AFTER the 1 November date of the Embassy's
announced change) and had no problems....gotorussia issues the invitation, saving the applicant a major
headache....  a quick check on gotorussia's site shows they are still accepting visa business....  ain't this fun?
No one seems to have the same 'facts' on hand.

I'm wondering if the Embassy only suggests the three companies listed, but will accept from other
recognized expeditors as well? 

Vaughn,

This is where I'm confused. It may not be any problem at all (other than the additional 50 bucks) but it puts another "finger in the pie" so to speak. Theres no way I can reasonably walk a visa application to the Washington embassy so I'll have to pay for the services of one of the listed companies. My last visa, after I had sent it to Washington they sent the money order and application back with instruction to send it to the consulate in Houston TX. They issued the last one. All my prior visas came from Washington and by mail. It makes me question, where to apply.

[Vaughn]

Faux Pas,

 I'm going to call and find out on Wednesday. As for the $50 charge, I look at it this way: for me, it's
a wash - I was paying about that much for my invitation anyway from a travel agent in Russia, who
also handled the registration.

 The second expeditor, CIBT, Inc., is located in Houston. The other two are in DC.

[Faux Pas]

Faux Pas,

 I'm going to call and find out on Wednesday. As for the $50 charge, I look at it this way: for me, it's
a wash - I was paying about that much for my invitation anyway from a travel agent in Russia, who
also handled the registration.

 The second expeditor, CIBT, Inc., is located in Houston. The other two are in DC.

I did not look at CIBT website or know they were in Houston. Good info. The math of the costs prior, when one could mail directly to the consulate was $35 for an invitation from waytorussia.com and $131 with the visa app. Those cost are the same except for the extra $50 bucks to the now 4th party of the go between delivery service. It just chaps my azz a bit because of the added confusion more than the cost. I was already anticipating a return of my application as last time and probably having to spend yet another $50. The new arrangements appear to be ripe for taking advantage of the end user (us/me)

[Vaughn]

OK that's three calls I'll make...

Russian Embassy Houston - if resident of any state's app is acceptable
Waytorussia - if their visa services still are accepted
Gotoussia    -  "         "        "         "   "       "

The 3 they (DC Embassy) recommend all seem to want a Motherland generated invite.

[roykirk]

There's no reason Way to Russia shouldn't be accepted.  I used them for my last invitation (which was after the recent changes took effect), and there weren't any problems.  Way to Russia is a "motherland invite."  If you look at the invitation when it arrives, it comes directly from a service in Moscow.

[ConnerVT]

I've always used Russian National Group in NYC.

$131 + 49  ($180 total) and they provide the invite.

http://www.russia-travel.com/pages/visas.htm

[Faux Pas]

I've always used Russian National Group in NYC.

$131 + 49  ($180 total) and they provide the invite.

http://www.russia-travel.com/pages/visas.htm

Conner,

Thats pretty kewl. The one-stop shop works for me. They are not affected by the latest consulate changes?