Post: #1

Hi guys,

Does anyone know if there is a Russian visa delivering agency in Europe, for Schengen citizens, that can deliver 3 year tourist visas to Russia, similar to this US agency (recommended by Slubu):

http://www.rusonline.com/en/russian-visa...nia-ca.asp

Is this 3 year tourist visa only for US citizens?

On the page above, there is a form called:

"Russian Multiple Entry Visa Application Form for NON U.S. Citizens"

So I guess it does exist for other nationalities too

Post: #2

In Helsinki the longest visa you can get 1 year multiple business visa. Tourist visas are only 30 days. As far as I know Helsinki is one of the easiest places to get a Russian visa.
But I think 3 year is only for US citizens.

http://www.lahialuematkat.fi/

Post: #3

How can Europeans get a 1 year multiple business visa? How do you get an invitation?

Post: #4

(01-30-2017 12:00 PM)Cheetah Wrote:  How can Europeans get a 1 year multiple business visa? How do you get an invitation?

Just Google russian business visa invitation and get your visa support from any of the guys in the results. Some guys charge a big markup, so you might want to shop around for a better deal. I paid $50 I think.

They'll send it to you electronically, although you can get them to send a paper copy to you or to the consulate if you'd like.

Post: #5

Does anyone tried to get a 3 month business visa, for tourist purposes. I saw that they want a name of a company and reasons to visit on the application form. I really have no business affairs in Russia. Would it be ok to just make something up or will they do a background a border check?

Post: #6

(02-28-2017 07:19 PM)Midnight Cowboy Wrote:  Does anyone tried to get a 3 month business visa, for tourist purposes. I saw that they want a name of a company and reasons to visit on the application form. I really have no business affairs in Russia. Would it be ok to just make something up or will they do a background a border check?

To get (as a EU national) the one-year Russian business visa, you need to first have obtained (during the prior year), and used (by traveling on it), a 3-month Russian business visa...

And... No, they will not do "a border check" or any other serious check on the more-or-less dummy company that will issue you a business letter invitation (that you need to obtain the business visa)...

I mean, the Russian authorities are of course aware of the fact that such Russian companies, who do business sending out (for a price) letters of invitation, are not very "serious", but they tolerate it for various reasons that you may imagine. So, nothing to fear once you have your valid, stamped, letter. Unless you're clumsy enough to say that you actually are a mere tourist (traveling on a business visa) when asked, which nobody will probably ever ask you in Russia (nobody cares as long as you have money to spend and are law-abiding, friend)...

Post: #7

Thanks for the clarification!

Post: #8

Important! Visas for Russia are issued according to the declared goal of journey. If they on a border control ask a guy with a business visa what is his purpose of visit and he replies whatever else than "business" (e.g. "personal", "tourism", even "work" or "study") they in theory have a legal founation to cancel your visa and not let you in.

Post: #9

(03-01-2017 04:20 PM)jorgebenjor555 Wrote:  Important! Visas for Russia are issued according to the declared goal of journey. If they on a border control ask a guy with a business visa what is his purpose of visit and he replies whatever else than "business" (e.g. "personal", "tourism", even "work" or "study") they in theory have a legal founation to cancel your visa and not let you in.

Do you have personal experience with this? Also wouldn't they ask questions when they see you're not goint to Saint-Petersburg, Moscow,... but to a lesser known destination?

Post: #10

(03-01-2017 04:50 PM)Midnight Cowboy Wrote:  

(03-01-2017 04:20 PM)jorgebenjor555 Wrote:  Important! Visas for Russia are issued according to the declared goal of journey. If they on a border control ask a guy with a business visa what is his purpose of visit and he replies whatever else than "business" (e.g. "personal", "tourism", even "work" or "study") they in theory have a legal foundation to cancel your visa and not let you in.

Do you have personal experience with this? Also wouldn't they ask questions when they see you're not goint to Saint-Petersburg, Moscow,... but to a lesser known destination?

Considering that the basic border agent doesn't speak English, and you don't speak Russian, I don't see how he's going to ask you anything at the airport. If you get more than a (soviet trade-marked) grunt, report here... I mean, stop worrying, the Russian authorities are not interested in you at all, unless you are mister Bond or Bourne, but then you would enter Russia on some diplomatic passport or by HALO jump, wouldn't you

Always amuse me the number of tourists who think that the Russians are not aware of (or, more importantly, care about) the real purpose of their visit, namely, the splendid Russian women... Do you think Russians believe that a single Western man, traveling in Economy class and speaking no Russian, has come for the Bolshoi or the Ermitaj? They see through you, and don't care, so, just bring your cash, enjoy and don't worry.

Post: #11

Does anyone have any experience in getting a 3 month Russia business visa? I am a UK passport holder in the UK. It seems the same rules applyt to getting them for US and EU citizens.

From some Googling, it appears there are some companies (such as this) offering the business invitation which you then need to use to get a Russian business visa. But I'm not sure how feasible this route is.

Ideally I'd like to pay to have as much of the paper trial filled in for me, rather than spending time figuring it all out.

Post: #12

(02-14-2018 02:32 PM)gework Wrote:  Does anyone have any experience in getting a 3 month Russia business visa? I am a UK passport holder in the UK. It seems the same rules applyt to getting them for US and EU citizens.

From some Googling, it appears there are some companies (such as this) offering the business invitation which you then need to use to get a Russian business visa. But I'm not sure how feasible this route is.

Ideally I'd like to pay to have as much of the paper trial filled in for me, rather than spending time figuring it all out.

You can use any business invitation you like, they don't check it and it's all a massive scam anyway so get the invite and then apply as per the VFS rules. Real Russia are a good shout for help I'd say personally.

Post: #13

There are plenty of agencies that will take your money to get you a Russian visa, but you still need to gather all the information, which is arguably the hardest part (in my experience).

Therefore, I've always done it myself, but it's definitely daunting at first.

You should consider getting a one year multi-entry to give yourself more flexibility on dates.

Post: #14

I got a 1 year multiple entry business visa for Russia. I used Real Russia to get the invitation which took about 3 weeks. I applied using my Irish passport so I didn't have to get fingerprinted etc... just posted application to embassy in Dublin and went to collect it a few weeks later.

Post: #15

Russian Visa for UK Citizens Mini Datasheet

Rather than spending a lot of time figuring out all the formalities and channels of getting a visa I found this company (Russian Visa) that does most of the work for you. If you are busy I would recommend using it for a first visa. Then for further entries you can use the same form. She has a lot of good feedback online and she answered my business hours emails within about 30 minutes.

I got a business visa, which it appears is the only one you can get for more than 30 days without a job, girl (private) or university course. It's fairly obvious that the business visa is open to anyone. I provided them with my legitimate business details, address and phone. Though there is no way for them to know anything about the business or if it exists from the details I gave them. So if you want to go to Russia for 90 days, the best method is to get a business visa. If you don't have a business it seems apparent they don't care anything about the details. If you have a friend with a business, you can just use that.

To get a business visa you need a business invite, which you can buy from the above company for £75-120, depending on how fast you want it. Once you have that you need to file a visa application online. You can do that via the above company (£35-50) or on your own (£0). Once you have both these, you need a recent passport photo (not the same one in your passport). Next you need to go to a Russian Visa Center. There are three: London, Manchester, Edinburgh. At current only the London center does express service (3 days) due to the Skripal diplomatic expulsions. Once you've lodged your documents with the visa center, you can pick your visa up in 3 days (express - £186); I don't know what the normal period is, which costs £108. Alternatively you can have it mailed to you for £10. You don't need an appointment to go to the center, just turn up. Check it's open and there are no holidays.

So the cheapest you can get a 90 day business visa is: £75 + £108 = £183 (£200 with passport postage and photos). You should be able to get all that done within a month, but I would give 60 days to get all your flights and accommodation booked in good time. The express service can be done in about 10 days, but again it's best to give it some good time. Mine was delayed by about 5 days due the the Skripal poisoning and by the time I got the visa there were slim pickings on AirBnB.

Other notes:

- There is a photo booth in the London center (£8) and a shop (£10) you can get passport photos within about 400m in the case there is an issue with your photos

- If you have an issue with your application they have computers in the center which you can edit the form for £5, payable by card

- As of writing you can only get express visas from the London center

- Make sure you fill in a permanent address, phone and email on the visa application (even if you don't have them)

- If you are a company director you are required to bring bank statements showing you have £100 per day for the duration of the visa; if you are a company director you can just say you aren't to ignore that

- The visa application requests you fill in where you are staying in Russia; apparently this is not important as the woman from Russian Visa filled it in with something from her system

- You can enter Russia on any day of the duration of your visa; it doesn't have to be the date of entry listed on the visa.


С Богом.

Post: #16

(04-12-2018 12:41 PM)gework Wrote:  Russian Visa for UK Citizens Mini Datasheet

Rather than spending a lot of time figuring out all the formalities and channels of getting a visa I found this company (Russian Visa) that does most of the work for you. If you are busy I would recommend using it for a first visa. Then for further entries you can use the same form. She has a lot of good feedback online and she answered my business hours emails within about 30 minutes.

I got a business visa, which it appears is the only one you can get for more than 30 days without a job, girl (private) or university course. It's fairly obvious that the business visa is open to anyone. I provided them with my legitimate business details, address and phone. Though there is no way for them to know anything about the business or if it exists from the details I gave them. So if you want to go to Russia for 90 days, the best method is to get a business visa. If you don't have a business it seems apparent they don't care anything about the details. If you have a friend with a business, you can just use that.

To get a business visa you need a business invite, which you can buy from the above company for £75-120, depending on how fast you want it. Once you have that you need to file a visa application online. You can do that via the above company (£35-50) or on your own (£0). Once you have both these, you need a recent passport photo (not the same one in your passport). Next you need to go to a Russian Visa Center. There are three: London, Manchester, Edinburgh. At current only the London center does express service (3 days) due to the Skripal diplomatic expulsions. Once you've lodged your documents with the visa center, you can pick your visa up in 3 days (express - £186); I don't know what the normal period is, which costs £108. Alternatively you can have it mailed to you for £10. You don't need an appointment to go to the center, just turn up. Check it's open and there are no holidays.

So the cheapest you can get a 90 day business visa is: £75 + £108 = £183 (£200 with passport postage and photos). You should be able to get all that done within a month, but I would give 60 days to get all your flights and accommodation booked in good time. The express service can be done in about 10 days, but again it's best to give it some good time. Mine was delayed by about 5 days due the the Skripal poisoning and by the time I got the visa there were slim pickings on AirBnB.

Other notes:

- There is a photo booth in the London center (£8) and a shop (£10) you can get passport photos within about 400m in the case there is an issue with your photos

- If you have an issue with your application they have computers in the center which you can edit the form for £5, payable by card

- As of writing you can only get express visas from the London center

- Make sure you fill in a permanent address, phone and email on the visa application (even if you don't have them)

- If you are a company director you are required to bring bank statements showing you have £100 per day for the duration of the visa; if you are a company director you can just say you aren't to ignore that

- The visa application requests you fill in where you are staying in Russia; apparently this is not important as the woman from Russian Visa filled it in with something from her system

- You can enter Russia on any day of the duration of your visa; it doesn't have to be the date of entry listed on the visa.


С Богом.

Regarding biometrics, if you already had them done on a previous visit, do they expect you to do it all over again or are you exempt?

Post: #17

Hey guys, found some really useful stuff in this thread. I'm a foreign student in Russia and also needed help with getting a visa a couple of years ago, but don't remember the agency I went with back then.

In case you guys are still looking for a place where you can get useful info on how to obtain a visa to Russia, you can check out this blog, where a friend of mine is trying to help foreigners that want to visit Russia: https://hellorussia.co.uk/how-to-obtain-...lete-guide