Applying for Russian Visas in advance...

Hi Guys,

Just thought I should let you all know that I just recieved my Russian Tourist visa, and share my experience on getting it.

After much delibeation, I decided to go through Russia using Intrepid Travel on their OSM trip which is Beijing to St Petersburg on the trans siberian....begininng in beijing on the 1st of June.

As I am leaving Australia next week for South East Asia and China prior to my tour beggining I had to apply for my visa (through intrepid) apprently alot earlier than their average customer.

When I first decided what route I was taking - I wrote to Intrepid to check that applying for my visa so many months in advance was ok....to which they replied yes. However - when it came to applying their visa company advised me that I couldn't apply for it so early because the visa expires 3 months after issue (ie: you must enter russia within 3 months of issue).

Considering I had never heard of this before I did some research both here on the thorntree forum and through the russian embassy in canberra. I eventually got through to the russia embassy via phone who told me point blank that the expiry within 3 months of issue was un-true and that people apply for visas upto 6 months in advance. He advised that there was no issue what so ever applying this far in advance and that the visa would not expire.

So I applied, paid my $85, and my visa was done within 2 weeks (10 working days). I also applied for my Chinese L visa and my Vietnemese 3 month Multi Entry visa at the same time and received them all back with no issues at all.

My conclusion as to why intrepid would say it expired within 3 months is perhaps an effort to safe guard their customers in case the tour is cancelled. However, I am travelling in the busiest season for them, and my tour was fully booked in Janary....6 months in advance!

I just thought everyone should know this - especially those who may be using intrepid or a similar company in the future.

Thank you to everyone on this forum who answered my countless questions in regards to the issue (especially Ruth!).

Happy Travelling...!

Jess

thanks jess for your sharing. am planning to apply by early april, but my departure is last wk of july.

what if the invitation will be issued on march 1st or mid of march and apply the visa on april 15, do you know this issue ? will the embassy accept the application ? as plan to book YH at the same time ask them to issue the invitation letter.

Edited by: chialin

Your experience may differ in Australia, but I can tell you that typically it is true that Russian visas expire within 3 months of issue. I'm not sure I'd advise people outside of Australia to count on what happened to you happening to them.

Russia seems to be wildly inconsistent in their visa giving practices these days based on reports here. We get reports all the time that Russian embassies/consulates are less and less inclined to issue visas outside of the applicant's home country, yet we've also had recent reports of people who have been able to get it done.

Visas commonly have been issued for persons in NZ and Australia 3 to 6 months in advance.

chialin - what is your passport? where are you applying for the Russian visa?

The issuing of a visa has NOTHING to do with the issue date of the invitation. The invitation is valid from the moment that it is issued. You can apply any time after that.

jman - While there are multiple reports of people being told that they can't get a visa unless it is less than 90 days from the time that they are entering or exiting Russia, in fact, there are very few reports of people actually being denied a visa for this reason. The issue has primarily been the receipt of appropriate paperwork, ie the invitation and the accommodations voucher. In the past very few companies paid the fees to the Russian government for their license or permission to issue official invitations more than 90 days in advance and so they could not issue invitations more than 90 days in advance. It would appear that some companies pay their fees in advance to be able to do this and thus one can get a visa months in advance.

Ruth

i am holding taiwan passport.

as everyone know, the given date state on the visa is depend on the invitation , so it should be no expiration problem.

chialin - If the hostel can issue the invitation then I suspect that you can get the visa.

Ruth

thanks Jess
thats good to hear
i have started researching early but of course i cant book anything yet til the flights come out some time in november - we are going in late may 2009
the embassy website here in sydney has very stern overtones
esp in the question answer section