I was wondering if anyone has any experience with the official invitation document thats reqiured to obtain a guest visa to enter russia. the consulate here advised me that it can be obtained from the OVIR office in any major city. here's the stange bit, the lady i was talking to informed me that they required 3 months to process and that she found a private agency that would arrange this document in 3 days, for a price of course. the first one was botched and i had to apply for the second, no refunds and $125 usd each.can anyone shed any light on this subject.
Aussie.
in general there are three types of visa to Russia - private, tourist and business. Private visa requires invitation of a private person. OVIR issues such invitations, your Russian friend is responsible for your accommodation, your leaving at due time. You will have to register your visa at the OVIR upon your arrival in Russia.
Tourist visa - issued by Russian Consulate outside Russia on the basis of a tourist voucher issued in Russia by a travel agency that has Russian Tourism License or an authorized hotel. Tourist visa is the easiest to get, but to register a visa a foreigner must pay for a tour or hotel stay even if he does not need it. Some travel agencies can issue voucher for money without booking hotel. Usually they charge 100-150$ for such voucher. In this case you will have to take care about hotel yourself. Note that tourist visas also need to be registered. Most hotels that are authorized to register visas will not do it unless you pay for staying for the whole term.
Thaks for the info Nadya and olegnay,
i have had the invitation letter already delivered but i just became a little suspicious. it's been a bumpy road to get here and it looks like i'll be finnaly ready to fly over at the end of the month. I think it's just a combination of nerves the mind playing tricks on me. thanks again.
aussie.
Hi can anybody help me hear iam going to see girlfriend in cheboksary i read a bit above hear ok i have applied for invite and i have it iam staying at girlfriends apartment .
But no way am i paying for hotel whilst iam staying with her thats rediculous so iam going , without booking hotel .
Iam an aussie as well and iam sorry but no way would i pay for a place iam not staying in !! would you !
so ok i don't know what the outcome will be but iam staying with her purely because i can't afford motel .
Ive no idea what authorities will say - nor do i really give a toss .
Am i to expect anything detrimental out of this ? i went onto the on line talk back some girl from moscow on thier i asked her about this stay at one place and as well - pay for another she thought i was mad and remarked that somebody was pulling my leg .
ANYBODY HELP HEAR !
mike
Mike you need an private invitation. A tourist invite requires you stay at a hotel (or at least pay for it as Nadya says). The private invite will say you are going to stay at your girlfriends place. If this is what you have thats fine (you need to apply for the visa also). Tourist invites are just faster to obtain and doesn't require someone to be personally invited by a russian citizen.