Russian Visas

[Mrs Miggins]

Hello!

I need to get a visa for Russia and I wondered whether anyone had used an agency to help out. I've seen these agencies on the internet but have no idea whether they are reputable or not.

I'd be really grateful for any recommendations and/or horror stories!

Thanks

[Ryazan]

Which country are you in at present?

[Mrs Miggins]

Oops sorry!

I'm in the UK :)

[Bob]

Some of them are - they're so common for Russia that the Russian embassy in London has its own window for them (because doing it yourself is a nightmare). I met the owner of one in a queue at the Kazakh embassy a few months back - seemed a nice guy running the 'Uk passport & visa service' - email uk.pvs@ntlworld.com

Personally next time I'm going to Kazakhstan I'm using one of these services - for a simple visa it ended up wasting 5 hours of my time to get it...

[Cerberus]

Take Bob`s advice.

I did it myself and it was a bit of a pain in the arse.

Its entails a lot of waiting around and strict times for dropping off and picking up...wasting nearly a whole morning and another afternoon.



Good luck and enjoy your trip

[Cloo]

My dad has frequently travelled to Russia for work for the last 10 years, he always uses Scott's Tours and has found them very helpful.

http://www.scottstours.co.uk/

They're real specialists in Russian travel and know their stuff.

[Agent Sparrow]

I just used this one when I went.

http://www.russiadirect.net/

It is the first thing to come up in google but me and my friend both had no trouble with the service. :)

Where are you going?

[Culdee]

In general, yes they are. Just depends on 2 things: What kind of visa (depends on how long you stay and what you do) as some companies may not be able to assist with all operations, and also how long you have before leaving. If it's a ordinary tourist visa and you've got 2 weeks to play with you'll be fine and shouldn't pay through the nose. TBH, your 100 times more likely to be screwed over by the embassy fucking up (professional they are not) than by a dodgy agent.

For more info, search my posts; seems like 50% of my measly postcount has been on this topic :rolleyes: at self

[JWH]

The visa process essentially consists of three parts:

1) getting an invitation from a Russian person or company
2) taking the invitation (or a copy, or note of its number) along to the nearest Russian consultate to get the physical sticker in your passport
3) "registering" the visa once you get to Russia

For 1) I've had good experiences with www.visahouse.ru and it's instant+online for tourists' visas but they won't do 2) for you.

If you have time (it takes about an hour on two different days) and are in London or Edinburgh, go and do 2) yourself. You can also do it by post but I don't know anyone that has done that so don't know how reliable it is. Failing that, pay someone to go along for you, but it's expensive imo. Scotts Tours have fucked me up a couple of times, although I know they do a lot of this business (it's not rocket science btw it's just standing in lines).

If you're staying in a hotel, then they will do 3) for you. If not, ask here again.