Russian Visa

sturll

I am posting this so that anyone who searches for Russian Visa will throw this up.

If you are looking at getting a Russian Visa you will no doubt have heard it is notoriously one of the more difficult visas to obtain.

Loads of sites online will promise to do all the legwork for you for up to £200 per visa.

No need.

Its actually very easy to do it yourself - just a rip off.

You need (for tourist Visa)

- Visa Support (Letter of invitation and confirmation of your stay)

- Passport photo

- Application MUST BE FILLED IN ONLINE then printed from here: http://ru.vfsglobal.co.uk/agree-Others.aspx

- Special Delivery prepaid envelope (1 per passport)

1) First of all contact the hotel you are staying at for Visa Support, usually they will simply email you all you need and you can print it off - It will be 2 pages.
Failing that book a hostel through IHostel or Hostel world for $6 one night, then email them asking for Visa support - expect to pay about $20USD.

2) Fill in the application online and print it off. Its really self explanatory but make sure the dates of entry and exit match those on your Visa support. When you have finsished you will be given the total price for your visa. Mine was £225.90 for 1 adult and 2 children. An absolute skank if ever there was one.

3) Stick on the Passport photo in the designated place.

4) Get a Postal Order (another con) for req amount, max commission is £10 so expect to pay that for the PO. (payable to RNT Ltd - do not cross it)

5) Put your completed application, 2 pages of Visa support, postal order, passport(s) and PRE PAID special delievery envelope addressed to you in a special delivery envelope addressed to Russian Visa Application Centre etc...
I sent 3 passports so had to send 3 special delivery envelopes.

6) Sit back and wait. Mine came this morning so took 7 working days.

Best of luck.

nb: Ill also be doing the same for Chinese and Vietnamese Visa in coming weeks - So if you pulled this up and need info on those visa search my posts.

PolishBigSpender

It's much easier and painfree to simply go through http://www.realrussia.co.uk than to go through all the nonsense above. I can't be bothered to do the maths, but your way cannot be much cheaper, if indeed at all than by going through RealRussia. They're currently charging 115 pounds to deal with everything - no fooling about with visa support documents, postal orders or indeed anything else.

Its actually very easy to do it yourself - just a rip off.

Likewise, British visa for Russian nationals are expensive. But it's all a result of British stubbornness - if the British hadn't demanded that Russian nationals go through the VAC and additionally refused to go along with most of the EU on the cheaper visas, then there would be none of the nonsense for the British. Visa requirements are very often tit-for-tat - and in this case, they most certainly are.

sturll

PolishBigSpender wrote: »

It's much easier and painfree to simply go through http://www.realrussia.co.uk than to go through all the nonsense above. I can't be bothered to do the maths, but your way cannot be much cheaper, if indeed at all than by going through RealRussia. They're currently charging 115 pounds to deal with everything - no fooling about with visa support documents, postal orders or indeed anything else.

Likewise, British visa for Russian nationals are expensive. But it's all a result of British stubbornness - if the British hadn't demanded that Russian nationals go through the VAC and additionally refused to go along with most of the EU on the cheaper visas, then there would be none of the nonsense for the British. Visa requirements are very often tit-for-tat - and in this case, they most certainly are.

Real Russia charge £115.30 + £5.40 per passport. So my total cost would have been £362.11

The way i did it (through the Embassy) the cost was £75 + £5.40 per pass port so a total of £241.20

So i saved £121 - Hardly pointless, in addition you still have to provide all the details/photographs to Real Russia.

So really PBG this is yet another instance when you have made yourself look stupid. When will you realise you are nothing more than a bitter fool.

PolishBigSpender

sturll wrote: »

Real Russia charge £115.30 + £5.40 per passport. So my total cost would have been £362.11

The way i did it (through the Embassy) the cost was £75 + £5.40 per pass port so a total of £241.20

So i saved £121 - Hardly pointless, in addition you still have to provide all the details/photographs to Real Russia.

So really PBG this is yet another instance when you have made yourself look stupid. When will you realise what a fool you are.

What about the visa support documents? What about the hassle with postal orders? It is much, much easier to go through RealRussia and know that it'll be a painfree experience than applying by yourself. The fact that you can also go through RealRussia if you have any issues (which can happen! I've heard stories of Russia refusing to put visas in passports that aren't in *perfect* condition) also considerably helps.

You're welcome to do it your way - but I can quite happily afford paying the extra for a service that I can rely on. After all, people like me don't have to resort to spending lots of time just to save a few pounds.

sturll

PolishBigSpender wrote: »

What about the visa support documents? What about the hassle with postal orders? It is much, much easier to go through RealRussia and know that it'll be a painfree experience than applying by yourself. The fact that you can also go through RealRussia if you have any issues (which can happen! I've heard stories of Russia refusing to put visas in passports that aren't in *perfect* condition) also considerably helps.

You're welcome to do it your way - but I can quite happily afford paying the extra for a service that I can rely on. After all, people like me don't have to resort to spending lots of time just to save a few pounds.

I got my Visa support for free and ok it was £10 for the postal order.

I still saved £110.

As for the passport rubbish or scaremongering in an effort to bolster yourself some sort of credibility - Look at the state of mine:

Incapuppy

PolishBigSpender wrote: »

You're welcome to do it your way - but I can quite happily afford paying the extra for a service that I can rely on. After all, people like me don't have to resort to spending lots of time just to save a few pounds.

Strange that you bother with Money Saving forums then :rotfl:

alanrowell

Incapuppy wrote: »

Strange that you bother with Money Saving forums then :rotfl:

Moneysaving isn't all about getting the cheapest service. And I note that the OP didn't include his time in the calculations. Getting visas for countries where visa refusals are common is best left to the professionals, especially if it's for one of those countries where you have to hand documents in at the embassy.

If OP had made a mistake in the application then they would not only be out of pocket and not have a visa

JCP

I did this myself a few years ago, and whilst I was fine, the 6 people ahead of me in the queue at the embassy got rejected. Suffice to say I was bricking it by the time it was my turn.

The other thing which nearly caught me out were the prices and the fact that the embassy only accepted cash or postal order. I'd foolishly assumed that all visas were the same price, but discovered when I got there that the Australians were being charged more than the British (and I was travelling with an Aussie) - think I left the embassy with 2p in my pocket.

We would probably have gone for the visa service, but we needed the passports back in a hurry to get the next visas in and since I read/speak a little bit of Russian it wasn't too bad.

I believe the application forms are even in English now which should make it much easier too, but I do appreciate that for many people the peace of mind of having a visa company sort things for them may well be a price worth paying.

sturll

alanrowell wrote: »

Moneysaving isn't all about getting the cheapest service. And I note that the OP didn't include his time in the calculations. Getting visas for countries where visa refusals are common is best left to the professionals, especially if it's for one of those countries where you have to hand documents in at the embassy.

If OP had made a mistake in the application then they would not only be out of pocket and not have a visa

Time? What time? The time to fill in a form and post a letter?

I think in the pursuit of egotistical smug replies often the original intentions of this forum are overlooked.

It is by definition a 'money saving' forum. A saving of £120 is indeed a good saving. However Alan, if filling in personal details and the time it takes to do so completely eludes you then yes - people like you are better going through professionals.

PolishBigSpender

sturll wrote: »

Time? What time? The time to fill in a form and post a letter?

I think in the pursuit of egotistical smug replies often the original intentions of this forum are overlooked.

It is by definition a 'money saving' forum. A saving of £120 is indeed a good saving. However Alan, if filling in personal details and the time it takes to do so completely eludes you then yes - people like you are better going through professionals.

The time to obtain a postal order (given the mess of the UK's postal office network, this can take a considerable amount of time!), the fact that visa refusals can and do happen, plus the fact that incorrectly filled in forms can also result in refusals.

There's also the visa support issue that you keep failing to mention - current prices for this in Moscow can be over US$25 for them, plus the hassle of actually getting such documents.

Having someone with very good contacts inside the VAC, who will accept debit/credit cards and will deliver a first class service is absolutely invaluable.

It isn't 'moneysaving' if your application is refused by the Russian Embassy and the money is lost, is it? All too often, people make the mistake of trying to save money in situations where saving money isn't the best option - and the same people come on here screaming RIP OFF SCAM.

It's exactly the same paying for BA when flying with small children - yes, it's more expensive, but for peace of mind, they're the far better choice.

sturll

PolishBigSpender wrote: »

The time to obtain a postal order (given the mess of the UK's postal office network, this can take a considerable amount of time!), the fact that visa refusals can and do happen, plus the fact that incorrectly filled in forms can also result in refusals.

There's also the visa support issue that you keep failing to mention - current prices for this in Moscow can be over US$25 for them, plus the hassle of actually getting such documents.

Having someone with very good contacts inside the VAC, who will accept debit/credit cards and will deliver a first class service is absolutely invaluable.

It isn't 'moneysaving' if your application is refused by the Russian Embassy and the money is lost, is it? All too often, people make the mistake of trying to save money in situations where saving money isn't the best option - and the same people come on here screaming RIP OFF SCAM.

It's exactly the same paying for BA when flying with small children - yes, it's more expensive, but for peace of mind, they're the far better choice.

Biggest load of !!!!! ive read.

It took about 1 minute to obtain my postal order and 1 minute to sort my Visa Support.

Individuals of limited intelligence who would find filling in their address, name etc a bit too difficult should take heed of your advice and indeed pay out the extra for help.

However, those of us capable of filling in forms, can spare 10 minutes sorting everything out, and then are able to make the almighty mission to the postbox should take heed of my advice - and in doing so save money.