Russian Tourist Visa

coffee_king

Hi there
Has anyone RECENTLY had any experience at obtaining a Russian tourist visa? I'm looking into it now as I'm going away in less than a month.
Ive looked online and it either looks like you can do it yourself or pay a company to do it. Either way it looks overly complicated and I was wondering if anyone had any experience in obtaining one?
Thanks in advance.

Proxy

Yes it is needlessly complicated, but do you expect anything less from Russia?

I'm not sure DIY is even entirely possible - you still need an "invite", usually from a tourist agency. I used RealRussia, they were great

I would advise you get on with it soon though, it is not always a quick process and I imagine they're quite busy at the moment, with the Olympics on and all.

coffee_king

Thanks for that.
Can you still get an "Invite" from a travel agent even if you didnt book it through a travel agent?

Proxy

coffee_king wrote: »

Thanks for that.
Can you still get an "Invite" from a travel agent even if you didnt book it through a travel agent?

Probably, but you'll still have to pay.

Pollycat

Similar thread from a couple of days ago:
https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/4866476

Obviously_the_best

It's actually surprisingly easy. Get an Invite from a website like http://www.yourvisatorussia.com/ , then go to the http://ru.vfsglobal.co.uk/ and fill in the form.

coffee_king

Obviously_the_best wrote: »

It's actually surprisingly easy. Get an Invite from a website like http://www.yourvisatorussia.com/ , .

I appreciate your help. Ive just looked on the above website though and it doesn't exactly smack of professionalism (Incorrect spelling, incorrect words etc etc).
Has anyone got any experience with this (or other) companies?
Thanks in advance.

benjus

coffee_king wrote: »

I appreciate your help. Ive just looked on the above website though and it doesn't exactly smack of professionalism (Incorrect spelling, incorrect words etc etc).
Has anyone got any experience with this (or other) companies?
Thanks in advance.

It's an authentic Russian website! If it were written in perfect English I'd suspect a scam...

Obviously_the_best

As Benjus said, you have to get a letter from any agency inside Russia, meaning their English is normally comprehensible, but not perfect.