Hi all,
I have a problem...
I will be leaving Europe In a couple of weeks, heading to Russia and Mongolia.
I had applied for a double entry Russian visa at the Russian consulate in Rome. However, it "seems" that the Russian consulate has issued a single entry visa.

Well, the agent through which I applied for the visa stated that although the mistake was made by the consulate, I should ask for cancellation of the current visa and re-apply for a new visa because the number of entries cannot be fixed.
To this end I would have to buy a new invitation letter and pay again the regular fee.

My real concern is now to pay again, apply and then end up with another wrong visa (for example with wrong dates!). That would mean forgetting about the whole trip.

Thus, what I am thinking about is to keep my single entry Russian visa, drive through Russia and Mongolia. Then, after getting to UB, I would go to the Russian embassy and apply for a transit visa to go back home.

Can anyone give me any advice? Has anyone recent news about issuing of Russian transit visas to foreigners in UB, especially about the processing time? (The latest info I found is from two years ago).
Thanks!

Nyet ! Nyet !

You can only apply for the Russian visa, at the country of your residence!
I have used this company ,, for fast single and double entry.
Get visa to Russia - tourist, business visa support and invitations. Russian embassy and consulate visa requirements. Visalink

Do it now, before hitting the road!
Spending 200 Euro now vs thousands later.

Hi seouljoe, thanks for your reply.

Actually I know that it is possible to apply for Russian visa in Ulaanbaatar. In the website of the Russian embassy in Mongolia (Embassy of the Russian Federation in Mongolia) it is stated that citizens of many countries are allowed to apply for any type of visa (including transit visa). Italy -my country- is included in the list, but I am a bit concerned about the duration of the procedure... For example it is stated that for italians the time is "10 to 14 working days", that is to say 2-3 weeks. I was wondering whether anyone has had a direct experience on this, or has heard about other people that did.

If not... I will try to experiment this. Well, I hope not to spend the autumn in UB waiting for my visa...

I don't know about russian visas in UB, but from what I read over the years, it doesn't look that simple.

What's your plan?
Are you riding back to Italy?

Hi crisidsto. Yes I am going and returning overland. My route will go through Irkutsk and Ulan-Ude both times, because I fear that the roads in the western part of Mongolia are too hard for my vehicle.
I drive a 2WD campervan...

What about your route?

Wow, a pretty long one on a campervan A/R from and to Italy :-)
But I suppose you have no problems with time restrictions, from what I read..

I will ride my bike from Bishkek to Ulan Bator, and then ship it back by truck...maybe we'll meet somewhere:-)

Unfortunately I have time restrictions. I have to make the whole trip in 35 or max. 40 days, including the small Mongolian tour. And I don't want to spend more than 2 weeks there.
This is why I am worried about the troubles of applying for the Russian Visa in UB.

Keep in touch, maybe we can meet somewhere...

35-40 days it's not that much...I think you should try to solve the visa problem before departing.
Have you tried Intelservizi agency in Rome?

I think you should take a closer look at the mileage that is involved in crossing Russia to Irkutsk and Ulan Ude. You are probably going to need at least 3 weeks just for the Russian segment - I just did it in my Land Rover Defender.

The roads in Siberia were pretty bad in April - lots of pot-holes. They may have been patched now that the weather has improved. But we found that we were averaging 50kph on daily drives in Russia (Siberia).

As others have said, I'd get the visa sorted out before you travel, but I also suggest that you reevaluate your route by calculating the mileage that is involved and determining how far you can get each day (using 50kph as a bench mark).

__________________
2014 overland adventure to Russia and Central Asia in Land Rover Defender www.bermudarover.com

40 days might be possible, but not with 2 weeks in Mongolia.

I did my ride back home to vienna last year in 11 1/2 days, i had to do it this quick because i spent more time in Mongolia and needed to go back fast.

But i did 800km sometimes a day.
No way you can do that in a caravan.
I can pass on traffic jams and trucks, i did about 110-120 kmh most of the time.
No chance with a car.
So the estimated 3 weeks might be realistic, at least count with 2 1/2 weeks, if you are fast and have no problems.

__________________
www.klausmotorreise.com

Hi all, thanks for all your comments which are really appreciated.

Today I took the phone and made pressure first on the visa service office of the Russian consulate, then on the agency. Apparently, the mistake was made by the agency... So the agency recognized to be responsible and proposed to support me for reapplying for a new visa for free. And I accepted, of course.
Still crossing my fingers hoping that I am finally getting my correct double-entry visa.

Regarding mileage and timing, I know and already have a schedule which is based on my previous experience in Asia, including Russia (I always drove the same vehicle). So far I have never crossed Siberia, thus I don't know the exact condition of the roads. However, I have recently read a report of an Italian family that went from Italy to UB in 13 days with a campervan and had the same itinerary as me (only main roads, only quick stops in few cities). Moreover, a famous Italian biker, 5 years ago, drove a Gold Wing from UB to southern Italy in 14 days.
I am quite confident...!

You can be confident, but what about with the unpredictable?
Riding/driving along the Transiberian highway itsn't properly "easy":
the daily stints, to be within the schedule, require a 7/900 kms average lenght.
This means you must be 100% focused on road, and its traffic, for at least 10 hrs. if not even more.
Russians driving skills are quite thrilling, and can cause psychological overload for your mind; are you ready for this? I mean, driving 12-14 hours a day, average speed must be 80/90 kmh while don't forget police, attention is what you need to accomplish the designed route.
As already said in a previous post, you'll be driving, not riding; this could may be good in case of rainy/cold wheater but, when you get stuck for a road work, traffic jam and so on, you'll began to "waste" time and, maybe, to recover it, you could force yourself to a risky race against time, wich is not the right stuff you need to get through there.
I allow myself to give the above mentioned suggestion from my own experience basis: i rode the whole Russia, due to a 30 days Russia tourist visa, from Vanino to the Latvia border, in 28 days, including a 5 days mongolian diversion and a 5 days Moscow stay. I've only sleep twice in the same place in Krasnoyarsk.
Daily stages, 11-13 hrs. were between 700/900 kms with a 70 km/h as average speed.
Road conditionds can suddenly vary from good to bad and back in a while. Lot of potholes, "tarmac rails" (road surface deeply carved by massive heavy vehicle transit), slippery asphalt when it rains, and it rains, and roadworks. Some roadworks section are 10/15 kms. long, pretty funny when you have to ride a bike in the mud, very nasty on dry wheater as Russians get pleasure to open the throttle and shoot gravel's bullets toward your face. But you'll be in a car, so don't give a damn for it.

Keep calm, take a deep breath, put the 1rst gear on, and have a nice trip!

Ciao

I agree.

14 Days from UB to Southern Italy with a bike is doable.

I had an average speed from start riding to stop per day at about 73 kmh

If you can do that with a caravan, than you are a wizard.

As i said before, i do not think that it is possible to keep the speed up to a bike.

Except you are riding like the devil himself.

__________________
www.klausmotorreise.com

Hi dnicoletti,
I see your point and your analysis is perfect (in Italian: "non fa una piega").

The only thing I would add is that in my opinion driving a campervan requires phisically less effort than driving a bike. I think that I could not be able to drive a bike for 16 hours a day, but I do it usually with my campervan during the "full-transfer" days.

I think that this is also feasible because I don't worry too much about where to find a hotel or a restaurant. I usually drive until I get too tired, that can be even at 2AM, look for a safe parking (e.g. a fuel station with guard, or TIR park), switch off the engine and go to bed. The day after, if I am tired, I stop and sleep a bit. If I am short on time, instead of going to a restaurant and ordering a meal, I just cook a pasta and I am done in 15 minutes. When I am thirsty I simply stop 30 seconds and open the fridge...
All the equipment is ready to be used: kitchen, bed, toilet. No bag unpacking, no waiting for the "dijurnaya" for check-in/out at the hotel...

These are the advantages of "bringing a little house" with me. The rest are pains (fuel consumption, higway tolls, maintenance).

Sorry for the off-topic!

Hi,
For sure I cannot have the same average speed of a bike. But I could drive longer, maybe 2 or 3 hours more per day.
It is going to be hard. In Russia I'll try to combine long transfers with some stops to see something.
But only if I get the visa, of course!