Russia 180 day Visa
 

I have a couple of questions re the Russia 180 day multiply entry tourist visa for a UK citizen.

For this I need an invitation letter and proof of where a will be staying.

1. How do I get an invitation letter?

2. How to I get around the proof of hotels/friends I will stay with during the visit?

3. It says insurance is required. I presume that's travel insurance. This is something that I won't have until I start the trip. Again how to apply without this?

If anyone has done this recently any advice is greatly appreciated.

Before Covid and the so-called 'Special Military Operation' one used a travel agent to make a basically fake invitation certificate saying they were inviting you and providing accomodation. There was no requirement to book a bona fide tour or book any accommodation. I believe the situation is still the same.

There were many different agents, one of the most popular was RealRussia, but this seems to have gone under (not surprising), and no doubt many of the smaller ones have too.

A very long established website is https://waytorussia.net/ which is very up to date and offers links to trusted visa agents. I think I used them many years ago.

No idea what the realities are these days for a UK citizen as I have not been to Russia since the above and no longer travel with a UK passport. Bear in mind that it was always more involved for UK citizens to get a Russian visa than, say, Schengen area citizens - things like needing an original invitation certificate (not a print-off) and providing bank statements to show means of supporting yourself whilst in Russia. Way back when I travelled on a UK passport, UK citizens did not need to have health insurance as there was a reciprocal arangement for Russians in the UK. THat may well have changed.

Good luck.

EO

For the benefit of those not on faceblork, who might find it of use...

Go to https://ibsvp.co.uk/

On their webpage is the application form which includes the facility to enter an "invitation" from a tourist agency.

I took out health insurance for my trip in advance, though it doesn't cover Russia. In the office they said I didn't need it. I also got bank statements on headed paper, and they said I didn't need them.

For hotels I looked at my expected route and chose a bunch of hotels off booking dot com. You could also use Ostrovok. No actual bookings are required, just a list of hotels and nobody will check anyway.

You will need to go to the office to be fingerprinted but there are no queues at the moment ;) and they'll help with the paperwork if you've made a mistake. I got the impression as long as you have the money they're happy.

One thing to note, if you're expecting to be in Russia for a while you'll need to have a money strategy. Western cards don't work over there, including ATMs. So you'll need to take a fair bit of cash ($ preferred). If you'd rather not carry that much on you, look into getting a "Tinkoff debit card for foreigners." You can pay $100 bills in at selected ATMs and it'll put them on your card as Rubles. It's a Mir card that is accepted in some other countries in the region too.

Thanks guys, I’ve had some useful info on thE FB page. It’s just a bit of research to future plans.

Maybe things will be easier in a couple of years time and I return from the East rather than heading that way.

This is great. Anyone knows a trustfull german Visa Agency as well?

Very nice. I have heared about the MIR card but was wodering how the money gets into russia. Are €uro Cash is accepted or can be changed too?


Which facebook page? Looking for some usefull information too :-)

Right now i try to find out how to get a multible entry visa for russia and how much it will be. There are so much different information...what is right and what is wrong? What Visa agency i can trust?

Edit: Hab die Leute von visum-russland.org angerufen: Nur ein 180 Tage Geschäftsvisum bietet 4 malige Einreise und kostet 260€ inklusive Einladung. Für ein 30 Tage Visum reicht eine günstige ADAC Auslandskrankenversicherung, die nur bis 45 Tage gültig ist. Für ein 90 Tage Visum braucht man eine länger gültige Versicherung da die Botschaft davon ausgeht, dass man die ganzen 90 Tage im Land beiben wird. Fürs 180 Tage Visum reicht wieder die 45 Tage Versicherung da die Botschaft wohl davon ausgeht, dass man nur kurze Zeit in Russland sein wird. Komische Welt. Die Beantragung dauert 3 Wochen...dann bin ich für dieses Jahr bereits zu spät drann.

When I researched this earlier this year I thought I found a reference to paying in foreign currency, but I can't locate it now. Possibly that facility is no longer available, and you may have to convert your money to RUB at a bureau de change. But it should be easy to do at a town near the border, maybe Tbilisi or Vladikavkaz. These links should be useful to you:

https://www.tinkoff.ru/cards/debit-c...k/foreign/eng/
https://www.tinkoff.ru/bank/help/deb...-money/top-up/
https://www.satanayaknows.com/en/how...nkoff-account/

Horizons Unlimited

I rode thru from Alaniya to Astrakhan Oblast last month with USA passport. I got visa in Tbilisi at agency with invite letter and hotel reservations.
When I got to border, they didn't want anything other than having me write what cities I will stay in on their form.
Also note to have a blue pen. All forms require blue ink.

I'm very surprised it was all so easy. All things considered.

Any hostility ?

No issues. They knew I was USA citizen and were more than friendly/ helpful. I will be spending more time in Russia over the next two years.

Thanks, I think this could still be an option. I will keep an eye on the few people who are currently travelling through to Mongolia and where they head to to ship there bikes onwards.