Invitation Letters

[stpetersburg.livejournal.com]

Everyone,

I'm looking to visit my girlfriend in Russia over spring break. However, that bane of the Russian visa, the invitation letter, is giving me issues. I'd rather not have to spend the money on a tourist agency so that they can give me a visa (I'm hoping to stay in her homestay), but I've heard that private visas are notoriously difficult to obtain. Does anyone have any advice on how to get a letter of invitation without having to committ myself to a tourist agency or the like?

Thanks in advance,
Josh.

Comments

[belacane.livejournal.com]

just commit yourself to a tourist agency and save yourself a whole lot of trouble and headache:

http://www.waytorussia.net

If you order it far enough in advance, it's only US$30. (Your journal says you're from TN. Is that your citizenship too?)
It's the actual visa application itself that will break your wallet, and you really can't avoid that either way.

[lovimoment.livejournal.com]

If your girlfriend lives in St. Petersburg or Moscow, it's incredibly easy to find a tourist agency that will do just the invitation and registration for you (purchase of tour not required). It shouldn't cost more than $30, and they advertize in the Moscow Times and St. Petersburg Times.

If she lives somewhere else, you could ask her to find a tourist agency in her town that does the same thing.

[edricson.livejournal.com]

Well, I'd think the obvious way (if she's your girlfriend and you're staying with her) would be ask her to make a private invitation letter. That may be something of a pain in the ass (for her), but I think involves just two visits to the police station; if this is not an option, do commit to a travel agency.

[faustin.livejournal.com]

Getting an invitation requires a business registered and able to do invitations. It is a lengthy and difficult process. IF you succeed in going this route it will take you an additional 20 hours of work spread over a couple weeks.

The tourist agencies are NOT difficult to deal with, this is indeed the cheapest, most reliable and easiest way to go.

[faustin.livejournal.com]

Oh, private invitation won't work; the visitor visa (30-90 days) also needs to be created by an agency like the tourist agency; if you want to stay more than 30 days, the correct option is a business visa.

Dont' worry about formalities like "Where exactly will you stay?" etc. Those don't matter, the tourist agency won't require those, etc. Those things matter AFTER you arrive in Moscow and have to get your visa registered --- which is actually where using a tourist agency REALLY pays off, because it's so convenient to go to their office and get your visa registered, compared with the alternatives. And the tour agency won't fuss about your exact location -- at least not in my experience.

Hopefully you're going to Moscow or St. Petersburg. Elsewhere in Russia can be significantly more complicated. Spoken from experience --- I've been in every major Russian city from Moscow to Vladivostok.

[stpetersburg.livejournal.com]

Note that my girlfriend is a foreign student studying in Russia temporarily. I dunno if that changes anything.

[stpetersburg.livejournal.com]

Oh, so they can do only invitations. Do you have any recommendations as to which agency to use?

[lovimoment.livejournal.com]

I'm guessing by your username that you want one for SPB. :)

The one I used advertizes in the St. Petersburg Times and was located out on the tip of Vasilievsky Island. There's also one in downtown (near Nevsky). Which one you should choose depends on where you'll be staying in town - saving a bunch of money doesn't do you much good if you have to waste an entire afternoon getting out to the opposite side of town to get your paperwork done.

I used UTS when my mom was in town:
"UTS: The cheapest way to get a Russian visa. 3/21 Nalichnaya Ul. Tel.: 322-66-77"
It was about $30.

Call around at the other places in the SP Times classifieds:
http://www.sptimes.ru/index.php?action_id=19&i_number=1229&group=116

[lovimoment.livejournal.com]

And P.S. When you call for the office hours and directions, ask which marshrutka you should use to get out there. There's only one or two that go to that corner on Nalichnaya, and it's quite a haul to walk from the Primorskaya metro, especially if it's cold and windy. You could also take a cab from the V.O. or Primorskaya metro - it would only cost you five bucks or so, and if you're only in SPB for a short time, the money is worth the time you save.