Last question on the visa applicaton:

[stpetersburg.livejournal.com]

I'm applying for a tourist visa to Russia, and I have a letter of invitation from a Russian tourist agency...but, I'm not staying in a hotel; I'm planning on staying with a friend with her host family. I have two questions:

1. The visa asks for the name, address, and telephone number of the place at which I'll be staying. Should I put the address of the homestay or of the travel agency?

2. Is this a risky thing to be doing? I.E., could I be deported/arrested, if caught?

Josh

Comments

[perfect-drugg.livejournal.com]

1 Put the adresss and telephone of the homestay, KGB is gone 8)
2 I think, it not so is important. Can not give out the visa

[oiseau-russe.livejournal.com]

1 Wrong. You must put the adress and the name of the tourist agency. Especially if it will be the agency that will registrate your visa. If the visa is registred where you live, then you give the adres of the homestay.

[cabarethaze.livejournal.com]

It should be fine. Worst case, in my experience, you have a fine at departure. Put the address where you are actually staying, is what I've understood.

[branwen.livejournal.com]

You should probably put the place you will physically be staying, at least for your safety should you go missing or anything. *shrug*

[lovimoment.livejournal.com]

1. If you're the kind of person they would hunt down, they won't let you into the country in the first place.

2. The FSB has better things to do than stalk tourists.

3. Put down your "official" place of stay. What kind of invitation are you getting? I was always told to put down whatever is on my letter of invitation. The main thing is not that you tell the truth, it's that all the information matches each other.

[crculver.livejournal.com]

2. The FSB has better things to do than stalk tourists.

No, the FSB has caused problems for visitors to Russia's hinterlands and minority populations. Just as the Estonian students who were deported as soon as they arrived in Mari El last year. Ask the Lonely Planet guidebook writer who was followed around in north Russia.

[lovimoment.livejournal.com]

Since you provide no references, I can't.

But really, with as many foreign tourists as there as in Russia, does it seem reasonable that the FSB is keeping tabs on all of them? I've never stayed in the place listed on my registration (never - not even when I was in SPB for ten months) and believe me, it causes no problems.

[yurka-spb.livejournal.com]

Lying can be a reason to decline visa application.

On the other hand, officially you can not stay at someone's home (at least for reasonably long time, I suppose longer than 3 days) unless you have collected a lot of papers which tell that you really can. The reason for that is that you consume water etc. for which payment is based upon the number of registered people (so you are obliged to register within 3 days wherever you stay, but should collect papers that you are allowed to). Obviously, this stupid rule is violated by almost everyone, but formally it exists, so embassy can decline your visa application too.

So your question is not so easy. I would suggest you to make your papers consistent. When you enter the country, they give you a small sheet which you should stamp at the place you live (or at OVIR - отдел виз и регистраций - if you are staying at someone's home) and show when you leave the country. However nothing happens if you lose this paper, you are just fined or sometimes just let go. I am not sure if it affects your future applications for visa.

[msk01.livejournal.com]

And the fine is about $100

[oiseau-russe.livejournal.com]

As it was just sayed, all the informations in all your papers mus be coherrent. If you have (as I suppose) an invitiation from an agency on wich it is written that you will stay "in privite sector", then you put the adress of the agency, and at your arrival you go to the agency, bring them your migration card (the paper you have to fill in before the passport control) pay them and they do something to stamp your migration card. Or you can go to nearly any hotel, pay one night and they stamp your card. If there is a question why the stamp is not where you annaunced you chould be, you can always say that you did not like the conditions et you've gone to a hotel. You must have this stamp on your migration card in the case of a police control. If you don't have any, you may be in trouble (not very impotant, I think, but better to have no trubble at all with the police, you never know how it will end).

If you hav "will stay in privite sector" or something like this on your invitation, do not give your real adress: the persons in question may have trubble for illegal location. Because it will look like thay have a contract with the agency for rent , but do not pay any taxes.

Sorry for my english mistakes.

[jose-ash.livejournal.com]

hello guys .)

i have an experience in this question

1. ITS necessary to write in the migration card (also in anket for an embassy) the adress of travel agency - actualy the same information like in invitation

or - u will pay some mulct and have some troubles at the customer service.

its a serious question - bcs ur girl payed for this invitation, i can suppose about 50 euro, bcs it takes a lot of time to make an official paper for her home adress - so appreciate her solution.

Good luck in russia .)

[zhp.livejournal.com]

You should put whatever it says on your invitation. In order to stay at somebody's home officially, your invitation should come from that person, and provate invitations are just too much trouble. So write the info that is given in your invitation, make sure that you get registered at that place when you arrive in Russia, and you can stay wherever you want to.

[kamerasutra.livejournal.com]

I would put tourist agency on everything. The migration card and visa don't have an actual address on them. Mine just say spb state university, not where I actually live. It's really not a safety issue at all--the only people who would need your address for safety reasons is, I guess, the embassy of your home country. Just remember to register with the russian government pretty much as soon as you get off the plane or there will be hell.

[vedma.livejournal.com]

i would suggest you contact the agency you got your invitation from and ask them :)
what i understand is you have to put agency address down as they are responsible for you during your stay.

btw how did you manage to find agency that will provide you invite but you do not have to book hotel with them?
My other half is British and we were planning to stay with my family in Tatarstan, but when my aunt applied for invitation, it was refused.
So i am now looking at booking some cheep hotel near by through http://www.hotel-expert.ru/ so we get invitation but would not be staying in the hotel. Expensive way to do it but i don't know if there is another way for him to go and meet my family :(