Hi Stephen,

Rough figures :-

LOI from Stantours - £108
Postage of LOI - £8
Visa Fee -£333 (this includes approx £111 - next day express service)
Train Fares - £30
My Time - Free!!!!!!!!!! - retired earlier this month.
Perhaps next time shall use an agency!!!!!

Leave next week on my TT250R - will be searching out investment opportunities for my pension monies!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Had to supply up to date, bank certified statements showing savings to cover £100 per day for stay in Russia and a covering letter requiring the following info :-
1. Name of inviting organisation
2. Purpose of visit
3. Dates of visit
4. Who will be financialy responsible
5. Contact details of person meetings

Alec

Thanks for that. £100 per day is a bit rich! :cool4:

Hi All,

Very interesting reading, thanks to all.

However, I have been browsing their website, and it looks like a tourist visa can be single or double entry, but is a tourist visa limited to 30 days?

Is it possible for example to get 60 days, or 90 days tourist visa with double entry?

vette

Tourist visas are limited to 30 days ... which is why exactly there is so much talk on here about business visas. If we could get 90 day tourist visas, then we wouldnt have 25 threads about business visas :)

Business visas are the easiest way to get more than 30 days.

.
Thanks Colebatch,

Much appreciation to you sir :thumbup1:

Vette

Hi Livotlout,

I received my LOI from Stantours for a 6 months MEBV, Went straight down to Gee street, and was turned away because i did not have this covering letter?, Points 1-4 were already included on the application form. I have contacted David from Stantours to advise and await a response.

I would be interested to hear what you're covering letter contained, did you make it yourself or must it be 'official' looking/on headed paper of the LOI organisation...?

Annoyed by my first taste of Russian bureaucracy, as now my departure date is looking like being setback by at least a week (they are not open tomorrow due to a holiday)

This bank statement certifying savings of £100 a day is a bit worrying... I'll have about £4k saved up to get me to Magadan and back (via Mongolia), which would only give me a maximum of 40 days in Russia.

I'm planning on living cheap by wild camping so there's no way I'll spend £100 a day. I'm not saying I'll use the whole 90 day max visit of a MEBV but I'd certainly like the option. If i theoretically wanted to use the whole 90 days would they expect me to have certified savings of £9k?

Any thoughts or advise would be gratefuly received?

That is the rule that only applies if you say you are Self Employed. There is no such nonsence if you are 'employed' but you must submit an Employers Letter confirming your trip.

Why not get a UK pal to write a letter saying you are visiting the Invitating Organisation in RUS on their behalf (i.e, as if you were an employee) and that your costs will be met by you and them.

I have never heard of them trying to contact the 'employer'.
I was using old letterheads of a Company that we liquidated and address was demolished 6 years earlier!

I have even heard of people completely making up 'employer' firms and having a few sheets of good quality paper printed up!

Donuk,

My covering letter was typed as a conventional letter (word pad) and addressed to :-
To The Russian Consulate in London,
Russian Embassy,
5, Kensington Palace Gardens,
London. W8 4QS

I said that I was writing this introductory letter in support of my application.
I gave the inviting organisation as those that issued the LOI.
My purpose of visit was/is seeking potential investment opportunities for my recent increase in wealth from pensions. (Hence why I am writing a normal letter since I am recently retired.)
I gave a brief/approx travel timmings.
1 confirmed that I was self funded from my savings.
Finaly I detailed details of the contact that Stan Tours supplied.

Signed and dated


NB.
When I was turned away at first visit to Gee St., when I did not have origonal LOI, they suggested I write letter , following the five headings., also then, my bank statements were not quite up to date or confirmed, another issue I had to address.

Alec

Thanks for all the advice in this thread, Just got a 6 month multi entry business visa (uk citizen) from Gee Street (Russia Visa Information - UK - Home Page). This will give me the crucial third entry to do Kazakhstan and Mongolia, avoiding the Baku ferry. Probably entering from Ukraine.

As others have said, You need a Letter of invitation (i used Stantours and would again), you create an account on the VFS-UK site which automatically fills in a PDF for printing, there are two computers and a printer for use at the Centre, i would advise sorting it out before hand for less flapping.

With the Business visa application form, make everything the same as is on you're LOI, so in my case Commercial reasons. Enter the cities to be visited just as they are listed on the LOI. When it asks your passport type it would be tourist/ordinary, not official.

You also need the covering letter, conveniently for me a friend employed me in his sole trading business in an administrative function to seek out commerce in Russia ;)... RealRussia website seems to have templates for the format to rehash the info from your LOI. As a result of the covering letter no bank statements were ever mentioned/asked for.

Then standard processing is 5 working days i believe.

The cost was just over 300 all in.

Now tomorrow to the Kazakh embassy!

You will need a hotel booking for three days somewhere in Kaz to get that visa. Or they won't give it to you. You can easily do one on boolong.com and cancel it later.

I went to the Kazakh consulate on Friday, and she read my breif covering letter and said that you need a hotel booking, when i explained i would be camping/riding most of the way she handed me a pen and told my to write that in by hand on the covering letter, and took my passport, so i'll see on Friday if that was enough.

Website like Booking.com: 213,703 hotels worldwide. Book your hotel now! for example allow you to book hotels all over the world. No payment is required and you'll be able to print out a lovely email hotel booking confirmation that'll give embassy consular staff a warm and moist sensation.

HTH
C