Russian Business support letter?
 

Oh dear this trip looks decidedly shaky in that I'm needing a double entry biz visa as there is no way I can cross russia and mongolia in 30 days else it will be seriously tight and rushed...

I need something called a business support letter since I'm unemployed and left rather unamicably from my last job I can't really get them to support it.. I confused this with a visa support/invitation.

How has everybody gotten past this?...

I'm supposed to be able to pose as self employed but as what?, I have my trip fund about £8K sitting in a bank account so this can provide the 3 months worth of bank statements.

(I'm applying for the visa LATE because of the 45 day rule and the fact that a certain visa agency has let me down and has been holding onto my passport for the best part of a month).

Any thoughts?

Pretend!
If you are friendly with someone of in, or with their own Company business (and they trust you) ask them to write an 'Employers Letter' for you, stating
- you are employed by them
- you are visiting the country on their business
- they and you will be responsible for any liabilities incurred while in the country

Then go to a Visa agency to get an Invitation through the Ministry.

No one ever checked or followed up my Employers letters with even a phone call for 5 years consecutive years. If they had I would have known - or not got the Visas, since we closed it down 4 years ago! Shhhh....

The whole process of Russian burocracy is about ticking boxes and assuming that the previous boxticker did his job. No one seems to check up on what has gone before, just that someone has ticked it.

Fred.
;-))

This is Russia - nothing is easy but everything is possible. Perhaps you have got this info from russian embassy or comsulate.
Find good travel agency operated by Russians who provides visas and you will get everything in 3 weeks.
Russia have other rules in each country and even city. If you have problems in Manchester contact them in London. It works...
You will get letter of invitation etc...
Maybe start with them: Russian visa service in United Kingdom

K-chi,
As Sambor said...you're asking the wrong people the wrong things.

Use the agency he recommended or contact David at StanTours...quite a few motor bikers are on trips and not employed...how else can one udnertake an RTW? Your dilemma has been overcome many times before...welcome back to the game of travelling:)

Solved! , we found another chap who owns his own company and is willing to write business support letters for us, we are going through realrussia who provide both the invitation and has been recommended by a couple of folks for us.

Thanks !

Help
 

Hi, Kennichi i'm also planning on a trip to Russia with a business visa and i need a company support letter. I'm also using Real Russia, i am unemployed and my ex company said its too risky for them to make the letter. Can you give me the details of this person who is willnig to make a company supoort letter?

Much Appreciated

Ken

pose as self employed? , with 3 months of bank statements? , one of my biz support letters has let me down already so I'm going with my second option , if that lets me down I'm going to post them 3 months of bank statements and pose as self employed.

hi, yes i know the self employed route, but its not an option for me. i dont have anything in my account. so the only option is finding a "friendly company" here in UK. do you know any companies that would write visa support letters for student or business visas?

See my previous post. You don't need one. Unless of course YOU think you need one...

And the post below is explains that again.

http://www.horizonsunlimited.com/hub...lication-35823

Hi, for a businesss or student visa in the UK you need either a company support letter saying they will support your stay, or you need to show 3 months bank statements. this is confirmed on the Russian embassy site and on russian visa agency sites say its a required docuemnt.

i already have an invitation from a langauge school in Russia, and HIV results, and all other docuemnts apart from a company suppoty letter.

RealRussia have said i need this document and i can get a "freindly company" to write this for me, so i am trying to finnd one.

this is the list of required docuemnts, this site re-directs from the London embassy site.

Russia Visa

the bottom document on the list is the one i'm talking about.

You're not getting it...what is on the Internet is not what is always reality in places like Russia, the Stans, etc.

Again...contact StanTours or Sambor's recommendation...we GOT visas, AND if there was a business requirement letter...those agencies handled it. They have relationships and they work.

Or you can chase after something that's not necessary for you to chase...good luck and hopefully you'll be on your way soon enough.

I second Edde.

While it was a few years ago, they didn't ask for a letter from me.
They all know that you are not really going on business.
I would say to try to apply without an employer letter. If, on the off chance that they do ask at that time, type up a letter with any company logo and put your phone number on it. They don't check the credentials of each and every company.
Waytorussia.net says
"Some consulates may require to present a letter from your employer confirming your trip to Russia and itinerary."
That is may , not will. Which means that unless they are looking for an excuse to turn you down from the start, you probably will have no problem.

The problem is Chris and Eddie is that the London / Edinburgh one does require business support letters , the thing is the UK and Russian government have been squabbling for a while and thus been playing diplomatic tit for tat.

Since we also have to get visa support letters also we have to go through agencies , since we have to go through agencies the agencies won't apply for us without the business support letters.

I've spoken to 4 visa agencies and they all ask for this and won't apply without it.

And therein lies the problem....

Why can't you pick up your visa in a consulate along the way? Why must it be in London? Thats the point I'm been trying to make!!!!!

I purposely picked up my Russian visa in Tashkent versus Turkey or Kazakhstan or some other country. There are certain countries whose consulates interpret the rules easier than others...hell i got mine in 3-4 hours...no extra charge...and I'm an American...you can't tell me Brits have a bigger squabble with the Russians than Americans?!?!?

Depending on your route...there are options. Guys who know about this are places like StanTours...they facilitate visas across many consulates...in many countries....and they have the most up to date info...

And, as Eddie suggests, by getting it along the way you will almost certainly save yourself some money. The Embassy Fee varies from country - with UK citizens applying through the UK paying most!
Thats why the UK is often called Treasure Island.

I'm travelling with Kennichi, and it looks like we've resolved this problem by applying for cultural visas. The same as business visas except they're basically for tourism purposes, and cost less; just need proof of sufficient funds in a bank account for the duration of the stay.

Sure if you're doing a RTW trip lasting a couple of years you can apply for visas in the cheapest place possible, but if you've got a tighter time schedual then this isn't always possible. Especially if hard facts aren't always easy to come by and prices, requirements and availibility can change. Thanks for the help though guys.

Getting the visa along the way?
 

Hi Edde
That sounds really good about getting the visa on the way (which would be my choice due to the time constraints) - but why is Stantours currently saying "do not risk it as there is a chance that it will not be issued once you leave your home country"? It sounds like they may be giving out conflicting advice, or maybe the Russians do have a bigger issue with us Brits than you guys?!

Tiffany,
Judging by your route I'd consider the following...

List the countries in order of travel between London and Russia.

Give that itenary to David at StanTours and ask him which is the easiest countries to get a Russian visa...he'll have recent information based on other travellers who've passed through and acquired Russian visas...AND the costs WILL be cheaper.

The risk of you getting visas ahead of time is just as unpredictable as getting visas en route...depending on the country...

For example...even if you get an Azeri tourist visa 3 months in advance that lasts 30 days...do you realize there is a time restriction? You have 30 days from when the visa is stamped in your passport to enter Azeri...that was the case in May 2007 with a fellow traveller.

Being a CPA/Chartered accountant, I play it safe and prefer to get my visas a couple countries ahead of time of when I will enter that country. I'm sure you faced similar dilemmas on your first trip to India;)

We have our visas stamped 4th April 2009 , I asked the agency who did it for us and they stated that we can enter anytime in the next 3 months and it will last 30 days. I had them ask the embassy again to clarify this, might pop into the embassy on the way out to triple check.

On my Azerbaijan visa i've got:
Validity: 3months
Entry from: 04.04.09
Duration: 30days

Makes sense to me.

And so it does, I wasn't reading it correctly :oops2:

Dont forget thet you also need a letter on headed note paper from your employer saying that you are going there on business!!!! My girlfriend has only found this out today when she went to try and get our business visa, she had taken passports, invitation letter and visa application for as this is all we were told by realrussia that we needed, so lucky for us we still had some headed note paper for our last jobs that i have sent her in the post to print out and hopefully this will do as we are supposed to be leaving on monday.

WE got it today, our 6 month multiple entry bussiness visa!!!!


:clap::clap::clap::clap::clap:HAPPY DAYS!!!:clap::clap::clap::clap::clap:

Good to hear that!

Out of interest, have you been to Russia before? All info on the net says chances of getting a multiple entry visa are lower if you haven't been granted a Russian visa before.

no this was our first time and they gave us the 6 month multiply entry business visa!!!!!

Game on!

it did cost us around £1000 for both of us and that inclded a business support letter from a russian comapany and the visa appliaction fee.

£1000 each! , why on earth did it cost so much? , even the agency we didn't like Scotts would provide a multi (presume unlimited) 6 month biz for £550 all in..