Visa to Russia
 

My wife and I are Canadian citizens living in Zambia. We are on our RTW and we have major problems obtaining the Russian visa to cross Russia in July 2014. None of the Russian embassies we talked to here in Africa want to grant us the visa because they do not deal with Canadians outside Canada. They also mentioned that the visa we need is too long as they usually grant tourist visas for a max of 2 weeks and we need it for 6 weeks to be able to cross from St. Petersburg to Vladivostok. However we read of many bikers that have done that and we still have trouble finding out how they obtained their visas. I understand that it would be easier in our country, but we cannot fly from Africa to Canada for this. Can anyone help with some concrete solutions please? We wrote to Helsinki Russian embassy and they directed us to an agency in Finland that deals with this, we wrote to them but we got no reply. I know it is still far ahead, but I would be grateful if someone would be able to help us with this mystery. How do all the foreign bikers cross Russia and get their visas?

Thx

Hi

I just spoke to people at www.visum.nl (they speak English, don´t worry),
they claim they can arrange the visa for you. You´d have to send them your passports (DHL?) and travel dates, including a reservation for your first Hotel (Hotel Elizar in St. Pete´s caters to overlanders). You can contact them via internet or phone +31 70 315 0205.

- no guarantees :innocent: and I´m not sure if it´s an option for you, but you´ll have to decide that for yourselves.

good luck!

Thank you so much for the info. I will contact them immediately to see how far in advance I need to send my passports there. We may do that once we enter Europe in March next year.

Greatly appreciated

Alternatively you can apply for a business visa. Then you don't have to prove hotel bookings and strict itinerary.

Time Limits on Visas
 

You won't be able to spend six consecutive weeks in Russia. I've been making enquiries into Russian visas recently myself, and can pass on the following information that I obtained from a visa agency.

A six-month multi-entry business visa can be obtained for tourism purposes - and that is the type I'll be applying for. However, it is important to realise that a six-month visa doesn't allow you to be in the country for six months on the same visit.

The exact information that I was given is as follows: "regulations in Russia allow you to stay on your multi entry visa only 180 days a year and no longer than 90 consecutive days within a 180 day period. No restrictions on the number of trips."

As I understand it, you cannot be in Russia for more than 90 days in a single visit. You will have to exit into another country and then re-enter to avoid exceeding the 90-day limit.

You will need a Letter of Introduction (aka visa support document) before you can apply for the visa (can be purchased online). And be prepared for the sticker-shock. The cost of the visa and LOI for a UK citizen runs between 400 - 600 GBP when using an agency. Prices differ for different nationalities.

Craig