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Russian Visa (urgent questions)
08-07-2013, 02:39 PM
I'm planning to do a trip to meet some friends in Russia next week. I'm just not sure how to go about arranging a visa on such short notice. Can somebody tell me how fast I can get an invitation?
I can stay at a friend's place so I don't need a hotel. I remember some people book a hotel just to get a letter of invitation (LOI) and they then cancelled their booking 24 hours before departing to Russia. Is this the best way to get a LOI real fast. I also heard you can just go to a random hostel and pay like 1000 rubles to get yourself registered. Anyone experience with this?
Some help would be appreciated.
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Russian Visa (urgent questions)
08-07-2013, 02:53 PM
are you travelling from the UK?
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Russian Visa (urgent questions)
08-07-2013, 03:18 PM
You can get LOI's within 24 hours, shorter if you pay more. This is the easy part. Just pick some hostel/hotel in Russia and make sure you use the same one on your Russian visa application form.
Russian visa in US takes 10 days for normal processing. You can pay more to get it done fast but it is twice as much. Get it on ASAP.
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Russian Visa (urgent questions)
08-07-2013, 04:01 PM
^^^ Pretty sure that's who I used as well. No problems.
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Russian Visa (urgent questions)
08-07-2013, 04:51 PM
There is no hard part for LOI. From what I have read it was originally intended to control the migration of people around Russia so that everyone doesn't just move to Moscow, or something like that. I could be wrong. You also need the Russian visa, and they can be very picky.
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Russian Visa (urgent questions)
08-08-2013, 04:56 AM
Is it the same process if I got an apartment through airbnb? I have a certain date I want to visit, but do they (the renter) need to fill something out on the visa or can I just fill their information out for them and call it good.
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Russian Visa (urgent questions)
08-08-2013, 06:47 AM
Ramacher I'm using AirbBnb and did that. Of course I haven't entered Russia and registered yet.
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Russian Visa (urgent questions)
08-08-2013, 08:01 AM
Quote: (08-08-2013 06:47 AM)Menace Wrote:
Ramacher I'm using AirbBnb and did that. Of course I haven't entered Russia and registered yet.
If you are going down the airbnb route, make sure you get written confirmation that your host will register you with the authorities. This can be done at the local post office. If however you are staying at a hotel or apartment rental agency, they will automatically do it so no need to worry.
What ever you do, dont lose your white registration slip, the one you fill out coming into the country and gets stamped by immigration.
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Russian Visa (urgent questions)
08-08-2013, 09:55 AM
Thanks Partizan. I pre-paid for registration/de-registration with the agency that got me my LOI. Could you tell me what exactly I have to fill out on the immigration form? Do I have to indicate where I'm staying?