Visa for Russia

VISA VISA VISA!

Today I finally received my VISA for Russia (YESSS!) which means that I am allowed to cross the border to Russia for my travel in the beginning of August. Instead of going to the embassy or an office of the embassy, I decided to hire a visa agency which handled the application and handling of the documents for me. This saved me a lot of time and eventually even money since I would have needed to go quite far to get the visa. In Austria, offices for aquiring a visa for Russia are located in Vienna and Salzburg only. This makes it a quite time consuming process since you need to go personally to the office for submitting the documents and one more time for receiving the visa (!). Conseqently people, not living in Vienna or Salzburg or close by, may choose to submit the documents to an agency which then submits the documents, gets the visa for you and returns your passport including the visa via mail. Below you will find what documents were required to get the visa in my case as well as my personal to do list. However, please remember that requirements and to do lists may vary a lot since these depend on the duration, the purpose of your stay and other things. In my case I needed a visa with the purpose of participating a Russian language course during summer for 3 weeks in Omsk, Siberia. Other purposes are business trips, holiday trips and the like.

The following documents were required in my case by the visa agency in Salzburg (link below):
-Passport (needs to be still valid 6 months AFTER the end of your stay in Russia and needs offer at least 2 empty pages)
-2 signed blank sheets
-1 up-to-date foto (passport format)
-Filled in visa application form ON PAPER (in block capitals)
  This visa application form needs to be filled ON THE COMPUTER and BEFORE you go to the      embassy. In case you hire a visa agency, you have the option to let them do that for a fee. If you are    not sure how to fill it in correctly, I recommend you to give this task to the visa agency especially if  you   need the visa urgently and quickly.
-Invitation letter (sent to you by the university where you take the courses)
-Copy of my Austrian Student ID card
-Confirmation of NOT prolonging the visa (this means that I must go home on the date when my visa ends   and that I cannot prolong it. Without this confirmation you must do an AIDS test which needs to be signed by the doctor and laboratory of concern)
-Copy of a travel insurance (In case you are a member of ÖAMTC and have a "Schutzbrief", you can call ÖAMTC and they will kindly send you this insurance letter via E-mail)

Personal Process to get the visa:
-Checking passport if still valid
-Signing the blank sheets
-Making a new passport picture
-Filling in application form on paper
-Copying Student ID card
-Filling in Non prolongation of stay form
-Calling ÖAMTC for receiving a copy of my travel insurance
-Checking all documents again and calling the visa agency for assistance
-Signing all documents and sending to the visa agency per mail (Insured mail to cover costs if passport lost)

As one may notice, some work needs to be done in order to get a visa. Remember that all the documents are only accepted if up to date and written legibly.
The visa agency was helpful and answered my requests promptly. Certainly, they charge your for the services depending on how quickly you need the visa and how much assistance you need. I paid 99 € for receiving the visa within 10 working days including the visa fee and the fee for filling in the visa application form on the computer. If you need this to be done quickly, like within 3 days or so,  you may pay much more so try to be an early bird and save bucks!

Follow the link of the visa agency in Salzburg to get more information about applying for visa that fits your personal case and feel free to call them, they are treating you seriously and are helpful: http://www.russlandvisa.at/


So, does it really pay off to pay an agency for the service?
In my case it really paid of to hire the visa agency since there was a mistake in my invitation letter which means that I would have gone to Salzburg and back without making any progress at all. The visa agency, however, stays in contact with you and calls you if your documents are incorrect. I found that very helpful, but if you live close to Salzburg or Vienna and you have time ahead before you travel, you should apply for visa yourself and save the money for nicer things such as fur hats and wooden puppets.

Coming up next: 
List of things I take to Russia in my luggage and more details about my travel!

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