Getting Visas by internet

spaceman1

Hey,

Im interested in travelling to Russia and have never had to get a visa before, so I looked it up online. I found some sites that say they will do everything for me if I send my passport by post
https://www.realrussia.co.uk/visa/visa_requirements.asp?citizenship=Ireland

I am kind of stupid about such things and am wondering are these websites safe, has anyone used one before?
There is no Russian embassy in Ireland and the only one close is in London, so, anyways if someone could just tell me if they have travelled to Russia, how should I go about it?

thanks,

Spaceman,

Ponster

A quick search on Tripadvisor lists 3 threads where people used Realrussia and found them helpful and honest.

cailinoBAC

The Russian Embassy in Ireland is in Rathgar. There is no need to send your passport anywhere (well to the embassy if you don't want to go to Dublin). There was a thread on this before, I'll have a look...

Ponster

spaceman1 wrote: »

I found some sites that say they will do everything for me if I send my passport by post

Sorry, I didn't read that bit.

It doesn't matter how honest people are, in this day and age you should NEVER send your passport to anyone else by the post.





Russian Tourist Visa

The following documents should be submitted to the Russian Embassy or Consulate to obtain a Tourist Visa to enter Russia:

1. Your original passport with at least 2 blank visa-designated pages (passport must be valid for at least 6 months after intended departure date from Russia).
2. Two copies of Russian visa application form, completed and signed.
3. Two passport-size photos signed on the back.
4. If Tour Group or Cruise Passenger: Letter from tour company or cruise line confirming itinerary and including a copy of the confirmation from authorized Russian travel company which shows the reference number and confirmation number for the visa.
5. If Individual Travel: Confirmation of hotel arrangements from authorized Russian travel company, or directly from the Russian hotel, showing reference number and confirmation number for the visa.

http://dublin.rusembassy.org/rusvisa.html#tourist

cailinoBAC

http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=2055130304&referrerid=59211

Taking the main information from that thread.....

The address and opening hours of the embassy are here -

http://www.ireland.mid.ru/emb_en.html


What you need for a vis is here -
http://www.ireland.mid.ru/visa_en.html

If you're not in a hurry, the price of the visa is €60

As you see you need to fill out the application form (on the site). You will also need a tourist voucher and tourist confirmation. This you can order online. This is the one I used and it was fine. That's $30 and they'll fax it to you in a day.
http://www.visatorussia.com/russianv...a_support.html
Basically you get a page confirming that you're staying in a certain hotel (total fabrication) and that will do.

After that all you need is your passport, passport photo and to fill out the application form.


As for sending passports by post, well sometimes you have to do it. There's no Belarusian Embassy in Ireland for example. But even I was nervous sending my passport to London for that. But I'd only send it to an embassy, not to an agency...at least, not unless there was a really good reason, and when there's a perfectly good embassy in your own country, there's definitely no reason!

ian_m

I would only send my passport to an Embassy. Never send it to anyone else. Irish passports are worth a fortune on the black market.

romarr

I went to russia last summer... interestingly visas for EU citizens are E30 but for Irish citizens E60 ! (was traveling with a non irish but EU citizen, both of us got our visas from rathgar) ... they couldnt offer me any explanation !

we had to get our visa registered once there, but the hostel looked after all that for us but again quite pricey

cailinoBAC

I think it's because we're not in Schengen.
If you're travelling around, registration is not as important. You have to register on by the 3rd working day, but if you're moving on by then, just hold on to all your tickets. Anyway, if you're staying in hostels/hotels, they should look after that for you.

spaceman1

Thanks so much!!!! Im a little stupid when it comes to this sort of thing, so the Russian Embassy is in Rathgar, cool, I will find it.

Thank you all so much,

Spaceman

Meathlass

spaceman1 wrote: »

Thanks so much!!!! Im a little stupid when it comes to this sort of thing, so the Russian Embassy is in Rathgar, cool, I will find it.

Thank you all so much,

Spaceman

You can definately do this on your own. You need a reservation for each of the nights you are staying in Russia. we went to Moscow and st. Petersburg which involved 3 different hotels. We need a copy of the hotel reservation for each of these places, plus other stuff (can't remember it all now sorry). You bring all this to the embassy in Rathgar, give them a few hours and collect your passport again. Easy. Worth taking the day off to go up and do it in person though.

cailinoBAC

Just to clarify though, if you don't have reservations in hotels, you can order the tourist invitation/confirmation from an internet company (the $30 I was talking about above). I think it's a small price to pay for the extra freedom it gives you. Hotels in Russia can be quite expensive.