Travelling tips

To Obtain a Russian visa you need what is commonly known as an invitation from someone in Russia before you can apply for a visa. Invitations come in a number of forms.

• Firstly Option there is the Private Invitation, which can be provided by a friend or relative in Russia. It is probably the most time consuming of invitations to arrange, your friend or relative will need to visit their local Police Station and visit a department called OVIR, here they will need to apply for an invitation for you, they will need to fill out a couple of forms and these forms are then sent to the OVIR headquarters, they will then check to see everything is in order, then they will return the forms back to the local OVIR office and notify your friend or relative that the invitation is ready to be collected. Once your friend or relative has collected the invitation they will need to post it to you by FedEx or UPS to make sure it arrives safely to you I would also suggest they E-mail you a copy first so you can get the ball rolling, Or the invite could be faxed to you. This process can take up to 6 weeks as Russian tend to do every thing in their own time so plan well ahead!
• Second Option is a Hotel invitation. This can be provided by the hotel that you may be staying in if you book accommodation through them, they do this in the form of a voucher. The hotel will provide a voucher once your booking is confirmed you then submit this voucher along with your visa application.
• Third Option is to obtain a Business Invitation from a registered company that is authorized to issue invitations. Many of our affiliates are registered business in their countries and thus are able to provide invitations.
• One Important thing to mention and this is VERY IMPORTANT You must have your visa registered within 3 working days of your arrival in Russia, Ukraine or Belarus and many of the Eastern Block Countries. You will have to visit the office of the company who issued your invitation and have them stamp your visa in your passport even if your invitation was arranged through a friend or relative you will still need to visit the Police Station or OVIR office to have it stamped into your passport. Failure to do this will mean that you will not be able to leave these countries without paying a fine.
• Hotels that issued your voucher will also register your visa as will the private company that issued your invitation.
• How to obtain a tourist visa. To obtain a tourist visa, you will need to contact your travel agency and submit the following documents:
  

1. A completed visa application form (one per person) available at links below.
2. An International Passport valid for at least 6 months after the intended date of departure from Russia
3. One passport size (3x4 cm) photo on a white background. Please write your name in capital letters on the back of the photos. Attach the photo it to the specially marked place of the application form.
4. A copy of the invitation
5. A tour Itinerary
6. A cover letter from your travel agency in Australia containing:
   Applicants Name
   Date of Arrival
   Point of Arrival
   Departure date
   Point of departure
   Means of transport
   Itinerary whilst in Russia