Russia - Tourist Confirmation Letter

[Karen329]

Hi there. I am an Australian planning to travel to Russia in May and I understand that I need to provide a tourist confirmation letter as part of the visa application process. My questions are...

1. How did you obtain this document when booking with AirBnb?
2. Is this something that the AirBnb team can provide?
3. If you booked an apartment via AirBnb, were you able to use the tourist confirmation letter from an airline, train, or day trip tour company instead?

Thanks, Karen

[Phillip29]

Hi Karen,

I hope you're having/had a nice holiday in Russia.

I just wanted to follow up on how you went receiving the invitation from the recommended provider at https://www.travelrussia.su/en/visa.tourist.php

Did you have any issue with having the visa granted? Did you need to supply the individual airbnb host's contact information?

Thank you for your help.

Phil

[Elif7]

Hi,

We have the same question. Did you use your host's information on the visa application? Did you choose 'hotel' or 'individual' on the application form for the place you stayed?

Thank you!

Elif

[Elena87]

@Elif7

On the visa application form , this part ''Do you plan to stay anywhere (hotel, individual) during your stay in Russia? ''

This should match the details that you have on your invitation letter/voucher. 

[Elif7]

@Elena87

Thank you for your response. We have work permits therefore our invite is from work. It doesn’t specify an address other than the office location. I’m not sure if we can use it.

[Elena87]

@Elif7

With a work or business visa - for the 'Do you plan to stay anywhere (hotel, individual) during your stay in Russia? ' - the invitation letter differs from a tourist letter. The tourist letter gives a list of places where you are thinking about staying, the work invitation shows employment details.

If you are staying in an airbnb you can ask the host for their details, under 'individual' and record those on your application.

This part of the application is not that crucial and is treated as 'provisionary' and there is no obligation for you to stay in the place you list. Once the visa is issued you can change your mind and stay where you wish. The address where you will stay isn't recorded on the visa or listed on the immigration card at arrival. On arrival in Russia the customs officer is only interested in that you have a valid visa and you are most unlikely to be asked any questions.

In advance, I'd advice you to check beforehand with your employer about how they will 'register' your visa post arrival, this should be done within 7 working days and it is best to nail down who will take responsibility for this and pre-arrange it.

[Elif7]

Thank you very much, extremely helpful!

[Sahil11]

@Elena87 If i am staying at an AirBnB and the host refused to give an invite - what options do I have for getting the invite?

1. Should I just go ahead and mention its a BnB and put in the address of the Aptt?
2. Should I book a hotel via booking.com and later cancel it?

Thanks

[Elena87]

@Sahil11

There are three types of invitation letters acceptable to make an application for a Russian visa.

Tourist - Work - Private.

Tourist invitation letters are issued only from Russian officially registered travel agents or by large hotels chains who have there own registered agents office - This type of visa 'tourist visa' is the likely choice for most visitors, including airbnb using visitors.

Work invitation letters are made in conjuction with employers and the Russian Federal Migration Service.

Private invitation letters can be requested by individuals resident in Russia (like your host), but these are very time consuming to obtain and really these are best suited only for homestay friends or family who are visiting for a longer period of time.

In respect of this, your host is not refusing to issue an invitation letter, it just means they can't automatically do this.

You still need an invitation letter as one of the documents required to apply for a visa though. Your application will be rejected without one.

To get a tourist visa invitation letter, it's quite easy on-line to order one (I can give you further info by private message if needed.)

However, look out, there can be a big variation on prices charged by different agencies.

A host can go to a local agent to get an invitation made. Be aware though they will have to pay upfront to the agent ( from around 20 dollars per letter) and it takes time to go plus they need to obtain some personal details from you so overall there is a reluctance for most hosts to do this.

You should note too, on rare occasions some Russian consulates ask for the original invitation letter rather than an email copy (for example Latvia) - worth also to check first.

As far as booking a hotel on booking-com - I'm sure that they do not support sending out invitation letters automatically. Like I said, big chains (for example Park Inn) have the facility to issue invitation letters directly - however if you cancel your booking with them they usually attempt to reclaim at least the cost of the invitation from your credit/debit card as compensation.

[Cai-Lin0]

Hi Elena, just to confirm, as long as the visa application form and the tourist confirmation letter state the same information for accommodations (one of your other replies), it does not really matter what I write - be it my friend’s apartment, Airbnb or any hotel even if I end up not staying there?

could there be a chance of getting my friend/his landlord into trouble by stating their apartment on my visa application? Would it be more advisable to on just state a hotel since you say we can change it later?

Also, I was unable to find the option to include ‘registration’ together with the tourist confirmation letter on the travelrussia.su website. Can you help please?

thanks!

[Elena87]

@Cai-Lin0

Hello Cai Lin,

If you are staying at your friends apartment, the consulate would expect you to apply for a private visa rather than a tourist visa. A tourist visa has an expectation that you will stay in a hotel/hostel type of accomodation.

You wouldn't get your friend/landlord in trouble because of this though.

Of course a tourist visa is much easier to apply for, as a private visa has some added complications (longer time and also posting documents overseas.) If you are staying just for a short period, I would recommend keeping it simple and apply for a tourist visa.

If you are purchasing a confirmation letter on-line, each company usually works with different hotels and you can just select any of the suggested hotels from the drop down boxes provided on the on-line application.

As this information is provisional, there is no requirement to stay in a hotel once the visa is issued. The invitation voucher is just a simple document to prove you have the resources to pay for your trip in Russia before you are awarded a visa.

As for registration, remember it's only required if you are staying over seven working days.

If your friend can register you or a member of the family ( usually the house owner) it's simple and can be done at the post office - although some different rules during the FIFA World Cup.

On-line registration can be done and it's usually ordered separately from an invitation.

Do shop around though, for example visatoruss.com is also a good provider.

[Cai-Lin0]

Hi Elena,

thanks for the prompt response! I did consider the possibility of a private visa but it seems too much trouble for my friend for a short term visit, so I decided the tourist visa is till the best option.

As for registration, I’m not staying more than 7 days in each city, but I’m probably staying more than 7 days in Russia combined. That means I do need to register right? I’m planning on going after the World Cup. I read about the landlord needing to go to the post office with a bunch of documents and queueing for an hour for the registration, which also sounds like quite a hassle, which is why I thought the easiest might be to do it through the same online visa support company (though they seem to require either scanned documents or appearing in person, so I’m not sure it’s necessarily easier). I read that St. Petersburg has an online system for registration - does this mean I just need to get my hands on a scanner if I’m registering myself in St. Petersburg for scanning the necessary documents?

thanks for providing another visa support link! Actually I found one which is rather cheap, not sure if you know if it’s good? Realrussia.co.uk.

Anyway i see you host in St. Petersburg. Ill need accoms there so I’ll check out your profile! 🙂

[Elena87]

@Cai-Lin0

If you are staying for more than seven working days (excludes, arrival day/weekends/holidays), probably to register only the once with the dates covering all your stay will suffice.

The easiest way is still to ask your friend or friends home owner to complete registration, so they need a copy of your main passport page/visa sticker and immigration card.

You can also use a travel agency that issues visa, but they will basically have to do the same procedure- find a willing person who has a flat in the city you're in and have them register you on their address.

St Petersburg online system doesn't mean you can register yourself - it's really a procedure for hotels/hostels to avoid them clogging up post offices with multiple.

I can't say about your link, haven't used them before.

I know registration rules can give doubts to visitors, however it's extremly unlikely anyone will ask to see your documents. There are scary stories - especially on sites that offer to sell registration assistance.

Nowadays Russian police are not authorized to request proof of registration on the streets.

Registration accreditation is not necessary to show at customs when you leave the country.

[Cai-Lin0]

Hi Elena,

thanks for the advice! I was concerned about the registration as I’ve lived in some cities in Europe which are quite strict about registering too many people at one address. But I guess the registration in this context and those are different 🙂

so it’s perfectly legal and ok for my friend or landlord to register me? And all they need is to bring the necessary documents u mentioned to the post office and do it there?

and thanks for highlighting that the police is not authorised to ask for registration. I have a related question: I read that it’s compulsory to bring your passport around in case of police/militia checks and I could get into trouble if I don’t have a valid ID. However, I’m thinking of NOT bringing my passport out, especially at night, in case it gets stolen. Do you know anyone who has faced issues due to this, and if it’s ok to bring a photocopy out and leave the original at the accommodation?

[Elena87]

@Cai-Lin0 Yes, your friend or landlord can do the registration.

You can take just a copy of your passport if you are going out and about, that's good practice.

One tip anyway is never to hand your passport over to anyone - only at customs. It's not neccessary to always have your passport with you at all times.

You might get asked to show a passport only if you are purchasing a sim card, boarding a long distance train, airport or exchanging money at the bank. 

[Cai-Lin0]

Thank you so much for your help Elena!