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

[Marcus96]

Hi Allen,

That's great you're taking advantage of the Fan ID! If you are attending any matches, of course, that's the way to go. I was just posting information for those getting an invitation for a tourist visa. 

In regards to registration, last year during the Fifa Cup 2017, foreigners were required to register within 24 hours at any FMS office, which were opened every day specifically during that period. I'm not sure what the procedure will be this year though. I'll post it once I find some information about registration.

[Teena4]

Hello Marcus

I am also a travler with a Fan ID for the World cup and very much appriciate your information given here.  I will be looking out for any further information you may find in regards to this registration. My family and I have booked our stay with Airbnb and our host was the one that mentioned that we should look into this, My question for now is, if we do have to register, are there several FMS offices through out Moscow and if they are easy to find? Is there one at the airport?

Thank you

[Elena87]

Teena -  Special FIFA WC rules ;Foreigners must register the first day after their arrival between May 25, 2018 and July 25, 2018 in the cities hosting the World Cup in Volgograd, Yekaterinburg, Kazan, Kaliningrad, Moscow, Nizhny Novgorod, Rostov-on-Don, Samara, St. Petersburg, Saransk and Sochi.

Otherwise registration is only required if you stay more than 7 working days from the day after your arrival day.

But remember registration is always the responsibility of the host/hotel management/house owner, who must be a Russian citizen or a foreign citizen with permanent residence in Russia.

You can't register yourself, you need not be present when registration is done.

A host can take a photocopy of your passport/visa/landing card to take to FMS offices.

Remember too Russian police are not authorized to request proof of registration from you on the streets.

Registration accreditation is not necessary to leave the country, though the landing card is required, please retain that.

Overall - registration isn't your responsibility, so enjoy the football and don't worry about it.

[Teena4]

ELENA:  Thank you so much for your very informative information about this matter.  I will contact my AIRBNB host to ask if she could register us, hopefully yes. But if not, is there any other way to be registered? I thought we would be able to do it ourselves upon arriving.

The matter of police not having that authority grants me some peace.

We will be sure to retain our landing card.

We are very looking foward to visiting your country!!

[Elena87]

@Teena4

Hi Teena - You can't register yourself ; it is the person than owns the house that has to go to the post office or government office with their own registration details along with copies of the visitors documents.

During the World Cup, post offices will be unable to accept registration so it is only at a certain government office (FMC) where registration can take place. 

Some agencies with on-line sites do offer to complete registration for visitors - in effect what they do is find and pay a local homeowner that is prepared to go to a FMC office on your behalf to fill out the paperwork. However it normally takes these agencies three days to do this, visitors may have been and gone by this time.

Don't give yourself problems than don't exist though, registration responsibility falls on the homeowner/hotel provider.

[Teena4]

ELENA- Thank you once again!!

Yes I totally agree on this falling on the homeowner, who has now stated that she is unable to register us because she will be out of town during our stay.

So, this is now out of my hands and I will not worry about what i cant do.  There has been other discussions about this and how it may not be that inforced during the World Cup because of the high amount of travelers that will assist and the time it will take to register them all.  

Regardless, we are still very excited 🙂 

I hope our conversations here will help others with the same situation (especially ones being hosted through AIRBNB) find some ease.

[Izabella4]

Hello Elena!

Thank you for so many useful advices! I read them all but unfortunately, I did't find an answer for my question. Would you be so kind to help us with information in case you have it. Thank you in advance.

 We have just prepared an invitation letter and soon we are gonna apply for visa. 

But I got doubts about the hotel we've got. It seems more to be a motel even though on booking it was rated quite well .  it's Alex Hotel on Prosveshcheniya

In booking it looks well in reality not really. At least it looks like a hotel with hourly payment too.

 My question is: have you ever heard of anyone NOT getting the visa because the hotel was not very high standard or it doesn't matter?   The price was still high about 70 dollars per night. 

Would you recommend to try and change the hotel (invitation )or it doesn't really matter?

Thank you sooo much

[Plamen4]

Just used your site!  Really quite easy to use and took less than 5 minutes.  Hope to hear back from you with a tourist voucher soon [=

[Marcus96]

Plamen, thanks for your order! I just responded to your email. In addition, use coupon code 'airbnb' to get 10% any other services. I'm glad your experience was smooth and quick : )

[Ananya1]

Hello, Marcus, I am from India and will be travelling to saint petersburg from 17th May-21st May. I am taking help from your website to get a tourist confirmatiion letter. I just need to know,

whether I need to submit hotel booking proofs to the consulate additional to this tourist confirmation letter?

Look forward to hear from you.

Regards,

Ananya

[Marcus96]

Hi Ananya!
The visa process can vary depending on citizenship, country or residence, visa type, etc. 
I did a search and found the official visa center in India. Take a look at info on Tourist Visas to Russia in India here. You'll see the required documents, prices and processing times. 
Although it doesn't explicitly state you need a confirmation of accommodation, you should be prepared to supply it if they ask. Submit the documents as they state on their website. If they request more information about your trip, have it decided so you can produce it rather quickly just in case. We've had visitors from India before and they also booked accommodation through AirBnb. They said the process went smoothly. 
Happy to help!

Marcus

[Quan-Wei0]

Hi Marcus,

My two friends and I are traveling to Russia in July. As we all have the same itinerary in Russia, do we only need one tourist voucher with all our names?

[Marcus96]

Hi Quan Wei!
If you're traveling by yourselves (not with an official tour group), then each traveler needs a visa invitation/tourist voucher, unfortunately. You'll find the required documents for your visa process here. It looks like you don't need confirmation of accommodation for your visa application. 

Have a great trip!

Marcus

[Alain-Paul0]

Are you with airbnb?

[Alain-Paul0]

Hello Marcus, please provide contact info.