Letters of invitation

[Yoshimasa Tsuji]

>For the past year or so, we have been required to obtain an original copy of
>an invitation--no faxes or photocopies allowed--in order to obtain a visa
>from Ukraine.  Of course, Ukraine may have different rules than Russia.
Ukraina will not like to accept visas issued by Russian consulates,
which still functions as a self-volunteered representative of
member states of previous USSR. The two countries are now different now.

>      Almost a month ago a colleague in Petersburg arranged to have RAN
>give me an official invitation that I could use to apply for a visa. My
>colleague was to mail the invitation to me as soon as she received it. A
>year ago this worked fine but now it is dragging on so long it will soon be
>too late to order a plane ticket and more other arrangements.  Does anyone
>know whether the rules have changed?  Or is there some other way to get a
>"business" visa?

Hard lines. The institutions that can apply for the Ministry of
Foreign Affairs formal invitation have decreased a lot in recent years.
In my recent case a friend of mine in Leningrad State University
was asked some $200 for the application and decided not to invite
me through official channels. (Another friend of mine at Institut
Ekonomiki in Moscow paid $30 and faxed me a letter of invitation by
the Ministry of Foreign Affairs)
  Travel agent usually charge $25 for faxing the invitation for
tourists (a business visa -- essential if your stay in Russia
exceeds a month -- can be got for $50 or so).

  The invitation can be got easily (just have a look at your
computer screen and you will see hundreds of agents), but there
are catches: The exact conditions and fees for a Russian visa
vary from consulate to consulate! The Russian Consulate in Osaka
is cheaper and quicker than that in Tokyo; while Russian consulates
in Japan do not accept hotel vouchers issued outside Japan (They
seem to operate a tourist agency in Tokyo and want to sell their
own vouchers...), the Russian consulate in Helsingfors issues visas
much more cheaply ($20, I heard), quickly (in four days -- they would do
so in Tokyo in as many days, of course, but will charge you $400!),
and without red tapes (hotel vouchers are not always required even
for tourists).

If your Russian consulate accepts faxed invitation and vouchers
from "visa agents", it won't take you half an hour to get all
the necessary documents (you ring them, fax them your passport,
get a faxed format from them, fax the filled format back with
the details of money payment, and they will fax you an invitation
and a voucher -- you don't have to stay at the hotels mentioned,
you pretend to stay there).

Another tip for those travelling to Russia concerns the visa
registration. The easiest is finding a decent hotel where
proper "registracija" is executed. You stay there one night
and will get the whole period "registered" and you are free
to travel and stay anywhere (at a friend's, e.g.) in Russia.
  There are lots of decent but inexpensive (less than $33) hotels
in Moscow and Leningrad. Youth hostels are not authorized to "register
visas". (I have heard that this is not because they are not
international hotels, but only because they are not the real --
nastojashshaja -- hotels).
  I am saying that sometimes you will find it very hard to
visit your "host" (the organization that has invited you officially)
and have your visa registered, particularly when your host is located
outside the town centre.

Cheers,
Tsuji

-------------------------------------------------------------------------
 Use your web browser to search the archives, control your subscription
  options, and more.  Visit and bookmark the SEELANGS Web Interface at:
                http://members.home.net/lists/seelangs/
-------------------------------------------------------------------------