St Petersburg and Russian Visas

The Russian procedures are rather straightforward and out there for everyone to behold, posted conveniently on official embassy sites and VFS global/ILS sites, whichever is applicable.

Frankly, there is not much sense in finding your way around these procedures and ergo no pressing need for engaging a Visa service, be it good or otherwise.

You think? Our forty+ years of extensive international travel have taught us to the contrary :). While I am not a fan of Visa services (and generally get our own visas...even if it means traveling to Washington DC) there are some exceptions with Russia being near the top of the heap.when a Russian official insists on "A Letter of Invitation from a Russian Hotel" you can try to explain that you are on a cruise :). Just give yourself enough extra time since the official may...or may not...be interested in your explanation. Also consider that a single entry visa will cost you at least $90 (twice that if you need multi-entry) which is why most cruisers are content to book a private tour (which often does not cost much more than the cost of a Visa). But of course you are familiar with all that stuff :). Oh, and to get that Visa you will have to send off your Passport to a Russian Consulate...and pray it does come back in time (if at all). But if you doubt some of what I say here is the info pasted from the Russian Consulate:

To apply for a single, double or multiple three year Tourist visa, an applicant should submit a completed visa application form, US passport, one standard picture, money order (see points 1-4 of Information on visas), as well as:

- Confirmation of the hotel reservation, confirmation of reception of the tourist, and register number from the Uniform Federal Register of the Tour Operators of the Federal Tourism Agency.

The Consular Division of the Embassy also has the right to call the applicants for an interview and request, if needed:

• a bank statement from the applicant;

• a statement from the employer regarding the applicant's wages for the preceding year/ half year, or month;

• medical insurance valid in the country to be visited and fully covering the period of the first trip;

• documents regarding the applicant's ownership of property in the country of his citizenship;

• a certificate on the makeup of the applicant's family.

To apply for a single, double or multiple three year Tourist visa, an applicant should submit a completed visa application form, US passport, one standard picture, money order (see points 1-4 of Information on visas), as well as:

- Confirmation of the hotel reservation, confirmation of reception of the tourist, and register number from the Uniform Federal Register of the Tour Operators of the Federal Tourism Agency.

The Consular Division of the Embassy also has the right to call the applicants for an interview and request, if needed:

• a bank statement from the applicant;

• a statement from the employer regarding the applicant's wages for the preceding year/ half year, or month;

• medical insurance valid in the country to be visited and fully covering the period of the first trip;

• documents regarding the applicant's ownership of property in the country of his citizenship;

• a certificate on the makeup of the applicant's family.

Now, since you obviously have a lot of personal experience I am sure you would have no problem dealing with these potential issues. But some of us are pretty inexperienced and see using a reputable Visa Service (who has a daily relationship with a consulate) as a pretty reasonable option. By the way, if you simply book a private tour (or a more expensive cruise line excursion) you will not need to do any of this....and the money you save not having to apply for a personal Visa will pay for a good portion of your tour.

Hank

You think? ...But of course you are familiar with all that stuff .

...Now, since you obviously have a lot of personal experience I am sure you would have no problem...

...you will have to send off your Passport to a Russian Consulate...and pray it does come back in time (if at all).

I see, would you like a five-minute argument or a full half-hour? I do apologize in advance - at this time of day, I tend to be a bit conciliatory :-)

Like I must have said, I do not see value in applying for a visa if you're only in for a 72-hr cruise.

That said, I do believe the complexity of the whole visa procedure is blown out of proportion.

Case in point: the formidably Kafkaesque "Confirmation of the hotel reservation, confirmation of reception of the tourist, and register number from the Uniform Federal Register of the Tour Operators of the Federal Tourism Agency" is, in fact, a single double-sided document that most people here refer to as "blanket invitation", instantly available from a gazillion of providers for anywhere between 15 and 30 dollars. That paper, along with your passport, a CVS photo, money order, and a completed and printed out online form, constitutes the bulk of your document package to be submitted.

As to the rest of potential document submissions (statements of this and that, your family tree, property deeds and medical insurance) - these are just mirroring the requirements imposed on Russian applicants by the US embassy in Russia.

In my admittedly limited experience, I have not seen those requirements enforced. Ever. Nor do I know a single person that, having applied via ILS, had to go through the interview.

I hope you do not mind me adding that I do not seem to recall a single case of passports being lost in the process (which, of course, might simply be an indication of the power of prayer).

Are the visa questions (again, just a mirror image of a US non-immigrant visa questionnaire) intrusive and annoying? Absolutely! Would a "reputable visa service" fill it out for you? Sure, but you still need to provide them with your information - and it's collecting that info that takes the most time; once you have it, the actual application takes maybe 40 minutes max to complete.

As someone heading to SPB his summer, we found ourselves in a similar situation. Our family of 4 has always avoided organized tours because we like the freedom to come and go as we like. We also wanted at least one evening in the city for dinner. We found working with Dancing Bear met all our requirements and at a competitive rate. We were basically able to craft our own itinerary including lots of unstructured time to stop and savor the city itself.

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I initially posted this as a reply to Hiltner #26 however, I think it got lost in a dispute between Hlitner and napokoguk over the desirability of getting a visa and I never got a reply so I will repeat it.

"We are taking our first cruise in 25 years on the Regal Princess in June and contemplating taking the TJ Tours "All Highlights" two day tour with a ballet excursion in the evening. I was a bit nervous about determining if TJ Tours is a reputable company and if this was a good tour but I taking it from your post that you were happy with the value of the tour and the company. Any recommendations, Thanks"

I thought it was obvious, but we are going to St. Petersburg. I note that there is also now a recent post suggesting that Dancing Bears is also a good tour company so any input and experiences would be appreciated. Thanks

Yes, we do have our tickets! Well, not physically in hand, since FIFA hasn't mailed the tickets out yet, but they are allocated to us.

 

There have already been several buying rounds, some of which are by lottery and others by first-come-first-serve (FCFS). Luckily for us, we got our tickets in the first round last year, which was a lottery before the teams were even set.

 

The next round starts in a few days, so you may want to get ready for it by setting up a FIFA account, etc. It's a FCFS round, so you will probably want to have a bunch of web browsers ready at the designated time (in the middle of the night in the U.S., I believe), to maximize your chances of getting into the purchasing screens before the allocation is all gone. Note that if you strike out, there is another FCFS round in April that you can try again for. The details are all here: http://www.fifa.com/worldcup/organisation/ticketing/index.html. This message board thread may also be useful: http://www.bigsoccer.com/threads/russia-2018-ticket-thread.2038931/page-241. That website may also have people buying and selling tickets, I believe, so you can look into that if helpful (though I don't know if it's legit).

 

Once FIFA confirms that you have been allocated tickets, you can then apply online for a FAN ID for each ticket-holder. The FAN ID is required to enter the stadium for the game. It also allows for visa-free travel throughout Russia during the World Cup period. We already have our FAN IDs in hand. The online application is very easy, and you can get the FAN IDs mailed for free to your home address.

Thanks for all the info! I might try to see if I can land tickets - our boys are huge soccer fans and would love to catch a World Cup game.

I initially posted this as a reply to Hiltner #26 however, I think it got lost in a dispute between Hlitner and napokoguk over the desirability of getting a visa and I never got a reply so I will repeat it.

"We are taking our first cruise in 25 years on the Regal Princess in June and contemplating taking the TJ Tours "All Highlights" two day tour with a ballet excursion in the evening. I was a bit nervous about determining if TJ Tours is a reputable company and if this was a good tour but I taking it from your post that you were happy with the value of the tour and the company. Any recommendations, Thanks"

I thought it was obvious, but we are going to St. Petersburg. I note that there is also now a recent post suggesting that Dancing Bears is also a good tour company so any input and experiences would be appreciated. Thanks

You may want to search this forum, as I believe there are numerous threads about TJ Tours (this is probably the wrong thread for it). I don't have personal experience, but I believe I have read good things about them.

I initially posted this as a reply to Hiltner #26 however, I think it got lost in a dispute between Hlitner and napokoguk over the desirability of getting a visa and I never got a reply so I will repeat it.

"We are taking our first cruise in 25 years on the Regal Princess in June and contemplating taking the TJ Tours "All Highlights" two day tour with a ballet excursion in the evening. I was a bit nervous about determining if TJ Tours is a reputable company and if this was a good tour but I taking it from your post that you were happy with the value of the tour and the company. Any recommendations, Thanks"

I thought it was obvious, but we are going to St. Petersburg. I note that there is also now a recent post suggesting that Dancing Bears is also a good tour company so any input and experiences would be appreciated. Thanks

Yes, TJ Tours is one of the companies that is often mentioned here (positively -- I think it's currently ranked #1 on TripAdvisor?), along with Alla, SPB, Best Guides, White Nights, Dancing Bear, etc. All of the top companies are experienced, very professional, and therefore pretty reliable.

Yes. Over the winter I sent out a request for proposal to 11 different tour companies in SPB and compared their pricing, itinerary, flexibility, etc. All of them came highly recommended and we had a tough time narrowing down the options to the final 3 and then ultimately went with Dancing Bear Tours. That being said, we first did extensive research on our own to determine exactly what we did and did not want to spend time on and Googled independent reviews, not just those on their own websites.

I initially posted this as a reply to Hiltner #26 however, I think it got lost in a dispute between Hlitner and napokoguk over the desirability of getting a visa and I never got a reply so I will repeat it.

"We are taking our first cruise in 25 years on the Regal Princess in June and contemplating taking the TJ Tours "All Highlights" two day tour with a ballet excursion in the evening. I was a bit nervous about determining if TJ Tours is a reputable company and if this was a good tour but I taking it from your post that you were happy with the value of the tour and the company. Any recommendations, Thanks"

I thought it was obvious, but we are going to St. Petersburg. I note that there is also now a recent post suggesting that Dancing Bears is also a good tour company so any input and experiences would be appreciated. Thanks

As you said, you are new here and sometimes things do get a bit 'lost'. I know you didn't ask me, but being a veteran here, let me answer. Almost to a man (or women) here, we all have taken private tours during our time in St Petersburg. We all have toured with one of maybe 5 or 6 tour companies that are the main companies in St Petersburg. All think that the one they toured with was the best and as long as those opinions hold, we are all happy. You asked about TJ Tours and they are one of the better companies in St Petersburg and almost always get excellent reviews. As I said, you could say the same about SPB Tours, ALLA Tours, best Guides and a few others. Overall, they all are about the same, seeing the same places, doing the same itineraries but each have their own little charm and may do some things a certain way. But, again, they are all excellent and you will have a great time with whichever company you choose.

I don't know why you selected TJ Tours, but if it was only in the recommendation of some one else, do avail yourself of the opportunity to check out some of the others. And select the one you feel most comfortable with.

One thing is guaranteed, you will have a great time in St Petersburg.

Cheers

Len

Another option this summer is to secure World Cup soccer tickets, since that makes you eligible for visa-free travel throughout Russia. Two options have been discussed in the forums: (1) Buy the cheapest tickets you can find during the WC ($105 from FIFA), and don't actually attend the game; or (2) if your ship is docked on a St. Petersburg game day, you can try to get tickets to a match that you'll actually attend (which is what we are doing).

Hi nnn

My son and I have confirmed tickets for the final group stage match in SPB. We have received our FAN-IDs and are very excited.

Just wondering if you've scoped out travel to/from the stadium? Have been looking at taxis, but seems cars can't get close to the stadium and not sure how lucky we'll be getting a cab after the match. A free trip on the subway looks possible. Walk or taxi to the Primorskaya underground near the port then on to Petrogradskaya to pick up the shuttle bus (reverse to get back to the ship).

If only there was a water shuttle as we are docked so close!

Another option this summer is to secure World Cup soccer tickets, since that makes you eligible for visa-free travel throughout Russia. Two options have been discussed in the forums: (1) Buy the cheapest tickets you can find during the WC ($105 from FIFA), and don't actually attend the game; or (2) if your ship is docked on a St. Petersburg game day, you can try to get tickets to a match that you'll actually attend (which is what we are doing).

I would love to do this. FIFA has sold out of all the St Petes matches :(

Hi nnn

 

My son and I have confirmed tickets for the final group stage match in SPB. We have received our FAN-IDs and are very excited.

 

 

 

Just wondering if you've scoped out travel to/from the stadium? Have been looking at taxis, but seems cars can't get close to the stadium and not sure how lucky we'll be getting a cab after the match. A free trip on the subway looks possible. Walk or taxi to the Primorskaya underground near the port then on to Petrogradskaya to pick up the shuttle bus (reverse to get back to the ship).

 

 

 

If only there was a water shuttle as we are docked so close!

If it can help : there are buses at the cruise terminal (bus # 158) stopping at each terminal and going to the Primorskaya metro station.

Otherwise, Uber is also popular in SPB.

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If it can help : there are buses at the cruise terminal (bus # 158) stopping at each terminal and going to the Primorskaya metro station.

 

Otherwise, Uber is also popular in SPB.

Very helpful, thanks

Hi nnn

My son and I have confirmed tickets for the final group stage match in SPB. We have received our FAN-IDs and are very excited.

 

Just wondering if you've scoped out travel to/from the stadium? Have been looking at taxis, but seems cars can't get close to the stadium and not sure how lucky we'll be getting a cab after the match. A free trip on the subway looks possible. Walk or taxi to the Primorskaya underground near the port then on to Petrogradskaya to pick up the shuttle bus (reverse to get back to the ship).

 

If only there was a water shuttle as we are docked so close!

We are attending the match sat. the 14th. meto does not look too bad as an option. somewhere, I believe I saw that there will be dedicated shuttles to the stadium not sure if they get any closer then the other options. ( princess cruise)

I would love to do this. FIFA has sold out of all the St Petes matches :(

ticket sales will open in a few days for last minute ticket sales . you could check the FIFA site . The next thing you would need to check is whether the FAN ID / tickets could be delivered in time for your game. FIFA has established distribution centers that make getting the ID (and maybe tickets) a bit easier . If you are not close to a center getting your ID and tickets may take a lot of organization.

The Fan Guide makes it sound like one will need to walk 20-25 minutes at a minimum, though I'm not sure if there will be other options:

http://welcome2018.com/en/guide/306409/

How to get to Saint Petersburg Stadium by public transport

The most convenient way to get to Saint Petersburg Stadium is by metro. The closest metro station is Krestovsky Ostrov (metro line #5), and it’s a 20 minute walk from the arena.

On game days traffic around the stadium will be restricted and public transportation will be somewhat limited. Regular municipal routes will be abbreviated, but there will be some additional shuttle buses. These shuttle buses will stop at two locations. One is the Krestovsky Ostrov bus station (Airport - Stadium, Ploshchad Vosstaniya/Moskovsky Railway Station — Stadium, Petrogradskaya metro - Stadium routes). The other one will be the intersection of Sportivnaya Street and Morskoy Prospect (Vyborgskaya metro - Stadium route).

The closest bus and tram stop on the game days will be located at Yakhtennaya Street in Primorsky District. To walk from the bus stop to the stadium will take about 25 minutes. To get to the stop, take buses № 101, 101А, 110, 134А, 134Ш, 170, 211, 216, 32, 93 and trams № 19, 48.

More from the Fan Guide:

http://welcome2018.com/en/guide/2413719/

How to drive to Stadium Saint Petersburg

Access to Stadium St. Petersburg area will be restricted for all traffic on FIFA World Cup 2018 Russia™ match days, with the exception of public transport and holders of special entry and parking passes for the stadium area. So unless you are a holder of such a pass, you should probably give up the idea of driving your own or rental car to the arena, and use public transportation instead.