Visa to Russia?

[Kellie Poodle]

We have booked the June 22, 2011 sailing on the new Amakatrina (AMA) from Moscow to St. Petersburg. I know that we will be needing Visas.

 

It's early, but just in case the discount travel agent doesn't do the visa thing, can anyone give me some information on the process, the time it takes and the approximate cost?

 

I love on the Mexican border and frequently go into Mexico for shopping, but especially for my dentist appointments every 3 months. I need my passport to get back to the US, so I really need to know how long it takes to get the visa.

 

Thank you all in advance.

[cole]

We were on a big ship cruise that stopped in Russia and we were not required to have a visa and it was explained that as long as we were with one of the ship's excursions, no visa was required. If we had planned anything on our own, a visa would be needed.

B. Cole

[paul929207]

We are on a similar trip with Grand Circle in September. I am now filling out the visa applications. Grand Circle recommends PVS International, a visa service. THe cost is $171 per visa plus $25 mailing fee per address. It the past, visas for other countries have taken about 2 to 4 weeks.

[UKBayern]

If you book an excursion, either from the ship or from an independent tour company, you don't need a visa. Generally, the cost of a visa, the hassle to get one and to get around Russian cities (not very many people speaking english, signs in cyrillic script) by yourself is enough for most passengers to go on an excursion instead.

[paul929207]

If you book an excursion, either from the ship or from an independent tour company, you don't need a visa. Generally, the cost of a visa, the hassle to get one and to get around Russian cities (not very many people speaking english, signs in cyrillic script) by yourself is enough for most passengers to go on an excursion instead.

OP is (I presume) flying to Moscow and taking a two week or so river cruise to St. Petersberg. For this he needs a visa and it must be obtained in advance.

[jotabecu]

OP is (I presume) flying to Moscow and taking a two week or so river cruise to St. Petersberg. For this he needs a visa and it must be obtained in advance.

 

I am on Viking Kirov on August Moscow to St Petersburg, maybe we cross paths. Regards

[paul929207]

George & Saide,

 

We leave home late August and go to Kiev for 4 days then to Moscow on 9/2. We fly home from St. Pete on 9/16.

[jotabecu]

George & Saide,

 

We leave home late August and go to Kiev for 4 days then to Moscow on 9/2. We fly home from St. Pete on 9/16.

 

Next time. We will be in Europe 8/15 take boat in Moscow on 8/22 and then on Vienna.

Regards

 

Jorge & Saidy

[paul929207]

Next time. We will be in Europe 8/15 take boat in Moscow on 8/22 and then on Vienna.

Regards

 

Jorge & Saidy

I figure we would probably miss. Have a great trip.

[pjtraveler]

Kellie--AMA will probably send you information about what service they use for visas in Russia and also the passport application forms with certain information about your cruise already filled in. They will probably include some hints about filling out the rest. If not, see if your travel agent can find out that information.

 

The visa for Russia application for Russia is quite detailed and includes this information that was not needed for our visas to Egypt and China:

 

. Last 2 places of work, excluding the current one (name, address, position, phone number, supervisor, dates of employment

. All educational institutions you ever attended (except high school)

. List of all professional, civil, and charity organizations which you are (were) a member of or contribute(d) to, or work(ed) with

. Question about whether you have expertise or training in explosives or firearms

. Questions about military service or involvement in armed conflict

. Questions about arrests, any present or past communicable diseases, drug use and specific questions about other applications for Russian visas

 

They also wanted a list of all countries (with year) that you have visited in the last 10 years.

 

We traveled with Viking, and they did not use ZVS although we have used them in the past. As someone else indicated, processing once the application is received can take from 2.5 to 4 weeks. For an extra charge, you can get rush service. If you have a choice, I would choose ZVS because they have an online tracking service on the status of your documents.

 

You cannot send in an application earlier than 90 days before your travel date, so spend the time between now and then finding all the personal information I listed above.

 

Although the visa application is a bit of a hassle, you'll find the trouble well worthwhile because Russia is a fascinating destination.:)

[pjtraveler]

If AMA doesn't send you (or make available online) the visa application form and you have to do the whole process yourself, you will still need to contact them for a request form to process the required official invitation letter. But my expectation is that AMA will have everything ready for you to fill out by the time you need to apply.

 

Good luck!

[shoshona2]

We ALWAYS use ZVS for all our visas and they are reliable. We always allow three weeks for their processing and send them by Fed EX.

 

Sheila

[shoshona2]

Kellie,

 

We are booked on the new AMAkatarina for September 2011 from St. Petersburg to Moscow. Please post here on CC when you return.

 

Thanks.

Sheila

[Kellie Poodle]

Thanks everyone.

 

Those questions are pretty scary!

 

What do you put on the form if you are retired and haven't had a job in the last 10 years?

[Kellie Poodle]

Kellie,

 

We are booked on the new AMAkatarina for September 2011 from St. Petersburg to Moscow. Please post here on CC when you return.

 

Thanks.

Sheila

 

I'll try to remember. It's a year away and I can't find where I put my keys 10 minutes ago. :)

[lsbauer]

Hi Paul,

 

We are on the same GCT trip 9/2/2010 but we are not doing the pre-trip. This is our 3rd GCT trip and the 1st 2 were great. We look forward to meeting you in September. We had scheduled this trip for 6/24/10 but GCT called last week looking looking for volunteers to move to a different date since they had overbooked 6/24. They made it attractive enough that we moved to 9/2/10. See you then.

 

Larry and Marlene

[paul929207]

Hi Larry & Marlene,

 

Glad we will "know" someone else on the trip. We will be in cabin 229.

This will be our second with GCT plus we have four with OAT.

 

Do you think GCT will set up a Cruise Critic Meet & Greet?

 

See you in September.

[lsbauer]

Hi Paul,

 

Probably no meet and greet but I'm sure we will find you. We're in 306. Which OAT's have you done? We are looking at China / Tibet or Greece for next year. With GCT we did Egypt and Rhine / Mosel.

 

Feel free to use my email. papabauer at gmail dot com

 

Larry

[Rikka]

We are leaving for our river cruise on viking from St Petersberg to Moscow at the end of August. We just received our Russian visas last week. The process is a bit time consuming but fairly straight forward if you follow the instructions on the internet.

 

You can use a service that is recommended by the cruise company but we found it much cheaper to do it ourselves. You need to apply no earlier than 90 days prior to the date you will be leaving Russia. We will be flying home from Moscow on September 14th, so could not apply for the visa until the middle of June. It wil take 2 to 4 weeks for you passport to be returned to you ( we received ours in 3 )

 

You will need:

 

-an application for visa form - available off the internet - All information on the application from must match the information on your passport exactly.

 

-a recent photo - passport type. Tell the photographer that the photo is for a Russian visa and it will be cropped to the correct size

 

-an invitation to Russia that your cruise line or travel agent will obtain for you

 

-Your passport - valid for at least 6 months after your departure date from Russia

 

-a self addressed pre-paid envelope - Priority post if Canadian - in order to return your passport and visa to you

 

- a postal money order, or bank issued money order for $75 each. You can not use a credit card.

 

These instructions are clearly spelled out in the application form. Follow them exactly and you should have no trouble.

[Kellie Poodle]

Thanks all for your assistance. My Travel Agent just emailed me the forms from ZVS which is the visa service that AMA Waterways uses. We send them the forms, the money, the passports and the photos, etc. and they get the invitation from AMA and process the visas.

 

I still have almost a year to go for our June 2011 trip.

[Dushi]

I agree with Kellie P, those questions are quite intrusive. The list of countries visited within the past 10 years will be quite long for many of us cruisers.

 

Has anyone from the US filed for their visa without the use of a travel service?

[paul929207]

I agree with Kellie P, those questions are quite intrusive. The list of countries visited within the past 10 years will be quite long for many of us cruisers.

 

Has anyone from the US filed for their visa without the use of a travel service?

The place for countries visited has boxes for the letters. I could not even dent the list of countries we have been to in the last 10 years. I guess I fit 6 or 8. Had someone compared my passport to the visa application, it would have been clear that some were missing.

[MizZee]

Did you book directly with GCT????? Thinking about Spetember 2011 St. Pete.

Dee

[paul929207]

Did you book directly with GCT????? Thinking about Spetember 2011 St. Pete.

Dee

Yes, we booked directly with GCT.

[pacaduli]

WOW, so nice to be able to get valuable info from others who have experienced cruise stuff!!!!

We have a trip thru Russia in the plans for 2012 or 2013. I had read that the Russian visa process is a PITB (Pain In The Booty).

 

***Any hints on how to file some of these threads, for future reference?

Wishing all wonderful and safe travels!

Thanks,

Carol