Russian Visa with Invitation

[AlexW]

Does anyone have experience getting a Russian visa with the Russian office' in Taipei's visa issuer - 'Double Capital' http://www.usia.com.tw/ ?

Did you get an invitation through them or someone else? If it just involves filling in their forms this seems easier and cheaper than going to Hong Kong (I have an ARC - I'm not sure they process for foreigners otherwise). Last time I got a Russian visa I just walked into a travel agent in Lithuania, gave them some money, and the next morning I had the visa. I'm guessing it'll take a bit more than that but I have time.

If I get no responses I will post back anyway to let you know how it goes (although it may be a few months from now).

Thanks

[AlexW]

I'm here to report back about our visas. We got one month tourist visas, I believe if you pay more you can get other types. This service is only available to residents.

I spent about a week emailing the Double Capital people to make sure we had everything sorted, and also to check costs etc. They reply pretty quickly most of the time.

What we needed to provide: a) Invitation application form (via email)
b) photos/scanned copies of ARC, Passport, Payment Receipt
c) Detailed Itinerary including all train/flight numbers etc (they
asked for actual bookings but I just gave this instead)
d) Completed visa application form
e) One passport photo
f) ATM Transfer receipt
g) Photocopy of ARC and Passport
h) Passport
The cost of the visa varies depending on Nationality. The invitations/visa support letters were NT1470 each. Postage was NT120. Visas were NT2160 for Australian, NT2736 for British.


Here is a step-by-step guide to getting a visa (if you're in Taipei you can go in person):
1. Email Double Capital at the address found on their website, checking what documents you need to provide and the total cost for visas, invitations, postage etc.
2. Do an ATM transfer of the full payment for everything, scan/take a photo of the receipt.
3. Email the transfer receipt, visa invitation forms, photos of ARC and Passport, and itinerary to Double Capital.
4. Put your passports, completed visa forms, photos, itinerary, transfer receipt, photocopies of ARC and Passport in an envelope and post/courier to Double Capital.
5. Wait - we emailed them to check everything had arrived, and didn't hear back until we got a call from the postman saying to come downstairs and sign for a letter.

We applied on a Monday, and got our passports with visas back the next Wednesday.

[Evzob]

Thanks for the information! I'm interested in going to Russia sometime, but I haven't started seriously looking into it yet.

So the invitation is something you can just apply for? It doesn't have to be an actual prior invitation from someone inside the country?

[AlexW]

You need an invitation and hotel voucher, which theoretically you should get when you book your complete stay in Russia before applying for your visa. If you're going on a tour they can issue this.

If you're travelling independently (which is easy enough once in Russia, it's just a hassle with the visa) you can pay someone to provide you with visa support documents. There are plenty of reputable online suppliers. In this case the agency issuing the invitation and that getting the visa was the same, so I could send everything together. You can also just buy the invitation online and then apply for the visa yourself (although the Russian Office in Taipei says you need to go through Double Capital, so this option is more for if you're applying elsewhere).

For further information on travel in Russia and general info on visas etc I suggest you look on the Lonely Planet 'Thorn Tree':
http://www.lonelyplanet.com/thorntree/f ... forumID=15

[Abacus]

Good info. I'm hoping to spend a summer traveling (2013?) thru China, Mongolia and Russia (Baikal) so this will be useful info for that trip. But that is still in the distant future.

[Bu Lai En]

Anyone know if it's at all possible for non-residents (in Taiwan on landing visa)? I'm asking for a friend.

If not possible, what's the best way to deal with it?