Russian Visa

[heliman]

We are booked on the Marina Baltic cruise in July which spends two days in St Petersburg Russia. The travel agent rang me yesterday to advise that the local Oceania office in Australia won't provide us a letter of offer (required to get a Russian visa) unless we book one of their (very overpriced) tours. Even if we did, book a tour with them, their visa is only valid while actually on the tour so it's very restrictive and you can't even stay for a cup of coffee at a cafe after the tour. Any advice on getting a Russian visa as an Australian passport holder would be welcomed.

[ksps cruise fan]

We are booked on the Marina Baltic cruise in July which spends two days in St Petersburg Russia. The travel agent rang me yesterday to advise that the local Oceania office in Australia won't provide us a letter of offer (required to get a Russian visa) unless we book one of their (very overpriced) tours. Even if we did, book a tour with them, their visa is only valid while actually on the tour so it's very restrictive and you can't even stay for a cup of coffee at a cafe after the tour. Any advice on getting a Russian visa as an Australian passport holder would be welcomed.

 

Investigate a private tour company like Red October or DenRus. These tour companies will take care of the necessary paperwork for a shore excursion, completely eliminating your problem. Both of these companies are well reviewed on Trip Advisor including a comparison of the two.

 

Incidentally, I have no idea whether or not the visa you'll be provided from either company will let you wander on your own for a copy of coffee after the tour. Frankly, I doubt it.

 

Here's the link to DenRus: http://www.denrus.ru/index.html

 

Here's a quote from DenRus' web site: Cruise ship passengers touring St. Petersburg on DenRus' Value Excursions or Custom Shore Ex Tours do not need Russian Visa.

 

Here's the link to Red October: http://www.redoctober.us/

 

Here's a quote from Red October's web site:

RED OCTOBER TOURS OFFERING YOU UNMATCHED QUALITY & VALUE

 

TOURIST VISA IS NOT REQUIRED !

No matter what country Citizenship you have.

[LHT28]

Are you planning on touring the city on your own??

It is a very large busy place ..it can be done if you read or speak Russian

I would advise you to look at some of the private guides (no VISA required)

You can make arrangements to stop for coffee or dinner in town etc...with the guide

Some guides have a ROLL CALL on their site where you could find others that are looking to share a tour ot check the ROLL CALL on CC

http://www.spb-tours.com/formular2/index.php?c=spb&lng=en

[bbwex]

If you want to wander on your own, then you need to get your own visa. It is not inexpensive, and it takes a lot of time.

 

What has been said above is correct. No matter what tour company you use, they will take care of the visa for you. They will email you a ticket for each day you are there. You will need that ticket to get through Russian immigration along with your passport.

 

We even used two tour companies. We used shoretrips.com for our daily tours in St. Petersburg (and they were great), and we used a ship's tour to go to the ballet one evening.

 

One small warning about going out on your own. I read a couple of years ago when we were going that someone came back very late at night (after 1 A.M. if I recall), and the Russian immigration office was closed and they could not get back aboard that night.

 

One thought about that cup of coffee at the cafe. We were generally pretty tired when we got back each day, and could not wait to go back aboard. On the third day, we even went back about an hour early -- everyone was tired. Using a private tour did allow us to go to a small pie shop for lunch one day (the guide ordered and paid in rubles and we reimbursed her), and another day, we ate at the restaurant at Catherine's Palace and again the guide ordered for us. If you use a private tour, you can ask to have an afternoon break and stop for coffee, which might give you a little rest so you can keep touring.

 

I would recommend that you have a group of six or eight to do private tours. That way the cost is much lower than a ship's tour. A private tour for just two is fairly pricey. Go on the roll call for your cruise, and ask for some people who are interested. We had no trouble finding other couples.

[ksps cruise fan]

If you want to wander on your own, then you need to get your own visa. It is not inexpensive, and it takes a lot of time.

 

From what the OP wrote, I don't think he/she is going to be able to get his/her own visa. My husband and I spent four days in Moscow on our own prior to boarding a river cruise to St. Petersburg. We had to get a letter from our hotel proving we had a place to stay for that portion of the trip. In addition, we had to get a letter from the river cruise line proving we had a place to stay for the days on the water. This requirement is still in effect. Here's the language from the Russian consulate web site: "A standard tourist confirmation from a hosting authorized Russian travel agency or a hotel, registered with the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and a voucher from your hotel or travel agency in Russia."

 

If I've understood the OP's post, Oceania is telling this Australian cruiser it will not provide a letter to apply for an independent visa. Oceania will only provide the documentation that will result in a group visa if the cruiser takes a ship's excursion.

 

Incidentally, applying for a Russian visa is a very intrusive experience. Two sample questions:

 

Question 29: List all professional, civil, and charity organizations which you are/were a member of or cooperate/cooperated with.

 

Question 32: Have you ever been a member of an armed conflict either as a member of the military or as a victim? If yes, please specify.

 

I notice that some questions have been eliminated over time. We had to identify all the magazines for which we were subscribers. That's now gone.

 

And before anyone goes totally ballistic over these questions, I can only share some language that appeared at the top of our application. The word "reciprocity" -- which we took to be diplomat-speak for retaliation -- obviously means that Russian visitors trying for a US tourist visa were being subjected to an equally long and intrusive application.

 

Fortunately, as I posted earlier, the OP has the option of touring with one of several tour companies who will be responsible for the visa legalities.

[Mura]

When we did St. Petersburg it was with Renaissance in May 2001. We did get our own visa because we were using a private guide who wasn't able to provide us with a letter of invitation. We used one of the visa services, Zierer, which at the time was actually less expensive than if we'd been able to go to the consulate ourselves. (Prior to that trip we'd always gone to the consulate to get our own visas, but back then Russia did not have a consulate in NYC where we live.)

 

Groups like Red October and Denrus handle all these details, and I don't think it matters whether you are a U.S. citizen or Australian. I don't speak from knowledge, just a guess. (These companies didn't come into existence until shortly after we were there.)

 

No, if you don't have your own visa you CANNOT wander off on your own. Period. If you are with a group that provides a group visa, you have to stick with them. If you really want to go off on your own, then you should spend the big bucks for your own visa.

 

In our case it was fortunate that we had our own visas because our ship had a last minute change in port in St. P. and she didn't get to us. Two crew members came off the ship while we were waiting and offered to take us to the Hermitage and so we did so. Naturally, Elena showed up 5 minutes later. But we spent the day at the museum and took a cab back to the ship. We couldn't have done that if we hadn't had our own visa.

 

I would suggest that you google "visas for Russia" and see what comes up. Rules and fees for Australians are clearly going to be different from the U.S. or Canada. It's no secret that the official Oceania agency in Australia really shafts you guys in terms of costs, cancellations, and just about anything you can think of. But there is no way (I don't know for sure but I believe so) that they can compel you to take an overpriced ship's tour if you don't want to!

 

You won't be governed by their rules if you have your own visa, and I don't think you will be governed by their rules if you talk to Red October or Denrus or any of the other Russian tour agencies that exist now but did NOT when we were there.

 

Email them with your inquiry and make sure they know you are Australians and not U.S. or Canadian citizens.

 

Good luck!

 

Mura

[joysav]

Australia

 

What is the longest Russian Visa that can be purchased and the cost.

 

Thanks in advance :o

[ksps cruise fan]

Australia

 

What is the longest Russian Visa that can be purchased and the cost.

 

Thanks in advance :o

 

 

Here's the link to the Russian consulate web site in Sydney:

http://www.sydneyrussianconsulate.com/visa.html#q1

 

The longest time period is 30 days.

 

Here is the cost information:

Tourist single entry visa:

 

$ 110.00 – seven business days processing

$ 220.00 – two business days processing

 

Tourist double entry visa:

 

$ 190.00 – seven business days processing

$ 330.00 – two business days processing

[Mura]

Googling for this information isn't easy from the U.S. because even when I asked for "Australian Visas to Russia" the results came up with visas for U.S. citizens to Australia.

 

But googling "Australian Citizen Visas to Russia" came up with this:

 

http://www.sydneyrussianconsulate.com/visa.html

 

It would appear to answer your basic questions.

 

Mura

[PaulMCO]

There are companies that specialize in providing the letter of invite and the required voucher. With this you can apply for a visa and do your own thing.

 

http://www.russianvisas.org

 

Cost for the invite is $65 USD.

[azam71209]

There are companies that specialize in providing the letter of invite and the required voucher. With this you can apply for a visa and do your own thing.

 

www.russianvisas.org

 

Cost for the invite is $65 USD.

 

I looked into this several years ago. For a US visa, I was told that the ship invoice is all that is needed to "prove" we had a place to stay while in Russia. That said, we decided that going with a private guide was a lot simpler and more cost effective. The guide arranged for the visas for each day in port and we were able to print them out on our computer. We were required to stay with the guide but one afternoon we just hired the driver because a friend joined us who lived in St. Petersburg and she was able to speak Russian to the driver.

[heliman]

Just a quick note of thanks for the kind feedback offered. This is very helpful and we will now probably just use a tour guide to see the place. It appears to be too hard to get our own visa.

 

Rossco

[roothy123]

I'll be on Baltic Treasures in August. I have just decided the same thing (go with a group rather than get a visa) and have made arrangements with Alla Tours. You simply sign up and they put the group together, and guarantee to go even if they don't get a whole "group." The max number of people they will take is 16 and the cost for a 2 day tour is $270 or $300 depending upon which tour you choose (one is shorter and easier). They tell you the itinerary and you can't change it (except, perhaps if the whole group works something out!) however, you can book your own tour and customize it to your wishes for more $. For the group tour, no deposit is needed. They may also have a one day tour; I forget. The company gets good reviews on tripadvisor, and I liked the idea of knowing that I have something lined up, regardless of how many people (up to 16) sign up. I think DenRus does the same thing, but Alla's "comfort" tour (less sights/walking/time) appealed a bit more to me than the one offered by DenRus. SPB, DenRus, Red October, and Alla all seem to be good companies, and the visa (a group one) is included. While not exactly cheap, the price for two days will definitely beat anything you can put together using the ship's excursions.

[DOJO466]

I'll be on Baltic Treasures in August. I have just decided the same thing (go with a group rather than get a visa) and have made arrangements with Alla Tours. You simply sign up and they put the group together, and guarantee to go even if they don't get a whole "group." The max number of people they will take is 16 and the cost for a 2 day tour is $270 or $300 depending upon which tour you choose (one is shorter and easier). They tell you the itinerary and you can't change it (except, perhaps if the whole group works something out!) however, you can book your own tour and customize it to your wishes for more $. For the group tour, no deposit is needed. They may also have a one day tour; I forget. The company gets good reviews on tripadvisor, and I liked the idea of knowing that I have something lined up, regardless of how many people (up to 16) sign up. I think DenRus does the same thing, but Alla's "comfort" tour (less sights/walking/time) appealed a bit more to me than the one offered by DenRus. SPB, DenRus, Red October, and Alla all seem to be good companies, and the visa (a group one) is included. While not exactly cheap, the price for two days will definitely beat anything you can put together using the ship's excursions.

You will not be disappointed with Alla and we felt the tour (three days) was well worth the price we paid. I wish we were going with you on this itinerary..to date my favorite!

[CintiPam]

We took this wonderful Marina Baltic Treasures cruise last June. There is no need to obtain a visa for a cruise ship visit to St. Petersburg if the stay is 72 hours or less (so up to three days OK) provided you book a ship's tour or private tour with a federally licensed company. If you do a private tour, that company will issue you a tour ticket (by email) which you present at the immigration booth at the dock, together with your passport, and then off you will go. However, this company remains responsible for you, and you are not to wander off by yourself. We had a wonderful two days of touring with only one other couple with SPB-Tours. Other currently-popular tour companies include TJ Travel and Alla Tours.

 

However, if you choose to do St. Petersburg DIY, you need to obtain a visa. I do not know that costs for an Australian to obtain one, but for an American, costs run about $200 per person. A private tour ($300 and up depending on the number of people, extent of itinerary, etc.) therefore is extremely cost efficient because it includes guide, driver, transportation, all tickets, etc. Also, if you are eight or less, you can cut right through any lines at places like Catherine's Palace.

 

We were lucky to be there on a weekend, so traffic was much less of a problem than for those visiting during the week.

 

Good luck with your planning!

[Senior Citizen]

You will not be disappointed with Alla and we felt the tour (three days) was well worth the price we paid. I wish we were going with you on this itinerary..to date my favorite!

 

We also did a private tour for 6 people with Alla. She was fabulous to work with and we saw so much and did so much during our 3 days of touring with her company. Our guide was brilliant and our driver was wonderful. Since we were on a private tour, we decided what we wanted to do, emailed our list and Alla developed an itinerary that had us avoiding long lines and crowds. Hers was the best tour we have taken anywhere in the world.

[LHT28]

All the private guides bypass the long lines as well as the ship's tours

 

The shorex we took even got us in Catherine's Palace when it was closed

[heliman]

We had a wonderful two days of touring with only one other couple with SPB-Tours. Other currently-popular tour companies include TJ Travel and Alla Tours.

 

Thanks very much for this useful advice - will follow up the tour companies you have listed and will select one to give us a tour..

[CintiPam]

All the private guides bypass the long lines as well as the ship's tours

 

The shorex we took even got us in Catherine's Palace when it was closed

 

Hi, LHT, the private guides cannot bypass all the lines if the group is larger, particularly noticeable at Catherine's Palace, where our group of four was ushered past several larger private tour groups last June on a Sunday. Others on our roll call on larger private tours with other companies confirmed to us during our cruise that they had to wait around 20 minutes there before being admitted; that place is so busy now that there are several "levels of lines" to endure.

 

Fellow participants on the tripadvisor St. Petersburg forum affirmed this difference applies to smaller groups; they mentioned under eight.

[LHT28]

Hi, LHT, the private guides cannot bypass all the lines if the group is larger, particularly noticeable at Catherine's Palace, where our group of four was ushered past several larger private tour groups last June on a Sunday. Others on our roll call on larger private tours with other companies confirmed to us during our cruise that they had to wait around 20 minutes there before being admitted; that place is so busy now that there are several "levels of lines" to endure.

 

Fellow participants on the tripadvisor St. Petersburg forum affirmed this difference applies to smaller groups; they mentioned under eight.

Thanks Pam

Good to know

We went with the ships tour (not Oceania) were the only people in Catherine's palace ..it was generally closed to the public that day

St Issac's we did go to the front of the line at that time but as you say the traffic to SPB now is much greater than in 2003 when we went

 

Lyn

[CintiPam]

Thanks Pam

Good to know

We went with the ships tour (not Oceania) were the only people in Catherine's palace ..it was generally closed to the public that day

St Issac's we did go to the front of the line at that time but as you say the traffic to SPB now is much greater than in 2003 when we went

 

Lyn

 

Hi, Lyn, I went to Catherine's Palace in June 2007 as part of a pre-trip land trip to Scandinavia with my sister, and I was amazed upon my return last June with my husband that there was a great deal more furniture and decorations, which made it even more interesting to visit.

[LHT28]

Hi, Lyn, I went to Catherine's Palace in June 2007 as part of a pre-trip land trip to Scandinavia with my sister, and I was amazed upon my return last June with my husband that there was a great deal more furniture and decorations, which made it even more interesting to visit.

Pam

I hope I get the chance to go again

There is so much to see in SPB even seeing some sites again would be OK with me :D

 

 

Lyn

[VinTek]

I will vouch for Red October. They provided an excellent tour for us. Do ask to have lunch hosted by a Russian family if you can. It was the highlight of our tour and we stay in touch with the daughter of the family that hosted us (this was in 2005) to this day.

[heliman]

Just - a quick update on this one.

 

We have booked with SPB Tours and selected a 6 person two day St Petersburg tour ($740 /per couple) on 14 & 15 July (Oceania Marina). This company is highly ranked, has good rates and looks professional so believe it will offer good value all round.

 

I have sent an enquiry to the company and am awaiting a response...

 

My question is: do we need to find another 4 people to make up the total of 6 people.... Or does the tour company collate similar enquiries into a group?

 

My wife and I are active, working professionals 49-53 years of age and would be keen to do the tour with others of a similar demographic who are prepared to do a fair amount of walking to fully experience the local environment.

 

Any suggestions, thoughts or advice welcomed...

 

Thanks

 

Rossco

[roothy123]

Just - a quick update on this one.

 

We have booked with SPB Tours and selected a 6 person two day St Petersburg tour ($740 /per couple) on 14 & 15 July (Oceania Marina). This company is highly ranked, has good rates and looks professional so believe it will offer good value all round.

 

I have sent an enquiry to the company and am awaiting a response...

 

My question is: do we need to find another 4 people to make up the total of 6 people.... Or does the tour company collate similar enquiries into a group?

 

My wife and I are active, working professionals 49-53 years of age and would be keen to do the tour with others of a similar demographic who are prepared to do a fair amount of walking to fully experience the local environment.

 

Any suggestions, thoughts or advice welcomed...

 

Thanks

 

Rossco

Hi Rossco. We're not going with SPB, so I can't answer, but we are doing a 2 day tour with Alla and she does collate, and charges $270 per person, which sounds similar to your situation, so perhaps it is the same for SPB. (Of course, there were only 2 of us, so it was a little different from your situation.)

 

In any case, we are also going on Marina's Baltic Treasures cruise in August and I've been looking for someone to answer a few questions once they return from (or during) their cruise. If it's possible for you to come back on here and give me a yell, I'd appreciate it!

 

And to anyone who is bravely planning to get his/her own visa for SPB, just be aware that the consulate recently switched to using a contractor, and the contractor (at least in their Washington, DC office) is very particular about forms, checks, hours, etc. (See another post I made on that if it applies to you.)