Planning a trip to Russia in 2024? I know navigating the visa application process might seem daunting, but with the right guidance, it’s entirely manageable.
In this post, I’ll share my personal journey of obtaining a 1 month Russian tourist visa, providing you with a step-by-step guide of how I got it, valuable tips, costs and insights from my experience.
Note : I’m a French national and have a European passport.
The Tourist Visa I Choose
I choose to get a 30 days single entry tourist visa for my 2024 trip to Russia. It starts from mid-September to mid-October and I’ve applied for it at the end of July, so basically a bit more a month and a half in advance.
Required Documents for a Russian Tourist Visa
Everything you need to a apply for a regular tourist visa (it differs a little bit from the Evisa) :
• A passport valid 6 months after your depart from Russia
• A completed visa application form
• A recent passport-size photo
• A tourist Voucher also named Letter of Invation (LOI)
• A travel Insurance valid in the Russian Federation for the duration of the visa
My Personal Experience
Application Process
For the past 4 Russian visas I obtained, I didn’t actually go to the embassy/consulat myself but got a french agency specialized in visas to do the work for me.
“Why”, you wonder ? Reason N°1 : the closest Russian embassy from my home is in Paris, which would take me half a day to get there (twice + costs of transport). Reason N°2 : the 2024 Paris Olympics turned the capital in a mess for locals.
Such agencies can be very expensive if you pay for the full service : they can fill up the visa application form for you, provide the travel insurance and the Voucher, re-size your photos etc.
What I did to limit the costs :
I filled up my visa application form, resized the ID photo myself, provided the travel insurance and the LOI which was cheaper than the ones they offered. I only paid to this agency : the consular fees, the agency fees and the post fees to get my passport sent back to my mailbox.
How long did it take me to get the visa ?
It took about 10 days for the embassy to deliver the visa and a total 15 days from the time I sent my passport to the agency and they sent it back to me. They said it would take 9 days total but I guess because it was the middle of summer holidays it went a bit slower
How much did my Russian tourist visa costs ?
I spent a total of 240€ to get my one month single entry Russian tourist visa. Yep …
The costs in details :
– Travel Insurance about 50€
– Voucher/LOI about 13€
– New ID pictures 8€
– Consular fees 80€ (which is technically the price of the visa itself)
– Agency fees 64€
– Postal stamps to send the documents to the agency : 2€58 (I know it’s very risky to send my passport through regular post. Don’t do that.)
– Secure postal sent back from the agency : 20€
My tips & Travel Insurance + LOI recommendations
– You can fill up the visa application form by yourself. In fact it’s MUCH simpler than the Evisa form for example. It will take you maximum 10 minutes.
Note : if you’ve been to Russia before, make sure you know how many times (I had to recount all my trips as usual) and the exact dates of your last visit.
– I recommend Attollo Assistance for a good & reliable travel insurance.
– Don’t spend lots of money on a Letter of Invitation (LOI), it’s all the same in the end. Some agencies online charge over 100€, it’s bullshit and unecessary. Save your money. I bought mine from GoinRus for 13ish euros, it has done the job perfectly.
– Getting a Russian visa isn’t complicated (trust me, my Turkmenistan visa was indeed an absolute nightmare to get), you only need to have all the right documents and you’re sure to obtain it.
