Russian Visa for UK Citizens Mini Datasheet
Rather than spending a lot of time figuring out all the formalities and channels of getting a visa I found this company (
Russian Visa) that does most of the work for you. If you are busy I would recommend using it for a first visa. Then for further entries you can use the same form. She has a lot of good feedback online and she answered my business hours emails within about 30 minutes.
I got a business visa, which it appears is the only one you can get for more than 30 days without a job, girl (private) or university course. It's fairly obvious that the business visa is open to anyone. I provided them with my legitimate business details, address and phone. Though there is no way for them to know anything about the business or if it exists from the details I gave them. So if you want to go to Russia for 90 days, the best method is to get a business visa. If you don't have a business it seems apparent they don't care anything about the details. If you have a friend with a business, you can just use that.
To get a business visa you need a business invite, which you can buy from the above company for £75-120, depending on how fast you want it. Once you have that you need to file a
visa application online. You can do that via the above company (£35-50) or on your own (£0). Once you have both these, you need a recent passport photo (not the same one in your passport). Next you need to go to a Russian Visa Center. There are three: London, Manchester, Edinburgh. At current only the London center does express service (3 days) due to the Skripal diplomatic expulsions. Once you've lodged your documents with the visa center, you can pick your visa up in 3 days (express - £186); I don't know what the normal period is, which costs £108. Alternatively you can have it mailed to you for £10. You don't need an appointment to go to the center, just turn up. Check it's open and there are
no holidays.
So the cheapest you can get a 90 day business visa is: £75 + £108 = £183 (£200 with passport postage and photos). You should be able to get all that done within a month, but I would give 60 days to get all your flights and accommodation booked in good time. The express service can be done in about 10 days, but again it's best to give it some good time. Mine was delayed by about 5 days due the the Skripal poisoning and by the time I got the visa there were slim pickings on AirBnB.
Other notes:
- There is a photo booth in the London center (£8) and a
shop (£10) you can get passport photos within about 400m in the case there is an issue with your photos
- If you have an issue with your application they have computers in the center which you can edit the form for £5, payable by card
- As of writing you can only get express visas from the London center
- Make sure you fill in a permanent address, phone and email on the visa application (even if you don't have them)
- If you are a company director you are required to bring bank statements showing you have £100 per day for the duration of the visa; if you are a company director you can just say you aren't to ignore that
- The visa application requests you fill in where you are staying in Russia; apparently this is not important as the woman from Russian Visa filled it in with something from her system
- You can enter Russia on any day of the duration of your visa; it doesn't have to be the date of entry listed on the visa.
С Богом.