Getting into Russia only cost Wee-Cheng $380US – did he mention that was just for the visa?
#49: Russian Adventure Starts Today & The Russian Visa Blues
29 July 2002
Tonight I will be taking a three-night-two-day bus journey across northern Europe to Moscow. This is the beginning of the last phrase of my year of travelling, i.e., from London to Singapore overland, through Russia/Siberia, Mongolia, China, Laos, Thailand, and Malaysia.
The Russian Experience Starts From Getting The Visa
For most people who have been to Russia or are planning to go to Russia, the Russian experience wouldn’t be complete if they haven’t tried getting the visa themselves. It isn’t the most difficult one to obtain in the world (try a North Korean visa), but trying to get one is certainly a frustrating exercise for those trying to get it in summertime, the most popular period for travellers to visit Russia.
Let’s start with what sort of visa I wanted to get. Russia only issues visas to those who either have a tourist or business invitation, or join a package tour. So if you want to avoid a stuffy package tour, you need an invitation letter. I intend to do side trips to Azerbaijan and Turkmenistan while in Russia, and so I needed a double-entry visa. In addition, I might spend more than a month in the country as I wanted to do little trips in various parts of the world’s largest country, while travelling east along the Trans-Siberian railroads.
However, Russia doesn’t issue double-entry tourist visas, or tourist visas longer than a month. So I had to get a business visa, which means a more expensive invitation letter – I shopped around and found a provider who charges US$60, for an invitation which takes 2 weeks to arrange. If you want it sooner, you have to pay more.
So I got the invitation, which was certified by the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, by fax. Next, I need to present the invitation to the Russian Consulate to get the visa. Theoretically this should be the easiest part. However, it’s summertime, and everybody goes to Russia in summer. On the first week of June, after my return from Latin America, I popped by the Russian Consulate in London’s leafy Bayswater area, for a recce visit. Wow! A line of more than 100 people outside the Consulate at 11:45.
At 12pm, a flood of people came out of the Consulate building – it’s the end of the day for the Consulate, which opens from 9am to 12pm. Even people who managed to get into the Consulate building earlier are not guaranteed to be served. At noon, the Consular staff simply pulls down the shutters and calls it a day. OK, no panic, I still had time. I would come earlier, before 9am another day, and I would probably have a chance. Or that’s what I thought.
Gone on a 5-day trip to Faroes, a long weekend trip to Zurich, and then back to London. Got a handful of Balkans visas done and now ready at the Russian Embassy. I arrived at the Consulate at 8:10am and wow – I was number 50 in the line. At 9am, the Consulate gate was opened by a burly man with a permanent nasty stare in his eyes – the sort of people night clubs employed as bouncers in London. He let in 20 people and then stamped the gates shut. I waited for another hour in the line. No chance, reckoned a travel agent waiting to pass some documents to his colleagues already in the Consulate building.
He says I really need to be within the top 20 to be served. But no panic – there is a special on-the-spot service in the afternoon, possibly around 3pm – no one really knows what time they would open their gates for that. If you are willing to pay �120, they would do the visa for you on the spot and you get it the same day. Well, that’s a huge sum of money. Why not come and have a look? I thought.
So I went off for lunch and came back at 2:20pm. A line of about 30 people outside. Everybody’s speculating what time the Consulate would open its gates.
At 3:15pm, the “bouncer” appeared and open the gates. All rushed in. Into the Consulate’s lobby, where there were five counters, all with their shutters down. Nobody had any idea which would open for business, or if all would. So five lines were formed immediately anyway. It was like jackpot! OK, pull the handle, and, oh gosh, only 3 shutters were lifted. One was for travel agents, another for collection of passports already approved and payment of fees, and only one for the lodging of visa applications. Unfortunately, I was in the wrong line. The problem was, even at this point, you don’t really know whether they might serve the unopened lines later. So I was advised to stay within the line. You wouldn’t want to join another line only to find that your previous line actually works too. But after 20 min, we realised that it was going to be a futile wait, and everybody “abandoned boat” to join another line. A lot of frustrated faces – some have been here the 3rd time and haven’t yet gotten their visas.
I chatted to a travel agent and asked him to check my documents for completeness. The Russians are known to be very thorough and rigid about documentation, and many people are turned down simply because of slight discrepancies – that could be very frustrating if you have been queuing for 7 hours. Another guy in the queue told me that the last time he was turned down because the embassy said his photo was too glossy. Another said they didn’t like his company letterhead.
Hmm… I was supposedly a self employed banking consultant, according to my letter of invitation, the justification for my business visa. I looked at my self-employment letter – it wasn’t very professional looking – it surely needed a corporate logo. Maybe I would re-do it, but let’s see if I managed to get to speak to the Consulate staff, who at the moment was questioning a guy to verify if he’s indeed a CEO as he had specified in his application.
An agent also pointed to the piles of passports beyond the counters – the pile that gets processed first are those who have paid for same-day service, and the Russians would only process those first. In the peak summertime, the consular staff wouldn’t even work overtime for you. If you pay for the standard 2 weeks service, you might not have a chance to be served, because the staff would never reach your pile during the day, and would start from a new “express” or “same day” pile again the next day. You might get your passport back maybe 3 or 4 weeks later, even if you have paid for 2 week service.
But there was no chance at all for me, even though by that point the idea of paying �120 for immediate service was becoming acceptable, just to avoid hassle and wasting more time. Suddenly at 3:45pm, all the Consulate counters shut their shutters as sudden as they lifted them. End of day for them – they had only served 4 visitors! So, even if you are willing to pay �120, you might not have a chance to be served!
Lots of angry complaints from the crowd, some of whom were supposed to be travelling the next day. The bouncer refused to answer any questions or make any exceptions.
OK, I will come back again the next day. Let me come earlier. I also noticed that the travel agents get served continuously, with their staff coming in with more passports. The Consulate clearly know them very well; OK, that will be my last resort. You have to pay them �65 on top of the visa fees to get their services.
The next day I came at 6:30 am. Guess what? I was number 25. At 9am, the bouncer allowed only 20 in. No chance, no chance no chance! The first in the line was here at 10pm the night before, and the 21st guy at 5:45am. This was getting ridiculous! I had since re-done my self-employment/introduction letter but even then, I figured the consular guys might reject me on flimpsy reasons even if I queued up at 3am and managed to be allowed in as among the first 20 people.
The crowd was getting rowdy – a lady was supposed to fly to Moscow in the afternoon and another guy thought he could just walk into the Consulate and get the visa right away – he’s flying the next day. He’s desperate too, and the bouncer stuck his index finger at the guy when he emphasised on his “special circumstances”.
“Why are the travel or visa agents given privileges?” some shouted. The agents were continuously bringing more passports, even though no individual applicants were allowed to get in now. I realised that what others had warned me might well be true – that the Consulate was probably having some kind of understanding with the visa agencies: we would make it tough for people and you guys get the business. Well, for what rationale, use your imagination.
I had spent enough time trying to get this visa, and was unsuccessful even on my fourth visit. I might get rejected even if I get in, because they usually scrutinise business visa applicants strictly, and they are well-known to make life difficult for people. I rang up a visa agent, and passed my passport to them. The next day at 1pm, I got my visa! Amazing efficiency! This confirms my suspicions. How much have I spent on this visa? US$60 or �40 for the invitation, �120 basic on-the-spot-visa fee, �20 premium for a double entry visa, �18 premium for non-UK citizens and �65 to the visa agent. Wow, a whopping �265 or US$380 for the double-entry business visa!
That’s why many people have given up going to Russia. It’s simply too expensive and troublesome. A Russian once pointed out that this was how they were treated by Western consular officials when they were applying for visas to visit Western embassies. That’s unfortunate, but why can’t governments look beyond that?
More pragmatic governments either dispense with visa formalities because they think tourism revenues are more important than rules of reciprocities, or if equal reciprocal treatment is important with regards to granting of visa-free privileges, make visas a mere formality which could be obtained with minimal hassle, e.g., Turkey and China. That’s why Russia gets so few tourists, certainly less than what this beautiful country deserves.
With that however, I am finally ready. You will hear from me again, next from Mother Russia!