Russian Visa Scam

I don’t know if this is truly a scam, but I’ve been burned by it three times so that’s enough for me.

I was traveling to Moscow and needed a single entry visa. My wife works for the UN, so the invitation was from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA) and is sent directly to the Consulate in Ukraine where I would get the visa. As soon as she got word that the invitation had been sent by telex, she told me and gave me the reference numbers. I immediately went to the Consulate to get my visa, several weeks before my trip.

The Consulate personnel looked at me blankly saying they didn’t have the telex and by the way, the visa would not be free, unlike what my wife had been told in Moscow. So, I asked my wife to check re: the telexes, the numbers, the names on the invitation, info on what day it had been sent, etc. to help the Consulate locate these documents. They still couldn’t find them.

Days and weeks passed, and of course, my departure date inched ever closer.

Imagine my relief when I called on Thursday afternoon before my Friday flight and learned that the telex had magically been found. But, of course, since I needed the visa immediately, I would have to pay the exorbitant next-day or same-day fee of $300 or $400. “Fine, of course, whatever.” I just didn’t want to miss my plane to see my wife.

Then it happened again. In a vain attempt to avoid the earlier problems, everything was done earlier – the request to the MFA, notification that the telex had been sent, etc. But, it still came down to the last two days. Again, an exorbitant fee, this time for both me and my son.

Several months later, at Consulate in Washington, the same thing happened with my older son. Everything done early, lots of buffer time, and still we only got the visa at the last minute.

So, now when I hear about people traveling to Russia in the near future, I suggest the following with regards to getting your Russian Visa. Give yourself a 2-3 week buffer zone on both sides. If you are travelling on 1 Aug through 31 Aug, put down 15 Jul – 15 Sep on your visa application form. Or even 1 July – 30 Sept. If the consulate thinks you’re leaving on 15 Jul and they ‘find’ your invitation info only on 13 July, you won’t be forced into the same-day fee.

It is also wise to build in a buffer for your return date, because you could have serious problems if you try to leave Russia with an expired visa. If your visa is valid only to the day of your planned departure and then something happens (flight delay, etc.), you could be in a Catch-22. You’d think that with an expired visa, you’d have to leave the country and they’d be happy to get rid of you, but this is Russia. Yes, they want you to leave, but first you have to get a visa to leave. You can’t leave on an unexpired visa. So the buffer at the end is also important.

Do you have any visa stories, good or awful? Let me know here.

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