Russian Visa’s

I travelled to Russia a few months back as a German citizen. I can assure you that it is no walk in the park. In order to get a Russian visa, the first thing you need is an invitation (also known as visa support letter). After that, you can apply for the visa at a Russian consulate either by yourself or through a local travel agent (usually for an extra fee). You can see more details here Be careful, however, because many agents and hotels "lock" people into a fixed itinerary or limit their visa validity to the period they are staying at a particular hotel.

Yes that’s correct. It is depending on which agency you go with, $149 is the fee the consulate charges. Then what the agency fee is depending on how fast you want the visa. Then of course there is the invitation document which you must pay for.

I'm assuming the 450-600 is for the both of you, not p.p. correct?

After during a great deal of research I found that the visa would run between $450 & $600. After filing out a 21 page visa application form. So we decided to extend the cruise by 6days and take an escorted tour.

Hi Bubba,

I am not sure if you are enroute but maybe helpful anyway. I dealt with the folks who I bought the city 2-day tour and they arranged the visa for me...they needed the passport details and emailed me back the paper I had to show at the gate. pretty happy with the wonders of that city by the way. must see.needless to say if anyone let's me be a passenger in any size mercedez, i'll say yes, thank you! felt like a queen really and it didn't even hurt my pocket.

That's a good question Bubba 54. Interesting to learn what you find. Been to St. Petersburg twice in recent years and enjoyed the visits very much. VISA no problem, if you take an escorted excursion that is , either the ship's or one of these more reputable excursion outfits, they take care of the Visa's for you under a group deal, there are three good ones based upon comments on another forum. But you probably know all that, since you are entering by ship and leaving by air, a Visa for Russia is a different story. I like Rick Steves' travel programs, I figure he gives good advice:

https://www.ricksteves.com/europe/russia/how-to-get-a-russian-visa

Once upon I time I worked for Alaska Airlines. We flew into Khabarovsk (Same latitude as Seattle) in the Far East Federation, once a week from Anchorage. We then took tour groups all the way to Moscow and back to Khabarovsk. In those days there were no difficulties, needed passports and we probably got them group Visas (if they were even required). I don't recall any problem with Soviet authorities ever. The years we ran that tour there wasn't ever a security or safety issue for our passengers. One time one of our group lost his "Playboy" magazine to Customs though. But then, those were the days when it was safe in Russia, 49 years ago, Haw. Good luck.