Hi

Friend and i will be in Moscow from 9/2/06 to 9/6/06. We booked our hotel through Expedia. I am in the process of trying to figure out what document i need to submit in order to get a Visa. Will the hotel confirmation be email besufficient? or do i need other documents?

For a tourist visa, you'll need a "tourist voucher" on an official form, sometimes also called "visa support," that your hotel may complete and supply on request. Some people who have their travel agents handle the reservation and visa may say you don't need a voucher, but that's because they never actually see it themselves if somebody else does the paperwork.

Here are a couple of sites that explain things in detail:

First, the Russian consulate in San Francisco (other Russian consulates have the same requirements, though handing times will vary):

http://www.consulrussia.org/visa_fra...m#TOURIST_VISA

Second, one of the many commercial services that can get you a voucher if your hotel doesn't supply one. I didn't use them; I just found their site helpful:

www.waytorussia.net/RussianVisa/

The process seems worse than it is. I travelled independently to St. Petersburg, had my mini-hotel fax the voucher, I downloaded and filled out the application and prepared the package of stuff (photos, etc.), and then I paid a local visa agency to deal with the consulate. Dealing directly with the consulate isn't impossible--I was just too lazy to deal with it and figured a well-established agency would have a better chance of fixing things if anything went wrong, which it didn't.

I used a travel agency in NY for all my visa paperwork (my friends used them last year for their trip and had no issues). I am traveling in May and staying with a friend in Moscow. If you're interested, e-mail me ([email protected]) and I'll give you their number/e-mail. All you need to do is to fill up an application that they e-mail and they take care of the rest (such as dealing the Russian consulate)

I just purchased my "invitation" on line at this site for $30US.

http://tinyurl.com/p9dfu

It is highly recommended on Lonely Planet forums. I printed the invitation (which was sent to me via email) and will send it, along with my passport, cover letter, and $100US, to the Russian consulate. Application for visa must not be sooner than 90 days before arrival in Russia so I'll mail all this sometime in May for August trip. There are many, many posts on this subject on LP ThornTree. Jane

I used www.getrussian.com - the invitation is sent within a few seconds, so it doesn't get much easier that that.

They also gave quite clear advice about what to do next.