I am considering traveling to Russia and making my own arrangements. <BR>In order to obtain a Russian Visa, is it true that the applicant needs to mail their actual passport to a Russian Embassy (in the USA) for processing? <BR>Have the Russian Embassies "lost" anyone's passport? <BR>Is this a risk that I should be concerned about? <BR>Are the Visas and Passports returned in a timely manner?

My only trip to Russia was in 1991 on business and I recall sending ONLY a copy of my passport along with offical invite from the companies we were seeing. Check directly with both the Russian Embasy and US State Department. <BR>HTH, <BR>Mike Murphy <BR>

Yes, you must send your passport, the visa request form, itinerary, and proper visa quality photos to one of the Russian consulates in the U.S. You will get it back, one way or another. You must also include either a letter of invite, or confirmed hotel reservations: most of the better hotels have english speaking personnel that will help you with visa arrangements -- BEFORE YOU LEAVE THE U.S. <BR>

The San Francisco office of the Russian Consulate General will accept a copy of the information page of your passport when applying for a visa. You do not have to submit the actual passport. I went through the process during the past two weeks.

Russian Consulate in Washington DC excepts xerox copy of your passport for visa processing. they also have a site: <BR>http://www.russianembassy.org