Russian VISA questions
 

Hi again fellow Fodorites. I've decided to visit Russia in mid May with a brief visit to Paris before flying back to the states. I've been doing a lot of research on Russia learning customs, travel tips, and have even gotten quite good at learning the Cyrillic alphabet with pronunciation. I do have a few questions regarding Americans applying for Russian tourist VISAs.
As a precursor I'll share my proposed itinerary:

May 14: RDU > LED
(3 nights in St. Petersburg)

May 18: bullet train (Red Arrow) to Moscow in the morning
(4 nights in Moscow)

May 22: SVO > CDG
(2 nights in Paris)

May 24: CDG> RDU flight back home

Initially I was going to pay a travel agency for the VISA until I saw how ungodly expensive it was. After reading the many horror stories of those who chose to visit DC in person that idea was out quickly. I contacted a few local travel agencies in the area and with only one bothering to reply at all with a link to the CBTI website (forget about it). After some looking around on the ILS website I saw that I can mail my documents and passport to them and pay a process by mail fee ($85) in addition to consular ($90) + processing fee ($33). While not the bargain I had hoped for this route seems to be the most acceptable with the least amount of headache. As advised I booked my 2 hotels in Russia already but not the airfare. My questions are as follows:

1.) I've already paid for VISA support through my 1st hotel in SPB. (around $13) I may have messed up though so need instruction here. The dates on my invitation letter cover my entire stay in Russia (May 15th - 22nd) and not the time that I'll be at the hotel in SPB which is May 15th - 18th. The 2nd hotel I'll be at in Moscow is listed on the invitation however. Will I have to redo (and repay) for this?

2.) Assuming the above is wrong I contacted my 2nd hotel in Moscow and they sent me a link to the website which does their VISA support. It is more than twice the price of the first place despite being a cheaper hotel ($27) I'm not into throwing money away unnecessarily so this seems a bit excessive. Is there a way around this or will I have to suck it up and pay the $27 to cover my accommodation for my VISA?

3.) This is something I wanted to accomplish well in advance but I read that this can only be done 60 days before the trip. Is this right?

4.) My family is taking a trip to Mexico (April 14-21st) which I'll be using my passport for. If #3 is correct how would you suggest applying for the VISA? before or after? If I applied before the trip how would it look if a passport control agent in Russia saw that there was a Mexican stamp that was nowhere in the VISA? Applying after the Mexico trip would be a tight and stressful window (less than a month.)

Please note that while I'm appreciative of the opinions expressed I'm not interested in itinerary revisions or sleeper train suggestions.

Thanks in advance!

I obtained my visa through ILS but they are located in my city so it took only a week or so.

Make sure your application is filled properly and completely.
They are picky!
I got my ' invitation' from a travel outfit in Russia not the hotel.
(Express to Russia ) cannot remember the amount.

It is all just proforma.

If this is the case will my initial "invitation" be sufficient as it completely covers the period I'll be there?

I cannot tell you for sure ...send ISL an email and ask...

(I remember a line on the application for the "invitation " number ..and issuer);
mine was for a period - not from a particular hotel.
Actually, I change hotel in Moscow before leaving..

I had a question about something and ISL replied to my email right away.

Also, I said on my application I was not working any more , but the officer told me it is better to list the two latest employers instead.
I could not remember some streets or telephone number or dates...I just made it up.
It is a PITA, but worth it. I loved both cities, Moscow so much I returned the following year ( 2016).
Important...when you enter Russia , you will get a paper( some kind of form)
You will have to show it when checking into hotels and when leaving Russia.
The passport control takes a loooong time...

I'm no expert, but it is considered desirable when the first hotel gives you a visa for the entire period, not just the time in their hotel. So I think it is okay.

ISL says you can apply 6 months in advance, but it varies by some cities, so you should try to ask that question directly to the one you intend to use.

6 months would be a blessing!

I don't understand your concern about the passport control agent in Russia. They will not care or have info about the trips you've taken. That info just goes on the visa application. In St. Petersburg, passport control was just a formality for us. They didn't check anything or ask anything. One concern I had was that our visa validity dates were only for the days we planned to be there. If our flight out had been cancelled and we had to leave one or more days later we would have had to jump through hoops.

"I don't understand your concern about the passport control agent in Russia. "

I thought the OP was concerned about getting the visa in the first place.
Once you have the visa, you are in.

I just wanted to make sure my I dotted my Ps and Qs. Not trying to get pulled into an interrogation room by doing the wrong thing :-)