The Most Common Mistakes In Russian Visa Applications

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Quite often Russian visa applicants are not sure how to go about their visa and they naturally rely on their inviting companies – if it is a business visa, – or some information they got from the internet. But it is not rare when those instructions are misunderstood, the information is not up to date or not complete.

To avoid any delays in your visa application process it is wise to check the Russian Embassy or Consulate website (in the country and area you live in) or get in touch with a visa agency which will always be able to provide you with necessary information regarding the visa, supporting documents, pricing and processing times. Very often people overlook some required documents in the hope that just one missing piece of paper will not do any harm. But it is a bad mistake – each document required for your visa is needed for a reason and it is not a good idea to omit it.

Here are the most common mistakes applicants make when applying for a Russian visa:

– A visa application form is required from each applicant. It must be filled out on line on the web site of the Russian Visa Application Centre, printed out, signed and a photo should be attached to it. Application forms completed by hand are not accepted.

– Before you start filling out the application form, if you are going to do it for the first time, have a look at the instructions how to do it. From our experience we know that many applicants struggle with on line forms and find some questions confusing.

– Be specific when answering the questions. E.g. when you come to the question about all countries you have visited in the last 10 years, you cannot just put “many” or “I don’t remember”. Check the stamps in your passport, there are dates when you travelled abroad. The Embassy will see them too, by the way, so it is best if you write them down straight away and not waste your time when your form will be returned to you for amendments.

– It is fine though if you leave out exact addresses and phone numbers of your educational details and former employments. For the addresses you can just put a city or town and for phone numbers just enter 00000000000. It is necessary to type the combination of numbers, otherwise computer system will not allow you to finish the form.

– If you are applying for your Russian visa in the UK but hold a non-British or Australian, Italian, French, Dutch, American or Turkmenistan passport, you should have a UK residence permit in your passport, otherwise the processing time can take up to 14 days.