Americans should request a visa (tourism, business, private, study or work) before arrival. For stay under 30 days, American will request a tourism visa for Russia. In order to apply for this visa, American citizen should receive a support invitation letter from an accredited travel agency.
Americans are now recommended to apply for a 3 years multiple entry visa for Russia. The price of this visa is 240 US and the process time is 4 to 20 working days according to the period of the year. In emergency, the processing time in less than 3 working days and the fees are the double (480 US).
Before ordering this invitation with us, American passport holders must know their exact dates (for single and double entry tourism visa only) of entrance in Russia as well as the name of their hotel for the whole stay in Russia. After, American citizens can order this invitation right now here: Invitation support letter for Russia Online
Once you know your exact dates and you have booked your hotels in Russia, every US citizen must get an invitation support letter from an accredited travel agency like ours. Our travel agency is based in Saint-Petersburg Russia and can provide invitation either for tourism visa or business visa.
Once you have your invitation (normally in the next 1-3 working days), American citizens should fill russian visa application
AMERICANS (AMERICAN passport holders) wishing to obtain a Russian visa (either tourist visa, business visa, transit or private visa – single entry, double entry, multiple entries) should fulfill some formalities and provide some important documents to the Russian Embassy in Washington DC, (or Russian consulates in Seattle, Houston, New York or San Francisco). A single entry visa (tourist) costs US$ 140 for AMERICAN passport holders and double entry also costs US$ 140 within the normal period (4-20 working days). The same visa in an emergency (admission within 3 days) is $259 USD (either single entry or double).
Since July 1st, 2011, all Tourist visa applications must be made through an ONLINE system available at: OFFICIAL WEBSITE. All applications using the old method (paper documents) will not be accepted.
When applying for a Russian visa, the first step the AMERICAN citizens have to do is to decide which type of visa they want / need to apply for. The type of Russian visa that AMERICANS will choose is not so much dependent on the real purpose of the trip (business or tourism) but rather the length of stay and the autonomy AMERICANS want to have when staying in Russia.
Whatever the final choice is for AMERICAN passport holders, an official invitation from an agency, a hotel, company or private person in Russia will be necessary to obtain a Russian visa. The vast majority of AMERICANS traveling in Russia for a period of less than a month will apply for one month tourist visa. In these circumstances, the application is simple and quite straight forward when receiving your russian voucher for tourism.
If you are an AMERICAN passport holder, you can request an official invitation for Russia right now with our Saint-Petersburg-based Travel agency. Once you receive the “voucher” from us, you may apply for your visa at the embassy or consulate of the Russian Embassy in Washington DC, (or the Russian consulates in Seattle, Houston, New York or San Francisco). Here are the documents you should include with your visa application if you are an AMERICAN passport holder.
+ Even if you are an AMERICAN citizen who was born in the territory of Russia or the USSR, it is imperative that you go directly to the Russian consulate to make your request in person.