Korean Job Discussion Forums

[jillbean1217]

Okay, so, here's the deal.

From the US Embassy site, I gather that US citizens must apply for Russian travel visas in the country of their citizenship. I think that I found an agency back home whom I can mail my passport to, who does the legwork, and then mails it back to me...for an additional buttload of money.

My question is this: Does anyone know if it is possible to get a Russian visa from the Russian embassy here, even though it is not my country of citizenship? Do you know of any Korean travel agencies who will do the documentation and legwork for you? I'm not opposed to that, seems easier then doing the whole mess myself, but would prefer not to have the huge delay that mailing my passport to the agency in America would entail.

Anybody have any advice on this? Or even used an American travel agent who was quick with the visa process?

Also, as a sidenote, for those of you who have had passport pages added by the embassy here in Korea, how long did that take with the courier service?

Thanks for your help!

[chris_J2]

This might help. Pm Everbrite on Lonely Planet if possible. She's an expert!

http://www.lonelyplanet.com/russia/practical-information/visas

I got my visa in Mongolia, but that was in 2007, & the rules have changed. If you need any info on Irkutsk, Lake Baikal, Bratsk, Tynda, Komsomolsk Na Amur, Kaborovsk or Vladivostok, I can help.

[Ruthdes]

Ok, this info is from 2008, so it may have changed since then, but this was the deal then. (FYI, I'm Australian, but I did the trans-Mongolian railway with my American friend in August 2008). We both applied in Seoul.

I got my Russian visa done through a travel agent, but in 2008, Americans had to apply in person at the Russian embassy. My friend had to go stand in line at the embassy, and try to elbow out the pushy visa agents with dozens of passports (one of whom probably had mine!) to keep his place in the line. Once he got to the bureaucrat, they gave him the 3rd degree, took his money, and told him to come back in a week. When he came back, they denied him for no reason that my friend could fathom. Then he had to pay for a expedited visa (reason for denial became obvious), and go through the stress of hoping that it would be ok-ed before we had to leave for Beijing, and that he hadn't just wasted 2.5 million-ish won on a train ticket from Beijing to St Petersberg and and extortionately-priced one-way airfare from St Petersburg to Seoul. Luckily he got it approved with a couple of days to spare.

So moral of the story (if the regulations are still current). Apply early, leave lots of time to spend waiting at the Russian embassy, and be prepared for a grilling.

[jillbean1217]

Thanks for the tips from both of you. I'm not sure if Americans have to apply in person, but from the the reports I'm reading, you either have to mail in your forms and your passport to the Russian consulate in America, or, to apply in Korea, you have to have at least three months left on your ARC card (which I don't, as I'm going to finish my contract at the end of February). I'll call the consulate tomorrow and sort it all out then I suppose, but just curious if anyone had been in a similar situation. Thanks for all your help!

[jillbean1217]

Actually, it seems like the embassies in Korea do whatever they can to AVOID doing work. Struck out with contacting the US and the Russian embassy today. Emailed them both, but it says to expect 3-5 business days...to get back to an email. ughh. Anyway, any further experiences with the Russian visa is appreciated.

[samd]

When you first posted this my visa application was still under way so I wanted to wait until I actually got mine before throwing in my 2 cents.

I (using a non-American passport) just got a Russian tourist visa and my friend (US passport) got one too, by going through a Korean travel agent.

I paid 115,000 won and all I had to give them was one passport photo, my passport and ARC. Didn't even have to fill out a form.

My friend paid 215,000, had to fill out a visa application form, and also needed one passport photo, passport and ARC.

We also had to give them a list of places we are going to be staying.

The travel agent did it all for us, and it took about a week and a half. She also said that any Korean travel agent should be able to take care of it, 하나투어, 모두투어 etc.

If you haven't got one already, skip the embassy or the online visa industry and visit a travel agent with a Korean or Korean speaker.

EDIT - I only have 2 months left on my ARC but my friend has 8 left. Don't know if this mattered. My travel agent didn't seem to think ti was important, only that we could prove residency in Korea.

[naturegirl321]