Tourist Visas

[m 'n c]

Anyone have experience obtaining visas for foreign travel? We are going to need a single entry visa for Russia next year. Quite frankly, I don't want to send my passport through the mail in order to get my visa and risk it being lost. So luckily we have a Russian Consulate here in Houston and it appears that I can just go there to get it. I'm wondering if I will still have to leave my passport and pick it up on another day. It just seems like it would be the easiest option.

[chipndale]

Originally Posted by m 'n c

Anyone have experience obtaining visas for foreign travel? We are going to need a single entry visa for Russia next year. Quite frankly, I don't want to send my passport through the mail in order to get my visa and risk it being lost. So luckily we have a Russian Consulate here in Houston and it appears that I can just go there to get it. I'm wondering if I will still have to leave my passport and pick it up on another day. It just seems like it would be the easiest option.

Yes! It was a major PIA! We had to get a one visa when we adopted our daughter - the visa was a double entry and was good for both trips. When we adopted our son (2 years later) we had to get 2 visas - one for each trip. I suggest finding a service to handle the visa. We used a service in NYC and one in DC. I liked the one in DC much better. My guess is yes you will have to leave your passport and pick it up - when we applied for our visas - we did the rush - it still took 3 days to get it! Good Luck and let me know what you decide. Where in Russia are you going?

[m 'n c]

Oh lordy. I researched more about it the other night and found out that a 1 day single entry/exit visa will cost us over $500. So we will be touring our entire day there because I can't afford $500 for 16 hours. Talk about sticker shock. Maybe when we go visit Moscow I'll do it.