My visa invitation arrived today. Now time to get other paperwork together and submit the visa application.

One area of potential confusion is that Russia adopted a new set of new Visa Registration Rules that took effect on January 15th. In principle, some parts become easier because registration itself is paperwork that is submitted by the organization you are visiting, rather than a stamp in your passport/migration card. Where the confusion seems to come in, is exactly which company does what and what are their new obligations. For example:

• In St. Petersburg, I am signed up for three weeks of language classes. Do I get my visa registered with the language school or at the company that issued the visa?
• While bicycling across Russia, when and where should I register the visa? I will not likely have a continuous registration because I’ll be traveling by bicycle.

Something tells me this paperwork is going to get fun to make sure I stay legal through my trip.

Posted by mev in preparations