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application process takes 10-14 days. During the last year more than 500 riders from all over the world travelled with us through Russia and we never had any case where a rider couldn't obtain a visa. It is bureaucratic paper work and it does take time, but in general there is nothing special. Here is a list of the required documents: - Letter of Invitation - Passport - Visa application form - Colour photo measuring 35mm x 45mm - Medical Insurance policy The most common question is how to get an invitation letter. If you travel with Rusmoto Travel they will prepare it however, if you want to travel on your own and don't have any contacts within Russia also get in contact with Rusmoto and they will help find a solution, they might even be able to do it for you. Russian visa application forms can be downloaded or filled online at the Russian Embassy website or at the Russian Visa Center site. You will also need the usual medical insurance for trav- elling abroad. Most countries local insurance companies will provide this. We strongly suggest taking extra cover for active sport / motorcycle riding. the visa centres all around the world, are VHS and VFS. Visiting either vhs-italy.com or vfsglobal.com will give you an idea of what countries are serviced. A number of Russian Embassies or Visa Centres can also be found here: - USA ils-usa.com/ - UK ru.vfsglobal.co.uk/ - Canada vfsglobal.com/Russia/canada/ - Australia australia.mid.ru/web/en/tourist-visa - Italy vhs-italy.com/ - Germany vhs-germany.com/ - Austria vhs-austria.com/ - Belgium vhs-belgium.com/ - France france-vhs.com/ - Netherlands vhs-nederland.com/ - Sweden ifs-sweden.com/ - India india-ifs.com/ We've compiled a few question and answers regarding the Visa process: 1. Is it necessary to visit a visa center or Embassy personally? For most countries no 2. What is the cost of obtaining a visa? Depends from country to country, but on average 100-200 Euro 3. Who can help me with all this paper work? There are visa agencies in all countries that help people handle all this paper work however, they usually charge around 100 Euro/USD. The upside is, they will do everything for Where to apply for a visa? you. There's two options. You can apply directly to the Em- 4. Why does the application form ask me to list bassy or use a Visa centre within your country if availa- all countries where I have been during last 5-10 years? ble. There is no difference where to apply, just choose Infortunately we can't really answer with a 100% accurate what suits you best. In some countries Russia has no visa answer however, we believe this is the case in many coun- centres, for example in Australia, there's just the Embassy tries, some even require much greater information. and you must apply there. 5. Do I have to pass an interview? In 95% of cases Regarding visa centres Rusmoto wants to give you you can just send your passport with the application doc- more information so that you understand how it works. uments, by post, to the Embassy and get it back with the Visa Centres were created approximately 7-10 years ago visa within 2 weeks. In some countries you must apply in all around the world as the number of people travelling person and you can be asked at the Embassy what is the was constantly growing and Embassies were not ready to purpose of your visit, what are your plans while in Russia. handle such huge numbers of applications. So, govern- ments of all countries were happy to delegate application Rusmoto Travel are very happy to help with any other processing to a few commercial companies to speed up requirements or questions you might have, contact them the process. The two companies that maintain / manage for everything you need - rusmototravel.com TRAVERSE 54