2006-05-18
if you want to support the protests in st.petersburg by going there, you'll have to take the following steps to be allowed to travel to russia. they involve the factors time and money.
VISA
0) first of all, it's not sure that the russian state will allow activists to come to st.petersburg at all. they always can reject your application for a visa. (and have done that before). In this case, it may be a good idea to travel to moscow officially and then proceed to st.petersburg.
1) decide wether you want to get the visa through a travel agency or on your own. the travel agency will provide everything for you - and they will want to have a lot of money.
2) if you decided to do it youself, we think you did the right thing. so there's three things you have to care about: voucher, visa, registration.
VOUCHER
3) get a voucher, a so-called invitation. you'll have to present it when applying for your visa at the embassy. use an internet company, for germany for example: www.russland-visum.de. they sell vouchers and send them to you via email, so you can print it and take it to the embassy. russland-visum charges you 29 ? for a stay of two weeks.
VISA
4) take the voucher, your valid passport, a foto, the filled visa application form (downloadable from www.russland-visa.de) and a health insurance valid in russia (most of private german insurances are not, so check it) to the russian embassy.
5) be sure to be there early. the price refers to the time. the earlier you apply for your visa, the cheaper it gets. depending on the embassy and the town you're applying in, in berlin this would be around 30 ?.
6) be sure to make your visa be valid at least two days before you want to enter russia. otherwise you won't get in.
7) there's special hours at the embassy for applying for visa, so make sure to get there at the right time. in berlin, this is within the week from 12 am to 1 pm. 8 am to 12 am is the time for applying for visa.
8) take the visa to your trip. if you take the train from germany, be sure to get a belorussian transit-visa. you can apply for it with your russian visa, but it will cost extra. if you fly, you'll be given a two-sheet immigration paper in the plane. Keep it, you'll need it for the registration.
REGISTRATION
9) when you arrive in russia, be sure to get registered during the first days of your stay. otherwise you will have to pay a fine when you leave the country. during the g8 you should do it for security reasons, too.
10) the address of the company you have to register with will be sent to you in the email from the voucher-company. go there and get registered. if you do it at the russian national group, they'll charge you around 40 ? if you want to have it within two working days, 25 ? if you want to have it within three.
11) keep your passport and your registration always with you. you'll also need it when leaving the country, otherwise you'll have to pay a fee from 50 Euro upwards.
12) do it!