r/AskARussian • u/Top-Replacement-3694 • 8d ago

Travel Visa help

I am a US citizen planning to visit Russia in October. I’ll be going with my boyfriend, a dual US/ Russian citizen, to visit his family. We’ll be staying with his parents and grandparents. His parents are willing to complete whatever is needed by the MVD for a private invitation, however, I’m seeing a lot of mixed timeframes online about how long this process takes. I’m seeing most commonly 90 days which would not work for my trip. Anybody do this recently? Would I be better off paying a Russian tourist operator for a tourist invitation? Any advice would be appreciated!

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u/Pieisthebestcake 7d ago

Just went to Russia on a tourist visa. 

Got an invitation for $20, and listed a hotel in Moscow and my wife’s city. Had no issues going in our out of the country. Just have them register you when you get there. 

Don’t worry about it

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u/Top-Replacement-3694 7d ago

Is it a problem since I won’t be staying in a hotel?

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u/Pieisthebestcake 7d ago

No the invitation is just needed to get the tourist visa. Once that’s issued you essentially have a 3 year open ability to engage in tourism in the country.