Viva La Visa

If anyone tells you that going to Russia is easy, then they evidently haven't been to Russia. The process for getting a visa is long and tedious. First you have to get a letter of invitation from the tour operator. This is followed by having to write a letter of introduction and then completing a very long application form. Included in the application form, you have to list all of the countries one has visited in the past 10 years. In our case, not a simple matter. I had to attach a separate sheet as the application only allowed up to 16 entries and with the help of an expired passport and an additional sheet of paper, our list came up to 32 country entry stamps. And don't make any mistakes for the application will be returned and you will have to start over. Once all the paper work is completed, a trip to a visa processing office is in order, paying the customary fee for which Mr Putin insists on. You have to leave your current passport for processing which will take up to a month. While being border bound, you cross your fingers that all is in order. When you are notified by email that you can return to pickup your passport, all along praying that the visa has been issued, you only breath a sigh of relief when you see for yourself that the visa is indeed pasted into your passport. There is no grace period and it is firmly stipulated that your entry date into the country and exit date are expressly listed. No wonder I registered with the Government of Canada where and when we will be entering and exiting for fear that some over zealous government official might be a little over ambitious. Talk to you next time from Red Square if all goes according to plan and the visa does what it is supposed to do. Спасибо за прочтение