Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
stay at the hostel this exercise should only cost a few dollars. Payment for the visa
is made at the Golomt Bank across the street from the embassy front gate.
In August and early September, lines are long due to students lining up for visas.
At this time the line starts to form at 6am (or earlier). Before the embassy opens,
the guard will give out a limited number of tickets. If you don't get a ticket, it's
highly unlikely you'll get inside that day. For updated information, see
Kazakhstan
The consular section at the Kazakhstan embassy (
Click here
)
is open from 10am to
noon Monday, Tuesday, Thursday and Friday. Single-entry, one-month visas cost
US$160 for Americans and $30 for most other nationalities and take four to five
days to process. Double-entry and multiple-entry visas are not usually available.
Before trekking down here, call the embassy to make sure the consul is in town and
the hours are still the same (and to check that they are even issuing visas as this
service periodically stops).
Russia
Getting a visa is by no means a straightforward process, but it's getting easier. The
consular section of the Russian embassy (
Click here
)
is open for visas from 2pm to
3pm daily. Almost everyone ends up paying a different price for their visa; costs
vary between US$25 and US$200, depending on your itinerary and nationality. You
will need one photo. Some (not all) nationalities can get a visa for one month. On
our last visit to the Russian embassy we were told that the old requirement of hav-
ing a sponsor and hotel vouchers has ended. However, tour agents that specialise
in tours to Russia told us the requirement still exists, so beware of tour companies
trying to sell you something you may not need.
Americans, Australians, French, Dutch and Italians are a few of the nationalities
that can get a tourist visa here. Processing time is 14 business days (so about three
weeks total). Prices change all the time: Americans pay US$131, while Australians
pay US$55.
Citizens of Germany, UK and New Zealand are a few of the nationalities that can-
not get a tourist visa here (unless the applicant has been living in Mongolia more
than 90 days). However, you can get a transit visa. You must bring all your tickets
into and out of Russia to get the visa. The length of the transit visa depends on
your travel route but you are usually given a maximum of seven days (enough to
take the Trans-Siberian to Europe). Regular processing time for a transit visa is
four days, although rush visas can be done the following day. Prices are different
for each nationality. UK citizens pay US$59 while a rush visa is US$116.
The consul will hand you business cards for local tour operators that can organ-
ise your trip. For additional information, contact
http://waytorussia.net
.
