Hi all
I must admit before I started I thought in this day and age obtaining a Russian visa as a UK passport holder would be nye on impossible but it’s now proudly sitting in my passport, so I thought I’d put down my experience of gaining it.
After following Irena’s excellent article on filling in the application online I booked my appointment to go to the visa office in London. That was simple enough, I picked a time (1000) and the website came back with the closest available which was 0940. The office is in Davina house, 137-149 Goswell road and the nearest train station is Farringdon, which is a 10 minute walk away.
The first thing I hadn’t expected was there was no sign advertising the visa section, but I guess that’s due to the current political situation. However Davina house has 137-149 etched on the glass above the doors and if you look through them inside you will see a sign with an arrow saying Russian visa section this way. The doors are locked but there is iPad looking device fixed to the wall to the left of the doors. Touch the screen to activate it and then scroll down to 203 and ring that number so they can unlock the door. Once inside follow the arrows taking you to the lift on the right and take the lift to the second floor where you repeat the process to open a second door. Once through that door turn right and the office is on the left.
I arrived 10 minutes early as requested on the appointment booking and as there was no-one ahead of me the gentleman took me straight away. I had expected a series of questions such as why do you want to visit Russia etc but actually the only question I got was did I want to pay for regular or express service. I would recommend express unless you’ve plenty of time because although the website says 2-4 days for express and 4-20 for regular he told me the passport would be posted after 4 days (express) or 20 days (regular) So the reality is it’ll take 5-6 working days (express) before you get your passport back through your front door or 22-23 days if you go for regular.
After that he took the payment and that was it! By 0940 I was back outside walking towards Farringdon.
So if you’re a Western European or USA/Canada passport holder don’t be put off applying. There’s a fair few steps to take, and a fair bit of financial outlay but it’s all quite straightforward and simple.