Give yourself plenty of time to get a visa

I am meeting my lady in the Ukraine next month and then I will meet her family in Russia. I have been trying to get a visa for the last two weeks and still haven't been able to turn in the paperwork. So I have a few suggestions.

1. Don't do this yourself. Hire a service. It is complicated. After I got into it I saw services recommended by the consulate. Use one and you can avoid the mistakes I have made.

2. Call before you go to the consulate. Mine is in DC and despite what it says on the website they do not process visa applications in the afternoon. This was my first wasted four hour trip.

3. Your invitation details what type of visa you need. Since I fly to Moscow for a day before going to the Ukraine I needed a 'Double Entry' visa. My paperwork said 'Single Entry' so they rejected it. Not something I could have caught, because the document has to be in Russian.

4. Your itinerary with all the cities you will visit also has to be on the invitation.

I have two 4 hour trips down and at least two more to go. (Turn in and pick up). So 16 hours to get a visa. The $100 service is looking like a bargain. Unfortunately I am too far down the path to let the process beat me, so pride has taken over.

Good luck on your trip. I know you are sweating all the details. I remember the excitement I felt when I traveled to meet my true love.
Lyuda and I are coming up on our second wedding anniversary. Next week we are going with our daughter and Lyuda's mother to visit Miami and Key West.
Some of you read about our trip in July to the western US. We submitted our story and photos to a summer vacation contest and are winning a free Bahamas cruise for having the best story.
School starts in two weeks. Also, Tonya is approaching 16 and will be getting her drivers' license and a car soon. Life is so good.
I wish good luck to you and to all the other men and women who are seriously looking for happiness on this site. To both men and women I urge you to add more information into your profiles and to add more interesting photos.
Bob in Florida

My visa is in hand. I have only one more thing to add. When you get it look carefully at the visa and make sure it is correct. In my consulate there was a guide explaining every field in English. Be advised they will 'Russianize' your name.

I would still suggest people use a service, for the first one at least. I will be filing my own from now on because I have learned the process but there was a significant learning curve.

A travel agency probably could have helped you on what to expect upfront. Just for the wiser.