Russian Visa at the Embassy in Yerevan, Armenia

[guy.brush]

Any news about this plan?

[Myosotis]

You need a resident permit..

[Myosotis]

Update

Day 1. I went to the Embassy, (ground floor), and they told me not possible but I can still try at the consulate (first floor).

Day 2. Went to the consulate with :
- Train schedules (no tickets just prints from https://pass.rw.by/)
- hotel bookings (https://ostrovok.ru/)
- Paper from the OVIR saying that I can stay 180 days ([email protected], ask it at least a week in advance or go directly in Yerevan)
- mail print from a place where I stayed as a volunteer for a week.
- the online https://visa.kdmid.ru/ document.
- passport notary translation in russian
In front of me, two italians, they get rejected (no residency)
My turn, presented myself as a volunteer in Armenia, asked for a 2 entry transit visa, negative answer for the Transit but he told me to follow a lady from an agency and ask for a multiple entry tourist visa.

Followed her to get a 20 000 dram "magic paper" to add to my document pile.

Day 3. Apply for the visa, no problem. Payed 15 000 dram. No express process, two weeks to wait, you can ask for the passport (You have to ask !) and give it back two days before the visa process.

After two weeks of fun in Georgia. I get the magic page. Multiple entry 90days available 6 months.

Good to know :

- Applications for visa are in the mornings, and it seems to be around 11, they won't let you enter before.

- visa receptions are the afternoons at 3pm

- You will wait hours outside sometimes thinking for no reasons, and Armenian sun can be very hot, take fresh water and a hat.

- I know people having transit visa, but you may not have more than 3 or 4 days (same as Tbilisi) and I think no 2 entries. (Process seems to be around 3 days and same price.

- Fr citizen with various stamps.

Safe travels.

[Jojo]

Hi all,

My report for the Russian transit visa in Yerevan (27/11/2023).

DOCUMENTS PROVIDED
- Printed application form /!\ at the end of the application, tick "embassy" and not "consulate" (other people ticked "consulate" and the guy at the counter made them redo all the application and print it again in a overpriced place nearby 5 minutes before the closing of the embassy...)
- Insurance proof (we bought one especially for Russia, ~10€/pers for 4 days, here: https://www.attolloassistance.shop/en/)
- 1 photo
- Passeport photocopy
- Booking for the bus and train in and out of Russia (bus Yerevan -> Saratov, train Saratov -> Almaty)
- Booking for hostel in Russia

We asked for 4 days and they "upgraded" us to 6 days without asking
Other French tourists got 10 days the same week (although they only asked for 4 days).

PRINTING
Photos and printing can be done at a decent price and not to far from the embassy here: https://maps.app.goo.gl/BJrD7GUPbkyfHQJ9A

APPLICATION
The least we can say is that they are not really well organized. You can supposedly apply everyday from 9 to 12. But from our experience and reports from other applicants, they only open at around 11 for the visa applications. You will wait outside in front of the gate. At one point, the guard asks for the letter of invitation for the visa applicants. Do not get mistaken, for transit visa no letter of invitation is needed. Just try to sneek in whenever he opens the gates for the visa applicants...
Once at the desk, we were only asked why did we come to Yerevan to apply for the visa instead of Tbilissi (we just said we wanted to visit Armenia anyways).

We applied on a Monday for a transit visa that we wanted to start on the Sunday of the same week (everything was booked). We didn't have to bargain to get our visa quickly, the guy told us to come back and pickup our visa on the Thursday afternoon of this week. We payed the price of the normal process (not express one).

PRICE
2 working days: 30 800 dram, about 70€.
7 Working days: 15 400 dram, about 25€. That's what we paid and got our visa within 4 days.

Paiement is made directly at the embassy through a machine. Cash only and better to provide the exact amount (no change!).

[iavhb6pu]

Hello,
Thanks a lot for all theses infos. Here is our contribution.
We (2 French cyclists) have applied to a Russian transit visa in Yerevan (2024/02/07) and followed the same procedure as @Jojo.

We printed the documents and made photos in this AG Print shop : https://maps.app.goo.gl/SNh9xabxzdtPR3o77 (6€ for 50 pages + 2€ for 4 photos) Beware, there are two AG Print, the other doesn't make photos.

We went in the embassy at 10:45am and it was already open for visas.
It was quite fast (20 minutes) and easy. They gave us a number of desk and we had to wait our turn at this desk. Our desk (n°3) was seemingly made for non-russian speakers. The employee spoke English.
As @Myosotis, we asked and received the "Paper from the OVIR saying that I can stay 180 days" but it was of no use, at least for a transit visa. The employee didn't keep it.
Prices have doubled in 2024 : 32000 DRAM (74€) for 7 working days (our choice), 64000 DRAM (147€) for 2 days. For the multi-entry visa, it is 96000 DRAM (220€).
They gave us an appointment exactly 1 week later to retrieve our passports, at 3pm. We were 30 min late but it made no difference. Results : we asked 6 days and had 6 days, so it seems that they are more strict now.

EDIT SOON with latest news

[Paola Viajera]

Does anybody know the difference between Transit TR1 and Transit TR2 visa? Which one do we need for 3 days Georgia to Kasachstan (Vladikawkas - Astrakhan)?

[iavhb6pu]

I don't know the difference and apparently neither do the embassy's employees. But you have to choose Transit TR2. We read this somewhere and it worked for us.

[Indianaglobe]

Dear fellow travellers,

Quick updates as I got just got my transit visa today (French passport) :
- I follow exactly the process mentionned by @Jojo and @iavhb6pu. Many thanks for your contribution.
- I asked for 5 days and got 5 days. A friend the same day applied for 6 and he got 6.
- Applied on Tuesday morning, got it next Tuesday 3pm
- I arrived at the embassy at 8:30am, it opened at 9am, but seems like the Visa section opens only at 11am as mentioned before
- I was told to collect my visa at 3pm, got there 1h before as we came back earlier from the montains, but couldn't get in : stick to the schedule
- I booked bus tickets from Yerevan to Vladikaskas and a hotel in Gorny from Tutu.ru. Payment with western cards (I have a n26 master card always fail the first time, but it ends up working the 5th or 6th time so keep spamming until it works!)
- I booked train tickets from tickets.kz and it worked the 1st time (Grozny Volgograd and Volgograd Nukus)
- I booked attolloassistance insurance as mentioned above
- 2 French tourists tried to apply to a 30day tourist visa and they got denied. They had to apply for a transit one instead and had to redo all paperworks.

Hope this helps, thanks again for this amazing forum!

[Adrien1]

We just got our transit visa:

DOCUMENTS PROVIDED :
- visa application form with 6 days asked
- 1 ID photo
- 1 passeport copy
- 1 medical insurance
- 1 printed itinerary (basic Google doc with the approximative Itinerary that we are planning in Russia)
- 1 copy of our car passport

PROCESS :

- day 1 :
We arrived at the embassy at 9.30AM with all the documents. Because of a big group of Chinese people with a guide who got a kind of priority access, they only opened the door at 11.40AM for "normal" people, after all the chinese guys left the embassy.
We gave all the documents at the counter 4 where the guy was speaking English. It was fast, no questions asked. We ordered the 2 working days process at 64K AMD. After checked out all documents he gave us back all our documents and a receipt in Russian and told us to wait.
As the cash machine of the consulate was not working, a girl from the embassy brang us in a bank at 500/600 meters away. The payment is cash only. Then we went back to to the embassy with the bank receipt and gave all documents to the cashier where the lady gave us the "pick up" receipt.
We were surprised to discover that the pick up date on the receipt was tomorrow and not after tomorrow, as supposed to be. We asked a guy if we have to come back tomorrow or after tomorrow and he said tomorrow 3pm.

- day 2 : we came at 3pm at the embassy as requested. They said "no, you have to come back tomorrow". It was too good to be true...

- day 3 : we came at 3pm at the embassy, a guy from the consulate was smoking in front of the door with a dozen of passports on the low wall next to his ashtray, asked us "Visa?" and gave us our passports back, with 6 days as requested \o/