Embassy report: Russian visa in Almaty

[davrunaway]

I applied for 3 days transit visa on 6th August 2019 and collected it a week later, 13th August 2019.

I would recommend to be there around 10:15am - 11am (Tuesday) as there will be lesser people.

As I’m holding a Malaysian passport, I had to pay 30,800 tenge (€70) for the transit visa. I’ve only prepared 15,000 tenge and expecting to pay this amount, unfortunately it was double.
I was able to withdrew some money from the ATM in the hospital (beside the embassy).

[tim207]

I am an American that applied for, and was granted, a 3-year tourism visa to Russia in Almaty without issue. Note that only Americans are eligible for a 3-year multiple entry tourism visa, as far as I know. The opening hours for visa applications remain as previously reported. I did not see anywhere that the days/times for visa applications are accepted, other than inside the waiting room on a sheet of paper taped to Window 3 (in English). So if you're coming in the future, I didn't see anywhere outside that you can check to see when they're open.

The first time, I went 30 minutes before the consulate opened, and there were ~20 people waiting by the time the security guard came around. I hate Central-Asian/Russian/etc "lines", and the "line" lost its form a bit when we entered the courtyard, but most people seemed to try to stick to the order they arrived in. The security guard will announce a number of things in Russian, including that people picking up their visa are allowed to go first. When a couple English-speaking people tried to cut the "line", someone else waiting asked them to allow the people that arrived first to go before them, which they did. All in all, I arrived 30 minutes before they opened, and was there for about 90 minutes total.

The second time I went, I purposely arrived ~45 minutes after the consulate opened, and there was no one waiting in the courtyard. I had to ring the doorbell, and was admitted to the waiting room immediately, where 3 people were waiting. The visa window was closed for whatever reason, but after ~10 minutes the official showed up, and myself and another woman with receipts to pick up our passports/visas went first and left within 2 minutes.

My visa took two weeks to process, and I was told there was no option to expedite. He said single and double entry visas are faster (one week), but multiple entry visas always take two weeks. I paid about 66,000 Tenge (USD$170ish), which is pretty much the same as it cost me to get a 3-year visa when I applied in the US a few years ago.

For my application I provided:
1) Completed visa application
2) Passport photo glued to visa application (glue was still provided on the table in the middle of the waiting room)
2) Tourist Invitation and Tourist Confirmation (technically two separate items, but if you get one on online, they're combined onto one page)
3) Passport
4) Copy of first passport page (mine was in color, don't know if that's required)
5) Flight confirmation into Russia (departure from Russia was not required)

Not required: Proof of departure from Russia, hotel confirmations, Kazakh visa for 90+ days (possibly an old requirement), medical insurance (this might apply to other nationalities, I don't know)

[CollectingStones]

Transit Visa (2 Belgians):

Procedure, costs and opening hours are still as described in earlier posts. BUT we could pay the 30 000 Tenge with our VISA card.


We successfully applied for a 10 day Transit visa. We made a route of 4200 km going from Troitsk to Moscow to Saint-Petersburg to Mourmansk. We will enter at Troitsk but we will exit earlier into Finland. No questions were asked. We added a map and an itinerary of our intended route.

We could choose the date of entry and exit.

If you have all the papers, this is an easy one

Succes!
And thanks for sharing

[rania.sh]

hello, do you know if it is possible to get a visa for Russia from almaty (french resident), and if yes, how long it takes?
Thanks

[stuartr]

Hi guys, has anyone had recent experience of applying for a Russian transit visa in Kazakhstan, with a UK passport, if so was it possible in Almaty or did you have to go to Astana? I’ll be riding back to the UK in few months and am looking to avoid the hassle of the ferry and fly in problem with Azerbaijan. I’ve already shipped the bike via this route and am looking for an alternative solution. As I am currently in Central Asia, I can’t apply for a tourist visa, as I have to do this back in the UK.

Thanks for any information.

[Myosotis]

Asking Almaty as a French citizen, I did get a negative answer

(Вам надо получить туристическую визу в стране своего гражданства или постоянного проживания. Под категорию транзитная виза Вы не подпадаете)

[Just Jet]

Did anybody got recently a russian transit visa at russian consulate of Almaty?

[Just Jet]

We went to the russian consulate. They only give visa’s (transit visa included) to residents. Exceptionally they were willing to give us transit visa if we came with an official letter of our ambassy (NL and F) asking for it. But none of them is willing to give us such a letter. Did anybody had the same experience? Solution?

[TornadoTim]

Since 01.08 you can get an eVisa for Russia, French and Dutch citizens should be eligible for that. On their website is a list of permitted border-crossing point, I don't know if there's any on the Kazakh land border.

[TautTruffle]

In the current political climate, is it advisable for citizens of countries deemed "unfriendly" by the Russian government to enter Russia on a tourist visa? Not a rhetorical question.