Quick question, as I'm headed to Elbrus in the upcoming summer,
Regarding the visa, do I need to go to the Russian Embassy in person (I'm in Canada) to get the visa or I can handle it through mail? I only ask since I'm way up north and would have to take quite a large amount of money to even travel to the Embassy in Ottawa and would perfer not doing so and can't find a definite answer. It was mentioned to me that I'd have to go in person so I'm just checking on this. Thanks.

For U.S. citizens, as of last year, you have to go into the embassy or consulate in person to get your visa, I would imagine it goes the same for Canadians. The whole Russian visa-getting process is one big headache. There are companies you can hire that will go through the bureaucratic clusterf&ck for you, just a simple web search will come up with plenty of options for that. At any rate, you can go to the consulate instead of the embassy, maybe there's one in Montreal, I'm not sure.

Thanks,
That's what I was afraid of. As I'm up north, I only fly south to visit the family around the x-mas holidays as the plane costs more to fly back and forth to and from the north then my ticket to Russia. Hoping to get the paperwork done and complete before they close up shop for the holidays so I don't need to drop 2 grand to fly down for a stamp in my passport sometime later in the year.

I went in 2007 and I was able to mail my passport to the embassy. I used these guys for visa support:

http://www.pilgrim-tours.com/index.shtml?tours/lite/index

Check out their Elbrus-lIte package for independent travelers, fairly reasonable and they take care of the BS for you. They were very helpful upon our arrival as well.

Those guys are the most often used among Swedish Elbrus-climbers too. Often mentioned in the Swedish outdoorsforum.
I think I recall - not sure - that Corax recommended them. PM him and ask.

I've also seen these recommended:
http://alptour.tripod.com/

Yea, takin the light pack of Pilgram tours to worry bout the paperwork, but even with that, I'll still have to present myself in person to get the official visa right?

It's different rules for different countries, so you need to find out either from a Canadian whose been there, the company or the embassy.

MScholes wrote:Yea, takin the light pack of Pilgram tours to worry bout the paperwork, but even with that, I'll still have to present myself in person to get the official visa right?

Yeah, I don't think using Pilgrim would change whether or not you had to show up in person. I find it hard to believe that you would actually have to show up in person though, sounds absurd. I've gone through other tough-to-get visas and have done it all by mail, though it takes forever. Contact the embassy and ask them, usually a phone number is posted somewhere.

Hey there!

Canadian here.

I went in 2004. Pilgrim-tours handled our logistics, though I believe there was a Canadian Travel agency involved in the travel booking part. I was actually with a group from here, so had very little to do with the details. I vaguely remember having to submit our passports to someone who took care of everything for us and returned them with the proper visas. We did not have to do anything in person.

The only challenge is that you have to plan to do this during a time when you will not need your passport for other travel.

Pilgrim did an EXCELLENT job of taking care of us ...to the point of taking half the fun out of the adventure. Highly recommend them if you like being well taken care of. Great food, great accommodations, etc. I actually kinda prefer cooking my own Mountain House for dinner and sleeping in a tent in the snow . If they have logistics only packages (i.e. travel & transport only) that would be a cool way to go.

Thanks for all the responses, either way, I'll have to get on the phone and double check with the consulate. It is indeed an adventure - getting to Africa and going up Kili was easy with little paperwork involved... this is slightly more complex but it's much more satisfying doing all these little details yourself as opposed to a full on travel agency worrying about everything for you, imo anyway. thanks again!

Peak Freak wrote:If they have logistics only packages (i.e. travel & transport only) that would be a cool way to go.

Yep, Elbrus-lite - http://www.pilgrim-tours.com/index.shtml?tours/lite/index

The Russian Embassy in Canada has a pretty clean website:

http://www.rusembassy.ca/node/400

For any consular related issues (visa, passports, legalization of documents) please contact Consular Division Office in Ottawa


Street address: 52 Range Road, K1N 8J5, Ottawa, Ontario
Phone: (613) 236-7220 ; (613) 236-0920 ; (613) 236-6215
Fax: (613) 238-6158

Working hours:
Monday - Friday 09:30 - 12:30

For any consular related issues:
ottawa@rusembassy.ca

How can I get working hours like that?
Under Visa Information/Tourist Visa, #6:

If the visa application is submitted by mail...

Looks like you're in luck!

Peak Freak wrote: I actually kinda prefer cooking my own Mountain House for dinner and sleeping in a tent in the snow .

Agreed except for the Mountain House part Not too bad on occasion though, especially the lasagne!