Although my trip to Russia next month will be cheaper than it might have been--largely because the airfare is entirely covered by the "mileage points" I've built up on my credit card--I am paying dearly to get my tourist visa processed. It will cost me almost $200 when all is said and done. Living in a major city would be a huge advantage, as one could avoid using an expediter by going to an embassy or consulate to process the visa request in person (I actually did this in Sydney to get my India and Vietnam visas in January). But two separate trips into New York City to drop off and pick up my passports wouldn't be very economical, so I am resorting to an expediter in Houston, who supposedly will have my passport and a brand new tourist visa back to me within five business days.
Getting a Russian visa is a little more complicated than most, in that I needed to get documentation from the hotels I booked in advance (which in turn requires another set of deposits). Of course, the documents that were faxed back to me from the hotels were written mostly in the Cyrillic alphabet, so I hope it is what the consular officials want.
