Private Visa - Help required

[StevieD]

Hi been registered ont hese forums for a whilst but first time i required the assistance of the community, obviously theirs a lot fo peeople here with a great deal of experience and practical advice so will ask and hope for some good strong advice.

In short to explain my own situation, through a long story that i will avoid boring everyone with, im planning to visit my gf as soon as possible (hopefully no later than may).

due to her domestic situation at present (she is still living with her soon to be ex husband), i cannot say im staying with her etc and thankfully a close friend of hers has gone through the time and effort to obtain for me a private invitation, during my stay currently 2-3 weeks planned i will be staying in his house.

Now for the more complex part, having lost my job due to cutbacks late last year, upon filling out a visa application, i will be required to provide bank statements showing £100 a day to stay for my time this is due to me being unemployed at present.

Obviously this is something i am currently unable to do, not having the required money to be blunt about it.

So i guess what im asking is before filling out my visa and having it rejected due to not being able to provide statements showing enough funds, is their a way of obtaining a visa without having to provide something bank statements whilst being unemployed.

Help greatly appreciated in advance. and any additional information needed before giving advice feel free to ask and will try to explain in more details

EDIT: to provide a little more information, im currently living in the UK, and am a British citizen by birth etc and have never previously traveled to russia, the girl I'm involved with we met through a mutual interest and things have developed onwards from that time over the past 12 months.

[harrycallaghan]

While I was a student I used to just write down that I was employed and that was it... Didnt have to provide proof, I used to say I lived at my grandmothers address and gave my actual home address as my work address and only gave them my mobile phone number... Never had to look into my bank account or anything.

[StevieD]

Thanks for the reply mate, i guess with this being my first time applying for a visa, having already got the private invitation letter sorted by my friend in russia via his consulate/department that sorts such matters. and im a little nervous about running into a problem which would see the visa application rejected, so am unsure how best to proceed to ensure that it goes through first time.

Hence why im asking people with a lot more experience and knowledge about the system and how it works in reality. In reality given im staying with the friend and most of the things we have planned to do together really don't cost a huge ammount as the area is not a major city ill be staying, i guess i found the £100 a day requirement a huge stumbling block that i hadn't foresaw ahead of panning the application etc. and one that without advice to help me navigate im unsure what to do

[sashadidi]

I have used private Visas for 11 years and never have been asked for any proof of income or insurance. I only ever provided a travel itinerary printed form from expedia or similar. we have stayed up to 90 days no problems. I apply in New Zealand (not sure is different for different counties depending on relations between each country and Russia) and never a problem at all ever, in fact they have asked me if I want to stay for longer when we would only stay for say 5 weeks!!!!
I am sure you will be fine.

[StevieD]

Im certain that the uk one requires to provide your employment status and if so will it then require to list who the employer is and any possible checks that will then be made to that employer or via HMRC to verify that the information given is valid (which in my situation it wouldn't be - being currently not employed i would have to list a fake job etc) is the thing giving me greatest concern atm.

Greatly appreciate the support/advice btw, its a nice thing to encounter people who support and try to help as best their able.

[harrycallaghan]

as far as i know they only ask you to provide your passport an application form (filled out), payment, photos and the invitation. I was never asked for proof of employment and they never checked. But that was Ireland. In the uk im not sure.

[StevieD]

Does the irish visa app form include a employment status like the uk one then or?

The Uk visa app requires i believe current employer, position held, address and work telephone number to be provided

[Gypsy]

First - the rules depend on which consulate you apply at. They differ.

I had to apply in Paris in December and was advised by the Visa company here in Moscow to get a Tourist Visa first, and they supplied an invitation for 4 weeks.

Problem - Paris accepts Tourist Visas for a maximum of 2 weeks unless you can provide a detailed itinerary, that is what you will do on every day divided in two, and proof of funds to support yourself. Sweden and Canada accept 4 weeks. So check with London before you apply.

The invitation must state that all costs are already paid, this is quite normal and should prevent them asking for bank statements etc

[StevieD]

atm the private invitation is in the mail to me from my friend so im not 100% sure exactly if it contains the part about costs payed etc, secondly i will be applying via the Edinburgh embassy as its closer to where i live in the UK

[jasone65]

The last visa I applied for in the London office was a family one. On that it stated employer name and address. I am unemployed and was asked to provide bank statements with my application form, 2 photo's and Invitation letter.

[harrycallaghan]

Does the irish visa app form include a employment status like the uk one then or?

The Uk visa app requires i believe current employer, position held, address and work telephone number to be provided

yes and what I did was give my parents house as my work address (I was living there at the time) and the land line number, position held was manager then I gave my grandmothers address as my home address and for that I just gave them my mobile phone number.

They never contacted my "work" and the one time they wanted to contact me during working hours (to inform me i already had a visa they would need to cancel to give me a new visa) they rang my mobile

[yakspeare]

Liga consulting will organize a business visa for you-it is the easiest way. you fly through riga or vilnuis. google them. I, and probably a quater of the forum, have used them. then you don't need invitations etc, they do it all. much easier than private visas.

[StevieD]

The last visa I applied for in the London office was a family one. On that it stated employer name and address. I am unemployed and was asked to provide bank statements with my application form, 2 photo's and Invitation letter.

where you able to provide proof of the funds they require upon asking that though, atm im unable to do so...

[StevieD]

yes and what I did was give my parents house as my work address (I was living there at the time) and the land line number, position held was manager then I gave my grandmothers address as my home address and for that I just gave them my mobile phone number.

They never contacted my "work" and the one time they wanted to contact me during working hours (to inform me i already had a visa they would need to cancel to give me a new visa) they rang my mobile

I guess im just wondering whether they have access to national insurance/benefit records which if they do would obviously discover that in fact i lie on the application, or even if theyd do a company search to find the employer didnt exist etc

[StevieD]

Liga consulting will organize a business visa for you-it is the easiest way. you fly through riga or vilnuis. google them. I, and probably a quater of the forum, have used them. then you don't need invitations etc, they do it all. much easier than private visas.

How does that work out with the case of being unemployed and unable to show proof of support whilst their to their high standar (£100 a day in bank etc)

a slight problem would also be i've already gotten the more difficult part of the process for a private visa out of the way in the form of my russian friend having obtained the invitation letter, now the only stumbling bloclk i can forsee ahead is the matter of employment status and the previously mentioned funds not being their which they require? Also the area im staying in will be about 2 hours from moscow, and conveneintly i can obtain a relatively cheap flight direct to moscow via manchester in the uk, so going via riga isnt the best solution i dont think currently.