We are thinking of going to a Schengen country at the end of July or maybe the EU portion of Cyprus (not in Schengen zone). We have travelled to Barcelona before and my wife organised everything through a travel agent in Russia, but it was expensive and they told a few porky pies ie charge about £70 for a visa !!! when i believe it should be supplied FOC to a person with EU Spouse and delivered more quickly than what they made. The agent booked Hotel for full duration there so we where tied to one place and never even booked me in so i had to pay again for myself when i arrived in Barcelona !!! so what i thought was expensive turned out to be very expensive. My wife is in RF and i fly there in a few weeks at which time i will try to organise holiday via internet to UK, prefereably Cyprus because we can meet with friends there, but maybe plans will change and we think about EU also. My questions are:-
1. I do not want a Russian package tour which from experience was poor, i want to organise my own flights, hotel etc, so do we have to go through an agent and book a hotel for every day we are in the destination country in advance, maybe we want to move about and not be tied to one place, or do we just need an invitation from a hotel to apply for a visa and in what form must this be? ideally just want to book a hotel for 1 or 2 days enough to get a visa and then we can move to a hote of our choice.
2. How can we organise ourself in RF a visa to go to cyprus or EU, or must we go to the travel agent and get tied into a deal. If we can organise a Visa ourselves who should we contact in RF -any contact details, preferably in Ulyanovsk or Samara region.

Please nobody suggest the easy option of going to Turkey !!!

Its full of bloody Russian's

And i wouldn't go there again even if they paid me

Go to Egypt. There are more Russians as in Turkey.

To apply for Schengen visa yourself is fully possible. You can apply at the Embassy of a country of destination or the country of entry to the Schengen territory.
Having a EU spouse and prior visa will raise the chances, but if possible book a destination in advance.
Visa are not free of charge, they will cost around 45 euro (40 pound).
Application has to be done at the consulate, most probably in Moscow. Not every consulate offers a mail service (as if you wife would send her passport by mail) so one or two trips to Moscow might be needed. Could become just as expensive as the travel agency.

Yes, you can do it yourself.
If you going to visit several Schengen countries you need to apply for the Schengen visa at the embassy or consulate of the country that is your main destination or your first port of entry. With you application you should provide the booking hotel conformation, reservation of or return or round ticket, proof of financial means in the country of residence, proof of employment, bank statements, proof of real estate property and proof that you have family ties, professional status - proof that you are not going to immigrate Also you will need medical insurance.

The additional information you can find on the embassies' website

For example:
Embassy of Belgium in Washington, DC
http://diplobel.us/TravelingBelgium/visas/visitors.asp
American Citizens do not need a visa when they travel to Belgium for business or for personal travel. The stay in the Schengen area should not exceed 90 days in a 6 month period. Please note that the American visitor will need to present a valid American passport (that does not expire before the end of the visit), proof of sufficient funds and a return airline ticket.

The Schengen visa is valid for the following 25 European countries:

Your wife also can look for information in Russian.

Below is information on Schengen visa in Russian

http://www.travel.ru/formalities/visa/

France in the United Kingdom Consulate general in London
Family members of an European Union citizen (excepting French national)
http://www.ambafrance-uk.org/Family-mem ... opean.html

Information on the Schengen visa to Luxembourg
- a visa is free of charge to the spouse and children of a citizen of an EU-member state upon presentation of the original marriage certificate (duly translated, if the marriage did not take place in Great Britain) and the EU-citizen's passport. For children, the original full birth certificates are required.
http://www.luxembourg.co.uk/schengen.html

Julian

This is the Consulate of Cyprus site in Moscow........

http://www.mfa.gov.cy/mfa/embassies/mos ... enDocument

They also have the page is Russian... click the RU at the right!

Categories of visas

1. Short-stay or travel visas: multiple visas: This visa entitles aliens who seek to enter the territory of Cyprus, for reasons other than immigration, to pay a continuous visit or several visits the duration of which does not exceed three months in any half-year from the date of first entry. This visa may be issued for one or several entries. In the case of aliens who need to travel frequently to Cyprus, for example on business, short-stay visas may be issued for several times provided that the total length of these visas does not exceed three months in any half-year. This multiple entry visa may be valid for one year, and in exceptional cases, for more than a year but for no more than five year for certain categories of persons.

Basic requirements for a visa

one recent photograph
valid passport
copy of passport
confirmed booking of accommodation
assumption of responsibility when someone invites a foreign. When the person who invites has a Cypriot passport, copy of his passport is needed and in case that person who invites is not Cypriot, his residence permit.
Fees

- Granting a visa (on a passport or other travel document) 10.25 €

Why don't you ask the wife or you can call and find out exactly what you need to do?

I havn't asked my wife because she is Russian and Blonde !!! and she will believe any crap she is told by another Russian and not believe a non russian even if he is her husband , also it is impossible for her to find out information because she don't understand how easy it is to look on internet or ask on a forum etc etc, she has always got to go to some agent in her town, you spoke with her on the phone you know how stubborn and brain washed she is , so there is good possibilty that she will get ripped off again(or indirectly i will get ripped off which is worse), i want to know exactly the facts then i can tell her exactly where to go and what to do and what to believe, because unless i can point her to black and white info she will simply believe her travel agent !!who is coincedentally Russian and therefore likely to be a bandit and unhelpfull (read likely as definately)

Thanks Wiz i knew you would come good helpfull info and with the facts and it will be allot easier now that i can direct Tatiana to the Cypriot site, i was sure that the Visa costs where very little and certainly not £70 ish and that it should not be a complicated process. I would also love to visit Greece with her, maybe one day you can tell me the best places to go , i was thinking of the Peloponnese region.

Even better news according to Cypriot Embassy Website Visa's for holders of Russian passports are Free !!!

Julian

Ok we did this before my wife came here, she was my wife at the time.

You need to go to the local embassy of the country you wish to visit within the Schengen area, you fill in a 2 page application and pay the money! yes you have to pay in Russia even though she is a spouse of an European member this only has effect within the EU and Russia is not in the EU so is not bound by the process.

Now my step daughter has just told me in the main town where we live in Russia they have opened a Schengen application centre (Rostov on Don) so maybe there is one close to where you are!

HTH

Mark