We had a pleasant and professional experience with ILS in DC. The staff was friendly and knowledgeable. Process went smoothly without problems. Received Visa in 2 weeks. We purchased our own trackable priority envelop w USPS for return of the visa and that way we could track it when it was put in mail.

Frankly, the Russian visa process can be a little intimidating, but everybody here was amazingly helpful. First the teller who helped me, and finally with the cashier who checked us out, everyone was kind, helpful, supportive and made the whole process easy and comfortable. Were very excited about our upcoming trip and very grateful to everyone at ILS for helping.

I see a lot of reviews bashing this place, but I went there in early February to apply for a visa to get into Russia, and about 3 weeks later my passport with the visa showed up at my house. Maybe its not a busy time of year, or maybe things have changed in the past year with their processing times, but my experience was awesome and even faster than I anticipated.

If i could give zero stars, I would. So unprofessional. No communication whats so ever. If you are applying for a Russian visa this is not a main company that Russian consulate uses to get visas anymore. Had my kids passports for 1,5 months before giving it to a different visa center. There is no response, and forget about calling and talking to alive person. Dont recommend.

WARNING: To the other recent 1-star reviewers who have written about their anxieties over ILS being in possession of their passports for many weeks with no way to contact them, I feel for you, and I would strongly advise any potential travelers to avoid this company at all costs. I was in the same boat, with my departure date rapidly approaching and no word from ILS after over 6 weeks. Since we have so much invested already in this trip, I decided to drive over six hours to DC and reclaim our passports in person. After I confronted them with questions about why they let our passports languish in their office for nearly two months and never answered the phone, the representative gave some feeble BS answer about how the Consulate is putting a limit on how many applications they can process at a time. They had previously stated the delay was due to sanctions between the US and Russia (this was one of the few times they responded to email - always a vague one sentence answer that raised more questions than it answered). I ended up next to another customer who was asking the same questions in Russian, and had also driven there over a long distance to reclaim his application documents.The truth is that if you look on the Russian Consulate website, they no longer use ILS to process applications and have instead switched providers to VFS Global. Even the official visa applications have been changed for applicants to indicate which VFS office they will be submitting their applications to. It seems we had the bad fortune to mail our applications off to ILS merely days before this switch happened. I am still unsure what is going on behind the scenes at ILS, why this change happened or how it has affected their business. But instead of being honest and responsive with their customers about these issues, they have instead chosen to completely shut down all communication and stonewall everyone who has a pending application with them. Truly bizarre. It does not seem like they will be in business much longer.

Ive had a great experience here. Quick to help and get my Visa before a trip to Moscow. Use them!

I’ve visited this place once for Russian visa service and used the mail-in service for my second visa. You must have all the required documents and invitations in order or you will face difficulties/rejection.I overpaid for the mail in service and was refunded my money with a check. Service is honest but very clinical with it comes to customer relations. Having said that I will gladly use their services again when my visa expires.

Save yourself the hassle and make an appointment before you go to drop off your documents. Sometimes theres a wait, sometimes theres not. Get there a little early to find street parking. Staff is polite, efficient and quiet. Check and DOUBLE CHECK that you have all your necessary documents and the correct amount for your money order IN ADDITION to the consular fee ($33). Consular fee may be paid in cash but visa fee must be made by money order. Note they have a lunch break from 1-2PM. Pay attention to the directions from the US Russian Embassy website regarding docs and processing times and youll have no problem.

Been waiting a month so far with no end in sight. As other reviewers have noted, they dont answer the phone and the voicemail box is full. We emailed and they responded only enough to ask if we were sure our passports were delivered to them and then they never responded again. If they ever answer their phone or call me back (or in the off chance we get our passports back before our flight is scheduled to leave) Ill update this review.Edited 5/31When we initially applied with ILS, we had 7 weeks until departure and they were advertising a 2-week turnaround. A check-in email we sent was met with a blanket now it takes 5-7 weeks response. So with only 2 weeks left before our flights, we decided to drive 10+ hrs to DC to pick up our passports and take them to VFS. The woman at ILS, Yekaterina (probably the manager) was very understanding and apologetic. She gave us our packets back along with the money order we sent. As another reviewer recently explained, they are no longer working directly with the consulate and this status makes it hard for them to process the influx of visa requests they get. They need to update their website to reflect this and explain clearly that it will take well over 5 weeks to get your visa.

The folks here are awesome. They are friendly, helpful, and truly want you to be successful in getting your visa and go the extra mile to make it happen. I highly recommend them. And read and follow the advice Juelles Chester includes in her review, its very well spelled out. There is no room for error in the process.

My colleagues and I found out on very short notice that we had meetings in Moscow in late October 2016 and we needed our visas turned around in very short order. Thanks to Maria and Ivan (who we dealt with over the phone) we were encouraged, assisted and given great service and good advice about how to proceed during this process. Amazingly we learned we could get our visas issued in less than the usual time required. The visas were processed in one day at the DC office. When colleagues went in person to drop off and pick up their visas each person was very pleased with the courtesy, assistance and efficiency in dealing with the staff in the office. We all are very impressed with your operation. I am sure we will be back again in the new year.

ILS is no longer authorized to process direct visa applications to Russia. Go straight to VFS to get your visa quicker and easier.

Terrible! Misinformation on their website about visa processing times. They process your application based on when your departure date is. I submitted my papers 3 weeks ago and finally got a hold of a rep. He said the processing time is 5-7 weeks and told me to check their website. (I DID)Avoid them

Horrible service. Weve been waiting for our visas/passports (at least, return our documents) for over 5 weeks now. You cant reach them by phone, it goes to voicemail, and the voicemail box is full so you cant even leave a message. Im not sure whats going on with our US passports at this point. Just horrible.

Good experience quick visa application. Highly recommended - dont go to Russian Embassy directly - theyre MORONs!

I applied for my Russian visa by mail thru the INVISA Logistic Services in Washington DC. I Fed Exed my application with photo attached, my passport, the two INVISA required forms, the invitation and the cashiers check to them and in less than a month a received my passport with the visa via UPS. During the process I was informed via email when my application was submitted to the embassy and by SMS when my passport was ready to be shipped back to me. They were professional and polite. Best of all with my visa I received a refund check for $30 that I had paid for them to correct my application if needed. Obviously it didnt need it. The fact that they refunded this money speaks volumes of the integrity of this place.

This is extremely frustrating and stressful not to be able to get in touch with anyone. Numerous emails are unanswered, nobody answers the phone. Its been 7 weeks and the Russian embassy still has not received our passports.

I got my visa on time and for the advertised price. The waits, and staff were average but its bureaucratic business, its not the most exciting. Everyone was helpful and streamlined a very confusing process.

This very good service. I want to express my gratitude to ILS agent Elena Kadomtseva. She immediately answered questions via email and helped us solve our problem with the passport. She worked very good and fast. Now we received the passport with Russian visa and the tickets to Russia were not lost.Lidiya and Mike LInn.

Unfortunately, we had a very bad experience with this company. It feels like ILS, who is supposed to help you, and work with you and for you, is actually working against you. It feels like they dont really care if you get a visa, they just want your money!! We sent in 5 applications, and the consolate found a problem on the invitation. (that Im completely sure that ILS knew about. If they would have told us about the mistake before starting the process, they would have actually worked for their money instead of scamming it off of us), and the consulate did not even process for visas, and did not charge us. ILS still kept their processing fee of $118 PER APPLICATION. and three of the applications WERE FOR KIDS! And by the way, just because you apply for a business visa, they pick the price up from $30 for a tourist visa to $118 for business visa per application!!! I feel this is a rip-off! The workers there were rude, and unprofessional, kept cutting me off on the phone. And its very hard to get a hold of them, especially when a problem arises. Please keep this experience of ours in mind when you sign away your rights on their application. Its a shame that the Russian Fereation Consulate recommends working through Invisa Logistic Services.

WARNING: Do NOT use this company if you are a US citizen. The extra fees were wasted. It has been 5 weeks with NO passport back yet for either of us. WASTE of money to go to this company.

A huge step up from getting a Visa through the Russian embassy, which sets a real low bar.

Very professional

Awful phone service. I waited 45 minutes for the answer, plus answered questions with great favor and sent everyone to watch on the site.