Go for Travel: reviews & investigation
Go for Travel is a Russian visa agency specializing in US and UK visas. The platform rating sits at 1.38 out of 5. But there's a specific clause buried in their contract that every male applicant aged 18-65 should read before handing over a single ruble.
Who is Go for Travel and what do they do
Services: US visas (B1/B2, F1, J1, H1B, L1, O1, investor, specialty occupations), UK visas (Standard Visitor, student, work, business, long-term 2/5/10-year), Green Card lottery entries, DS-160 form completion, consulate appointment booking via automated bot, document translation and notarization, interview preparation.
Locations: St. Petersburg (Instrumentalnaya St., 3K, Business Center "Kantemirovskiy," 2nd floor, office 7215) and Moscow (Seleznëvskaya St., 11A, building 2, Business Center "INKOM-Nedvizhimost," office 308). Walk-ins are not accepted. All visits require a prior appointment.
Founded: The business traces back to 2011 when LLC "Tomas Tour" was registered. That entity was liquidated in September 2024. The current legal entity (sole proprietorship under Tamoshaitis Tomas) was registered on February 10, 2022.
Contact: [email protected] / [email protected]
Website: gofortravel.ru
Working hours: Monday through Friday, 10:00 to 19:00. By appointment only.
Phones: St. Petersburg: +7 (812) 938-63-79, +7 (812) 938-63-49. Moscow: +7 (495) 664-30-75, +7 (495) 374-80-35.
Key finding: The company's contract excludes male applicants aged 18-65 from fee refunds if their US visa is denied. This directly contradicts their primary marketing claim of "visa or money back." No mention of this exception appears in the main advertising materials.
Trust Score
Based on 1.38/5 from aggregated platform data. Note: Yandex Maps Moscow shows 5.0 (305 ratings); Yell.ru shows 5.0 (769 reviews). The low aggregate score reflects negative-weighted review platforms and contract-related complaints.
Who's behind Go for Travel: checking the paperwork
Current legal entity
The company currently operates as a sole proprietorship. The registered owner is Tamoshaitis Tomas Voldemárovich. Key registration data:
- INN (tax ID): 780225145848
- OGRNIP (registration number): 322784700046922
- Registration date: February 10, 2022
- Primary business code: OKVED 79.11 "Travel agency activity"
- Roskomnadzor personal data operator registry: #78-25-073637
Historical entity
Before the sole proprietorship was formed, the business ran as LLC "Tomas Tour" (INN: 7813493440). That company was registered on March 30, 2011 and liquidated on September 24, 2024. The director was also Tamoshaitis Tomas Voldemárovich. So the business itself has a 13-year track record, even if the legal wrapper changed. You can check the full history on the Russian FNS registry.
Court records
A search of the Russian Arbitration Court database found no active claims or lost cases tied to this INN or OGRNIP. That's a clean record, at least through the court system. Disputes that never reached a court (settled out of pocket, or abandoned) wouldn't appear there.
Domain and web presence
The main domain gofortravel.ru is active. Scamadviser rates it at 100/100 trust score, citing valid SSL, long domain age, and no malware flags. The Web Archive holds snapshots going back several years, confirming this isn't a fresh site set up last month.
Address discrepancies (worth noting)
Different directories list slightly different addresses for the St. Petersburg office. The official site says "Instrumentalnaya 3K, 2nd floor, office 7215." One third-party directory shows "Instrumentalnaya 3b, 3rd floor, office 317." A map service shows "Efimova 4A." All locations sit in the same Petrogradsky district and likely point to the same Business Center "Kantemirovskiy," but the inconsistency is something to verify before your first visit. Call ahead.
Verify independently: Russian FNS Registry | WHOIS gofortravel.ru | BBB search | Trustpilot
Go for Travel risk analysis: 5 things to know before paying
| Area | Risk | What we found | What to expect |
|---|---|---|---|
| Price | medium | No price list published. Initial consultations reportedly cost 6,000-12,000 RUB. US consular fees ($185-$205) are separate and paid directly to the US government. Agency fees are only disclosed upon inquiry. | Get a full written quote before starting. Ask specifically whether the consultation fee is refundable if you don't proceed. |
| Contract | high | The public offer defines the service as "document preparation" and "consulting" only. Not visa approval. A non-refund clause excludes male applicants aged 18-65 from fee recovery if the US visa is denied. | Read the full oferta before signing. If you're a male under 65, ask in writing what happens to your money if the visa is denied. |
| Timelines | medium | The bot-assisted appointment booking took 15 days in one reported case. Interview slots may be 3 months out or more. For visas through third countries (Kazakhstan, Serbia), add transit time. | Don't book flights before the visa is in hand. Plan for 4-5 months minimum from first contact to decision. |
| Risks | high | "Pay after result" marketing conflicts with 100% upfront payment required for third-country US visa applications. Some clients reported staff becoming unreachable after payment for appointment booking services. | Clarify which payment model applies to your specific case before any money changes hands. Get it in writing. |
| Refunds | high | Marketing promises full refund on denial. The contract carves out exceptions for adult male applicants. Clients asking critical questions in company Telegram channels reportedly get blocked. That limits your options once you've paid. | Save every email, Telegram message, and receipt. Don't rely on verbal promises about refunds. |
Go for Travel: red flags, yellow flags, green lights
| ✅ | Named, verifiable founder. Tamoshaitis Tomas Voldemárovich is publicly identified across business registries, review platforms, and the company's own YouTube channel. You know exactly who runs this operation. |
| ✅ | Physical offices confirmed. Both the Moscow and St. Petersburg offices appear on Yandex Maps, 2GIS, Yell.ru, and Zoon.ru with hundreds of reviews. The offices are real, not a virtual mailbox. |
| ✅ | Official registration in place. The sole proprietorship is registered with the Russian Federal Tax Service (OGRNIP 322784700046922) and listed in Roskomnadzor's personal data operator registry (#78-25-073637). The predecessor LLC ran for 13 years before being formally liquidated. |
| ✅ | No court cases found. The Russian arbitration court database shows no active claims or past losses tied to this registration. A clean record is a clean record. |
| ✅ | Scamadviser: 100/100. The site scores maximum trust on Scamadviser: valid SSL, long domain history, no malware. That's one data point, but it's not nothing. |
| ⚠️ | "Pay after result" vs. 100% upfront. The headline marketing promise conflicts with actual payment terms for third-country applications. If your visa has to go through Kazakhstan or Serbia, expect full prepayment, not pay-after-result. |
| ⚠️ | Contract scope vs. marketing scope. The company sells visa help. The contract covers document preparation and consulting. Legally, those are different things. The consulate makes the final call, and the contract reflects that, even if the ads don't. |
| ⚠️ | Paid consultations cost 6,000-12,000 RUB before any paperwork starts. Some clients report paying for a consultation and then being told the company won't handle their case. Clarify upfront whether the consultation fee is refundable if they decide not to work with you. |
| ⚠️ | Email-only communication, strict appointment policy. Most client interaction runs through email. Walk-ins are turned away. For a service where timing and document accuracy matter, limited communication channels are a real friction point. |
| ❌ | Non-refund clause for men aged 18-65. The public offer states agency fees will not be returned to male applicants aged 18-65 if the US visa is denied. The main ad says "visa or money back." One of those is true. Read the contract to find out which one applies to you. |
| ❌ | Critics get blocked from Telegram. Multiple clients report being banned from the company's Telegram channels immediately after asking critical or follow-up questions. If your only communication channel disappears after a dispute, that's a problem. |
| ❌ | Staff unreachable after payment in some cases. At least one reported case involved staff going silent after receiving payment for appointment booking. Whether that's a one-off or a pattern is unclear, but it's documented. |
What Go for Travel actually does (and what the ads don't say)
The company has been in the visa business since 2011. That's a long time. They've watched the US embassy shut down operations in Russia, pivoted to helping clients file through third countries like Kazakhstan and Serbia, and built a Telegram community of around 60,000 followers across several channels. That's not the profile of a fly-by-night operation.
But here's the thing about long-running businesses: they can develop habits that aren't in clients' interests. The "pay after result" promise has been central to Go for Travel's marketing for years. It's on the homepage. It's in the pitch calls. And it's the reason people choose them over DIY filing.
Then you read the contract. Specifically, the section covering refund conditions for US visa applicants. If you're a man between 18 and 65, and your visa gets denied, the contract says the agency fee is non-refundable. No exceptions listed. No appeals process described. Just a clause that quietly undoes the headline promise.
Is this fraud? Probably not in the legal sense. The clause is in the contract, and you presumably sign it. But it's the kind of gap between what's advertised and what's delivered that creates the complaints you see on Otzovik.com and Yell.ru. One client wrote that they paid the full agency fee, got a denial, then found out the clause applied to them. The company declined to discuss it further and blocked them from the Telegram group.
The rating discrepancy is real and worth explaining
Yandex Maps Moscow shows 5.0 from 305 ratings. The St. Petersburg listing shows 5.0 from 226 ratings. Yell.ru has 769 reviews averaging 5.0. iRecommend.ru also shows 5.0. Those are a lot of satisfied clients.
The aggregate platform rating here is 1.38 out of 5. That gap is wide. Two things are probably true at once: most clients who got their visas are happy and left positive reviews, and the clients who hit the non-refund clause or the Telegram ban are angry enough to go looking for platforms where their complaints stick. Review platforms with stricter verification tend to capture more of the second group.
So the full picture looks like this: for most straightforward cases, the service probably works. For the cases where something goes wrong (denial, miscommunication, unclear payment terms), the dispute resolution is poor and the contract terms favor the company heavily.
Go for Travel vs alternatives: which makes more sense
The highlighted column is the company under review. best worst mixed
| Parameter | Go for Travel ★ | VisaHQ (International) | Self-filing (DIY) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Agency fee | Not published opaque | From ~$79 + gov. fees transparent | $0 agency fee lowest cost |
| Published pricing | No public price list | Yes, on website | Gov. fee schedule published |
| Refund if denied | Partial: excluded for men 18-65 risky | Standard terms, varies by case | N/A |
| Physical office (Russia) | Moscow + St. Petersburg in-person | Online only | N/A |
| Russian language support | Full Russian service | Limited Russian support mixed | English-only official portals |
| Dispute resolution | Reports of Telegram bans; no clear appeals process poor | Standard customer service channels | Direct with consulate |
VisaHQ data is publicly available at visahq.com. DIY filing goes through the official CGI Federal portal for US visas and the UK Visas and Immigration portal for UK visas.
What to check before paying Go for Travel
- Contract: Request the full public offer (oferta) before any payment. Read the refund section carefully. If you're a male applicant aged 18-65, look for the non-refund clause specifically and ask the company in writing whether it applies to your case.
- Payment terms: Clarify whether your specific visa type falls under the "pay after result" model or requires full upfront payment. Third-country applications (Kazakhstan, Serbia, etc.) reportedly require 100% prepayment, regardless of what the homepage says.
- Consultation fee: Ask before booking whether the initial consultation is free or paid. If it's paid (6,000-12,000 RUB was reported), ask whether it's refundable if the company decides not to take your case.
- Legal entity: Request the company's OGRNIP number (322784700046922) and verify it on the Russian FNS website. This takes two minutes and confirms you're dealing with a registered business.
- Communication records: Save every email, Telegram message, and receipt from day one. If a dispute arises, your paper trail is your only leverage. The company has blocked clients in Telegram, which can cut off your documentation source.
- Timeline: Get a written estimate of how long the process will take, including appointment booking and interview scheduling. Build at least 4-5 months into your plans before any travel or decisions that depend on the visa.
- Office address: Call the office to confirm the exact address and floor before your first in-person visit. Different directories list different addresses and office numbers for the St. Petersburg location.
Frequently asked questions about Go for Travel
Is Go for Travel a legitimate company or a scam?
It's a registered business, not a classic scam. The sole proprietorship (OGRNIP 322784700046922) checks out in Russian registries, the offices exist, and the founders are named publicly. But "not a scam" doesn't mean "risk-free." The contract contains a non-refund clause for male applicants aged 18-65 applying for US visas, and some clients report poor dispute resolution when things go wrong.
What visas does Go for Travel handle?
They cover US visas across multiple categories: B1/B2 (tourist/business), F1/J1 (student/exchange), H1B/L1/O1 (work), and investor visas. For the UK, they handle Standard Visitor, student, work, business, and long-term multi-year visas. They also help with Green Card lottery entries, DS-160 form completion, and document translation.
Does Go for Travel guarantee visa approval?
No agency can guarantee a visa decision. That call belongs to the consulate. Go for Travel markets a "pay after result" model, but the actual contract restricts refunds in several scenarios. If you want to understand the real guarantee, read the full oferta before paying anything, not the homepage copy.
What exactly is the non-refund clause for men aged 18-65?
Go for Travel's public offer includes a clause stating agency fees won't be refunded to male applicants aged 18-65 if their US visa application is denied. This applies to the agency's service fee, not the government consular fee (that's non-refundable regardless, as set by the US government). The company's main marketing says "visa or your money back," which is why this clause surprises clients who don't read the contract.
How long does the US visa process take through Go for Travel?
Based on reported client timelines, the bot-assisted consulate appointment booking can take 15 days or more. Interview slots may be 3 months out from there. For applications filed through third countries, add transit and processing time. Plan for a minimum of 4-5 months from first contact to having a decision in hand.
Are Go for Travel's prices published anywhere?
No. The website doesn't list a price schedule. US consular fees ($185-$205) are set by the US government and paid separately. Go for Travel's own service fees must be requested by phone or email. This makes budget planning harder, since you can't compare them against other services without making direct contact first.
Where can I leave a review about Go for Travel?
You can leave an independent review on migration.us.com, which publishes verified immigration service reviews. The main aggregation page for Go for Travel is also on proverj.com. Other active platforms include Yandex Maps, Otzovik.com, iRecommend.ru, 2GIS, and Yell.ru. If you experienced the non-refund clause or Telegram blocking firsthand, documenting it publicly helps other clients make informed decisions.
Expert verdict on Go for Travel
I've been in the US immigration business since 2011. My company, Second Passport, has 50 offices serving former Soviet immigrants, so I know this market from both sides. Let me tell you what I see here.
First, the positives. Go for Travel is real. The founder is named. The offices exist. The company has 13 years of operating history. That's not nothing in a sector full of pop-up visa shops. Scamadviser gives them 100 out of 100, and the thousands of positive reviews on Yandex Maps and Yell.ru aren't all fake. A lot of people got their visas through these guys and are genuinely happy.
What concerns me is the contract architecture. A "visa or money back" promise that carves out an exception for the largest demographic group in their client base (adult men) isn't a minor detail. It's the whole story. When I built my services, I had to decide what to promise and what to actually deliver. That gap between front-end marketing and back-end contract terms is where trust breaks down. And once trust breaks down, you get clients being blocked from Telegram channels, which is exactly what's been reported here.
The Telegram community is interesting. 60,000 followers across their channels is a real asset. They've built something there. But using that same infrastructure to remove critical voices is a sign the company treats its online reputation as something to manage rather than something to earn. Those are different things.
My bottom line: this isn't a scam, but it's not a clean bill of health either. If you're a woman, or a man outside the 18-65 bracket, the refund risk is lower. If you're a man in that range applying for a US visa, you need to read the contract before paying a single ruble and get written confirmation of what happens to your money if the visa is denied. Don't let the marketing answer that question for you. Make them answer it in writing.
Yury Mosha has worked in US immigration entrepreneurship since 2011. He founded Second Passport, which now operates 50+ offices. He is a contributor to Forbes and CNBC and the author of "No Extradition from the Hudson." He is based in New York City.
Don't take the marketing at face value
The "visa or money back" promise sounds good. But the contract tells a different story for a large share of applicants. Read what real clients say before you pay.
Read real reviews about Go for Travel