Internet visas

[Alina Israeli]

Countries that are trying to limit their illegal aliens (or illegal  
immigration) routinely ask for financial documents and make sure that  
the ticket is round-trip, although the demands differ from country to  
country. When I was traveling as a non-citizen (of any country) I had  
to supply similar information, the only country that really was  
interested in my savings account was Italy, other countries wanted to  
make sure I had a round-trip ticket.

US acts the same way making it difficult particularly for young  
people come and visit it/them, there is a substantial likelihood that  
students from other countries will overstay their visas. (A Bulgarian  
student of mine said that on their trip to the UK something like 7  
people stayed behind, and that was in the 90's.) Even most students  
do not go back to their countries after they studied in the US.

On the other hand, the likelihood of people with US passports who  
paid their way to Russia or Bulgaria to stay behind in search of a  
better life is quite remote.

But dropping the requirement is not likely because it is a nice  
source of revenue: $60 to $150 per incoming foreigner is nothing to  
sneeze at. Moreover, the consulate makes sure you do not obtain the  
cheeper visa: on one of my trips I started visiting the Embassy on  
daily basis the day after I got the e-mail that the Telex had been  
sent. One might think that the telex got here by horse-drawn carriage  
and then by steam boat: I became a regular at the Embassy for quite  
some time, and every passing day was marked by my buying another  
money order (they do not accept checks or credit cards). This whole  
procedure was absolutely Kafkaesque: no one could possibly tell me  
when the telex sent by the Ministry of Education in Moscow on such- 
and-such day would show up in their computer. And I was going to a  
conference at the RAN. (Incidentally, two invitees, one from France  
and another from Italy did not make it because of the visas.)

When France introduced visas for the US citizens, some students opted  
out for Switzerland. If those studying Russian will all of sudden go  
to Kishinev or Erevan, Russia may start making life less difficult  
for them.

AI


On Jun 14, 2007, at 4:39 PM, Tatyana Buzina wrote:

> Russia isn't entirely alone in difficult visa requirements even for  
> tourists. I routinely collect an insane number of "spravki"  
> certifying my property holdings, my financial situation (if I  
> submit an account statement the account has to be more than three  
> months old), I have to confirm that I have a job, and if I am a  
> tourist I have to bring a piece of paper certifying that I am on  
> official vacation for the time of my trip, and if I want to go to  
> Germany and I am not married, I have to write an essay in German on  
> the subject of why I am not married (I hope they have cancelled  
> that requirement). I have to buy my ticket and book (ideally,  
> prepay) hotel accommodation before I get my visa, and, naturally,  
> having a ticket and a prepaid accommodation is no guarantee of  
> being given a visa. Some embassies just don't answer the phone or  
> email claiming that that's their specifics. And if I go to the US I  
> will have to be fingerprinted. Getting into some embassies involves  
> standing in h!
>  uge and sometimes violent lines as people almost literally try to  
> take the embassy by storm. Most Russians routinely use similar semi- 
> legal agencies just because getting a visa on your own is an ordeal  
> not many people would like to go through. That's also a cry of the  
> soul :).
> Tatyana
>
>
>> Russia seems to do lots of things that aren't in its own  
>> interests. If not
>> dropping the visa, at least they could skip all the other hassles  
>> like the
>> registration. I found that obtaining a Chinese visa and even  
>> staying there
>> for a year and working was much easier than doing the same in Russia.
>>
>> Sarah Hurst
>>

Alina Israeli
LFS, American University
4400 Massachusetts Ave., NW
Washington DC. 20016
(202) 885-2387 	
fax (202) 885-1076
aisrael at american.edu




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