registration

[Dustin Hosseini]

According to the agreement, EU and Russian citizens should have to wait no
more than 10 days (unless further scrutiny is needed) and pay no more than
35 euros for a visa, or 70 euros if needed within 3 days.  In certain cases,
the fee can be waived: 

- close relatives (spouse, children, parents, grandparents and
grandchildren) visiting citizens of the Russian Federation legally residing
in the territory of the Member States;
- pupils, students and accompanying teachers for educational purposes; 
- humanitarian cases (disabled and accompanying person if necessary, persons
travelling to receive urgent medical treatment, to attend a funeral of a
close relative or to visit a seriously ill close relative- i.e. spouse,
children, grandparents and grandchildren);
- persons participating in scientific, cultural and artistic activities
including exchange programmes; 
- persons participating in youth international sport events and persons
accompanying them;
- participants in twin cities exchange programmes;
- children under 6 years;
- researchers fulfilling certain conditions; members of official delegations.


So, with your wife being an EU citizen , the application process has been
streamlined, appears to be less expensive, and more efficient.  We'll see
what happens, of course.  

You being an American, nothing will change.  You'll have to go through the
same processes as you have before and most importantly, visa prices won't
change.  There are certain cases where a visa for an American can cost less
if you apply in a third country, but this isn't always the case.  

If you want more info, take a look at the document below.  


========================================================

NEW RULES ON FACILITATION OF ISSUANCE OF VISAS 
AS FROM 1st JUNE 2007
The purpose of the Agreement is to facilitate, on the basis of reciprocity,
the issuance of visas for an intended stay of no more than 90 days per
period of 180 days to the citizens of the European Union and the Russian
Federation. This agreement does not apply for the United Kingdom of Great
Britain and Northern Ireland, Ireland, The Kingdom of Denmark, the Republic
of Iceland and the Kingdom of Norway. The agreement defines a number of
simplified procedures (facilitations) for issuing visas. They concern:

1. 	Documents required.

For the categories of persons listed below, only the mentioned documents are
requested to justify the purpose of the journey. 

(The general requirement of personal appearance for the submission of the
visa application and supporting documents will remain unaffected. In
individual cases, in which doubts remain regarding the purpose of the
journey, the applicants’ intention to return to his/her country of origin or
to proof sufficient means of subsistence proportionate to the length and the
purpose of the stay, the visa applicant can be called for an additional in
depth interview to the embassy/consulate. Additional documents can be
provided by the visa applicant or exceptionally requested by the consular
officer.)

close relatives (spouse, children, parents, grandparents and grandchildren)
visiting citizens of the Russian Federation legally residing in the
territory of the Member States:
a written request from the host person including proof of the relationship
and residency (original);
business people:
a written request from a host company, organisation, authority or organising
committee (original);
members of official delegations: 
a letter from Russian authority confirming the applicant is a member of the
official delegation (original) and
a copy of the official invitation sent by the EU institution or Member State;
pupils, students and accompanying teachers travelling to study:
a written request (original) or
 a certificate of enrolment (original) from the host- and home university or
student cards or certificates of the courses to be attended;
participants in scientific, cultural and artistic activities, university and
other exchange programmes, and sport events:
a written request from the host organisation (original);
journalists:
certificate (original) issued by a professional organisation to prove (s)he
is a journalist and
document from the employer stating the purpose is journalistic work;
persons visiting military and civil burials:
official document (original) confirming existence and preservation of the
grave and the relationship between the applicant and the buried;
drivers conducting international cargo and passenger transportation services
and members of international trains crews travelling to the Member States:
a written request (original) from the national association of carriers (for
drivers) or from the railway company (for train crews) stating the purpose,
duration and frequency of the trips; 
participants of twin-cities exchange programmes:
a written request (original) from the Mayor/Head of Administration of the city.

What is in the written request?
For the invited person: name, surname, date of birth, sex, citizenship,
number of the identity document, time and purpose of journey, number of
entries, and name of minor children accompanying the invited person.
For inviting person: name, surname, address and contact details.
For inviting legal person: full name and address, name and position of the
person signing the request and registration number for companies based in
the Member States.

2. 	Visa handling fee. 

The fee for processing a visa application is 35 €. 

This fee will benefit all EU and Russian citizens (including tourists) and
concern al types of Schengen visas, i.e. both transit and short-stay visas,
irrespective of the number of entries. 

There is the possibility of charging an extra fee of 70 € on urgent requests
(3 days before departure). This does not apply to cases related to
humanitarian or health reasons (disabled persons and those to receive urgent
medical treatment); death of relatives and members of official delegations.
As the fee corresponds to the administrative costs for processing the visa
application, it has to be paid when the visa application is submitted and
there is no reimbursement in case of refusal to issue the visa.

3. 	Exemption from the visa fee.

Certain categories of persons benefit from a waiving of the visa fee: 

close relatives (spouse, children, parents, grandparents and grandchildren)
visiting citizens of the Russian Federation legally residing in the
territory of the Member States;
pupils, students and accompanying teachers for educational purposes; 
humanitarian cases (disabled and accompanying person if necessary, persons
travelling to receive urgent medical treatment, to attend a funeral of a
close relative or to visit a seriously ill close relative- i.e. spouse,
children, grandparents and grandchildren);
persons participating in scientific, cultural and artistic activities
including exchange programmes; 
persons participating in youth international sport events and persons
accompanying them;
participants in twin cities exchange programmes;
children under 6 years;
researchers fulfilling certain conditions;
members of official delegations.

Moreover, diplomatic missions and consulates can waive or reduce the fee in
individual cases.

4. 	Criteria for issuing multiple-entry visas (for staying max 90 days per
180 days) valid for a long period of time.

a) Multiple-entry visas valid for 5 years to spouses and children visiting
citizens of the Russian Federation legally residing in the Member States and
members of national and regional governments and parliaments, Constitutional
and Supreme Courts; or for the time of duration of their authorisation for
legal residence or of their mandate, if these are less than five years.

b) Multiple-entry visas valid for 1 year to members of official delegations;
business people; participants in scientific, cultural, artistic activities,
including university and other exchange programmes and sport events;
journalists and professional drivers and train crews provided that during
the previous 12 months the visa applicant has obtained at least one visa,
has made use of it in accordance with the laws on entry and stay of the
visited State(s) and there are reasons for requesting a multiple-entry visa.

c) From 2 years to 5 years to the categories mentioned in (b) provided that
during the previous 24 months they have made use of the two 1-year
multi-entry visas in accordance with the laws on entry and stay of the
visited State(s) and the reasons for requesting a multi-entry visa are still
valid.

5. 	Length of procedures for processing visa applications: 

A decision on visa application shall be taken within 10 calendar days of the
date of the receipt of the complete visa application and the supporting
documents. For diplomatic missions and consular posts that have an
appointment system, the period of time to get an appointment is not counted
as part of the processing time.
This period may be extended up to 30 days when further scrutiny is needed.
In urgent cases, the period for taking a decision may be reduced to 3 days
or less.


6. 	Departure in case of lost or stolen documents: 

The concerned categories of persons may leave the territory on the grounds
of valid identity documents issued by diplomatic missions or consular posts
without any visa.

7. 	Extension of visa in exceptional circumstances: 

For reasons of force majeure, visas will be extended free of charge for the
period required for the return.

8. 	Visa exemptions: 

Holders of Russian diplomatic passports are exempted from the visa
requirement for periods of up to 90 days per period of 180 days.

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