Russian visa query
Josh Wilson
jwilson at SRAS.ORG
Thu Dec 9 12:34:38 UTC 2010
Just to let others know - a couple other folks from this contact me as well
concerning the questions - seems most were from this last summer, so indeed
it would seem that the clamp down that started a couple years back has
reversed itself again for students.
I asked on another message board for professionals based in Moscow - and
indeed for business visas and work visas, the clampdown seems to remain
tightly in place. Ukraine seems to have clamped down on the residency
"purchasing" recently as well.
Again, I would definitely call ahead to the particular consulate to make
sure of their interpretation of how this law is currently being implemented.
Josh
-----Original Message-----
From: SEELANGS: Slavic & East European Languages and Literatures list
[mailto:SEELANGS at bama.ua.edu] On Behalf Of Adams Carroll
Sent: Thursday, December 09, 2010 12:47 PM
To: SEELANGS at bama.ua.edu
Subject: Re: [SEELANGS] Russian visa query
Josh,
In response to your questions, our students, all american citizens, have had
success in Tallin and Helsinki this past August, and in June in London. In
each case there was no document permitting residency- the students entered
the EU on their american passports. I believe that all of them were able to
obtain their visas within 10 business days.
In July, a friend of mine (also an american citizen) received a Russian visa
at the consulate in Buenos Aires. Not only did they permit her to expedite
the process and did not assess an additional fee, she reported that there
were no lines and that the consular officials were pleasant, polite,
helpful... even laid back!
For those interested, the legislation in question is resolution No. 335 from
June 9,
2003<http://www.ufms.region73.ru/ufms_new/index.php?option=com_content&view=
article&id=174:2009-11-05-06-07-11&catid=65:2009-11-03-08-21-45&Itemid=156>.
Point 9.1 states rather clearly that the applicant should be a citizen of
the state in which they apply or have permission to reside in that country
for more than 90 days, unless they receive permission from the director of
the consulate in several special cases:
"по решению руководителя дипломатического представительства или консульского
учреждения Российской Федерации в связи с необходимостью въезда в Российскую
Федерацию для участия в международных и внутригосударственных официальных,
экономических, общественно-политических, научных, культурных, спортивных и
религиозных мероприятиях, либо для экстренного лечения, либо вследствие
тяжелой болезни или смерти близкого родственника, проживающего в Российской
Федерации;"
I think this is the grey area that has allowed foreign nationals to receive
visas outside of their home countries. I do hope that it continues to be
interpreted liberally!
-A.C.
On Thu, Dec 9, 2010 at 12:08 AM, Josh Wilson <jwilson at sras.org> wrote:
> All,
>
> For those reporting no problems with this - I would be very interested to
> know:
>
> 1) the date that you last processed a outside your home country
> 2) if you are American
> 3) what consulate processed your visa
> 4) what document your stay in Europe was based on (student visas?)
>
> There is indeed a 90-day rule. Russia legislated it many years ago,
> although, as is their fashion, only started to implement and enforce it
> about two years back. There is currently no European country that will
> allow
> Americans to stay for longer than 90 days without an appropriate visa or
> residency. Again, as with all things in Russian legislation, the
> enforcement
> is known to be spotty and to change pretty quickly.
>
> I assume that many of these experiences are from folks that spent a
> semester
> in Europe - and therefore likely had a student or other visa good for
> longer
> than 90 days.
>
> Ukraine has actually made a small industry of selling residency to
> foreigners who need to have their visas processed outside Russia. Georgia
> allows Americans to stay 365 days without a visa, so that's currently
> another possibility.
>
> The advice here to call the particular consulate that you are planning to
> apply to is solid - and the only way to be sure of how the rule is being
> enforced at that particular consulate.
>
> Processing the student visa a full semester in advance is also not
possible
> - the Ministry of Foreign Affairs will not allow that.
>
> Not trying to scare anyone here - but Russian visas are tricky things and
> always have been - you need to make sure that you plan well advance.
>
> Best,
>
>
>
> Josh Wilson
> Assistant Director
> The School of Russian and Asian Studies
> Editor in Chief
> Vestnik, The Journal of Russian and Asian Studies
> SRAS.org
> jwilson at sras.org
>
>
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: SEELANGS: Slavic & East European Languages and Literatures list
> [mailto:SEELANGS at bama.ua.edu] On Behalf Of Adams Carroll
> Sent: Wednesday, December 08, 2010 8:18 PM
> To: SEELANGS at bama.ua.edu
> Subject: Re: [SEELANGS] Russian visa query
>
> Yes, although processing times will be longer and fees will vary by
> consulate; expedited service is out of the question. Some consulates
> (usually in smaller cities) will not process visas for American citizens,
> so
> your student should call and check beforehand. In any case, he will need
to
> fill out an application specific to U.S. citizens (often available on the
> consulate's website) and may need to provide additional documents at the
> time of application. The process will be much easier if your student has
> residence permit or similar document allowing residency in the third
> country
> for more than 90 days. There is no standardization to these regulations
and
> they change frequently. Tell your student to get on skype and start
calling
> around! He should not plan on applying for his visa in a third country
> until
> he has spoken with an officer at the consulate in question, and even then
> should expect that the process will be a little more complex than if he
> were
> to apply in the United States.
>
> -A.C.
>
> On Wed, Dec 8, 2010 at 6:44 PM, Elizabeth Skomp
> <elizabethskomp at hotmail.com>wrote:
>
> > Dear SEELANGers,
> >
> >
> >
> > One of my students will be studying in France next semester and hopes to
> > spend summer
> > 2011 in Russia. Ideally he'd like to avoid a couple of extra
> > transatlantic flights if possible, but I'm unsure of the current visa
> > regulations as they pertain to a situation like this one. Because
> > preliminary web searches haven't
> > yielded the information we seek, I now appeal to your collective wisdom:
> > may a U.S. citizen apply for a Russian visa at a Russian
> > consulate or embassy outside the United States?
> >
> >
> >
> > Spasibo zaranee,
> >
> > Elizabeth Skomp
> >
> > Sewanee: The University of the South
> >
> >
> >
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>
>
>
> --
> Adams Carroll
> Program Manager
> Smolny College of Liberal Arts and Sciences
> St. Petersburg, Russia
> +7 (812) 324 07 72
> +7 (921) 951 01 76
>
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--
Adams Carroll
Program Manager
Smolny College of Liberal Arts and Sciences
St. Petersburg, Russia
+7 (812) 324 07 72
+7 (921) 951 01 76
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