changes in visa process

[Christina]

I was in the middle of filling out my paper application when the new
site was launched. I was able to complete and submit the application
during a brief window of functionality, and sent it off to the visa
service last Thursday.

It took some creative copy and paste maneuvers - physically with
scissors and a color copy machine - to fill in the fields unpopulated
by the site but required by the embassy. Hopefully it works...

Good luck to anyone else in the same boat! If my attempt is an epic
fail I'll be sure to advise the list of any fatal mistakes to avoid.

Christina Bartol

On 13 July 2011 12:17, Josh Wilson <jwilson at sras.org> wrote:
> It is, simply put, a disaster right now.
>
> The server the site is hosted on is slow and crashes. The site itself is
> ugly and clumsy and apparently doesn't even have all the fields that are
> needed at last check.
>
> The site is being used on the directive of the Russian Ministry of the
> Interior, but against the will of the consulates that are actually
> encouraging people to go to the media and complain so that maybe Medvedev
> will hear something about it and get it taken care of.
>
> The site has bee in use in London for about a year now - apparently visa
> processing companies there have adapted to it by slogging through each
> online application (which apparently takes an hour now instead of a few
> minutes for the old paper kind) and charging clients a new "online
> application fee" of $35-50. You can go through a number of visa processing
> agencies in the US that can help you - not sure if they have increased their
> fees yet to reflect this - but one we've used often in the past is
> http://www.traveldocs.com/ .
>
> There are some very hopeful visa reforms on the horizon: 3 year
> tourist/business visas with the US that will not require invitations; five
> year professional visas with the EU... but as with all things, this is one
> step forward and at least a stumble back.
>
> Not sure if this particularly helps you - but hopefully it at least explains
> the situation a bit more.
>
>
> 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 Jane Costlow
> Sent: Wednesday, July 13, 2011 7:49 PM
> To: SEELANGS at bama.ua.edu
> Subject: [SEELANGS] changes in visa process
>
>  Dear colleagues,
>
>     I'm in the process of attempting to get a visa for travel to Russia
> later this month.  I had submitted everything and then got it returned
> because beginning July 1 all applications must be done on line.
> Currently the Embassy form is unavailable - the website is down - and
> the visa service they refer you to is not answering their phone.  Any
> suggestions?  Is anyone else in the middle of this?
>
>
> Jane Costlow
>
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