Russian Travel Restrictions -Reply

[MARY PETRUSEWICZ]

Dear SEELANGers,

My staff posted the following message to the
SECUSS-L list; I thought it might be helpful
to our Slavic language colleagues:

"In response to Mr. Pasquill's posting about
arcane travel restrictions
for students in Russia, the situation is a
bit more complicated.  A
university and its international department
(INOTDEL) can, at will,
issue an exit-entry visa to a student who
has a valid reason for
needing one.  That is to say, there exists
no law restricting personal
travel into and out of Russia, as long as
the proper visas are
obtained.

It is quite common that a university will
not issue an exit-entry visa if
it is determined that the reason for leaving
the country interferes with
the academic schedule or development of
academic interests.  In the
case of a conference or other academic
related trip, the best solution
is to include such an eventuality in the
original plan of study or
agreement between the university and the
study abroad
organization.  This way, the INOTDEL cannot
say that it was sprung
on them at the last minute and impossible to
do.

In Russia, much also depends on a study
abroad organization's
relationship with the university
administration and especially the
relationship with the INOTDEL at the
university or institution in
question.

Many universities have no problem issuing
exit-entry visas or even
special double and multi-entry visas if the
reasons are laid out ahead
of time and the relationship with the
various administration
departments is a good one.  Moscow State
University is highly
bureaucratic and highly compartmentalized.
Obviously, proper
notice and documentation is required for
them to make special
arrangements for a student.

In case of an emergency, an exit-entry visa
can take up to 3-days to
issue, or it can be issued overnight.
Everything depends on how
much the folks in the international
department are willing to
massage the bureaucratic system of the local
visa administration
(OVIR) on behalf of a student and his or her
study abroad sponsor.
If a real emergency exists and a student
must leave the country
immediately, then the fallback is always to
use up the entry-exit visa
issued to the student originally, and then
to obtain a new visa when
desiring to return to Russia.

In short, the situation at any large
institution is very complicated.
The best solution to the age old visa
question is to have capable and
knowledgeable staff on the ground in Russia
working on a regular
basis with the university partners, so that
when the time comes to
make special arrangements, it can be done.

That said, it must be noted that obtaining
visas to Moscow has
recently become much more difficult than
other locations in Russia.
The reasons are not exactly clear, but much
of it is based on
reciprocity with the US State Department for
raising fees and making
it more difficult for Russian citizens to
obtain visas to the US.  In this
manner, the arcane rules do not lie solely
in the Russian system."

--------------------------------------
Mary Petrusewicz, Ph.D.
Russian and Eurasian Program Manager
ACTR/ACCELS
1776 Massachusetts Avenue, NW
Washington, DC 20036
ph: 202-833-7522
fax: 202-833-7523
http://www.actr.org
---------------------------------------




>>> David J Birnbaum <djbpitt+ at pitt.edu>
04/21/98 09:17am >>>
Dear SEELANGers,

FYI.

Best,

David
---------- Forwarded message ----------
Date: Tue, 14 Apr 1998 11:00:54 -0400
From: "James M. Pasquill, II"
<pasquill at csc.albany.edu>
To: SECUSS-L at LISTSERV.ACSU.BUFFALO.EDU
Subject: Disc: Russian Travel Restrictions

        I recently learned of some
ridiculous travel regulations
introduced by the Russian government that
restricts the freedom of
movement of our students to leave and
reenter the country.  One of our
students asked for permission to leave
Moscow to attend a conference at
which she was asked to present a lecture.
Moscow University denied her
the exit visa stating that the Russian
immigration authorities have
adopted rules that state that "all foreign
students studying in Russia can
receive exit-reentry visa only during
official vacations (January 1-31 in
winter and June 1 to August 31 in summer)
except in the cases of a real
emergency confirmed by a letter, a medical
certificate or a fax.  Even in
the case of an emergency 3 working days are
required for the exit -reentry
visa to be issued."

        1 step forward two steps back...!!
The rules are annoying enough.
It is also annoying to learn of these rules
only after a problem surfaces.
I have asked Moscow University to inform me
of all such new regulations
and will share with you what I learn.  Have
other campuses with students
in Russia learned of any other such
restrictions and bureaucratic hoops
that you would care to share?

        I would urge all organizations which
send students to Russia to
write letters to the Russian Consulate
asking that Russia stop this
practice. The representatives of the Russian
government in the US and the
rest of the world must be made aware that
these arcane rules are a
detriment to the development and growth of
academic programs in Russia and
are not in the financial interest of Russia.
 Perhaps it is naive to think
it will have an impact but nonetheless
Russian politicians abroad should
be made uncomfortable and embarrassed by
hearing our opinions of their
still xenophobic laws.

        I also urge you all to write to the
US State Department or the
equivalent in your country and request that
they protest such practices.

James M. Pasquill, II
Assistant Director of International Programs
University at Albany