HIV test for long-term visa

[Joseph Peschio]

>The university you are working with may be refering to the fact that they
>(the university) does not need the HIV test - as with certain types of
>students they also can require the HIV test- and in some St. Petersburg
>schools are requiring that it be taken again upon arrival.

It's also possible that this has to do with the visa type.  It is standard
practice in some universities to set up a one-month visa which they extend
up to six months once the student arrives.  The reason for this, if I'm not
mistaken, is that it allows them to process the invitations through their
local OVIR rather than deal with the MVD, which is slower and more
expensive.  I got precisely such a visa through the RGGU International
Office two years ago and didn't need HIV documentation to extend
it.  However, Russian immigration law can change at the drop of a hat (e.g.
the "immigration card" system introduced last year with no provisions for
foreigners already in Russia), and there is always the possibility that HIV
documentation will suddenly be required to extend visas.  So, better safe
than sorry.

*************************************************
Joseph Peschio, PhD Candidate
Department of Slavic Langs & Lits
University of Michigan
3040 MLB, Ann Arbor, MI 48109-1275
(734) 483-9422
jpeschio at umich.edu, peschio at feb-web.ru
*************************************************

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