Russian Tourists Affected by Slow Visa Processing

On April 22, 2018, the Washington Post published an interesting article titled “Frustrated at visa holdup, Russians give up on American vacations.”¹

The article quotes several prospective Russian visitors to the United States who are struggling to procure tourist visas. Due to the closure of the U.S. Consulate in St. Petersburg and consular staff reductions throughout Russia, the article explains that the next available visa appointment at the U.S. Embassy in Moscow “is in 250 days' time.” This is compared to the situation one year ago, where the article noted that “obtaining a U.S. tourist visa could take less than a week.”

In order to obtain tourist visas to visit the United States, some prospective Russian visitors have been seeking visas from U.S. embassies and consulates in neighboring countries in Eastern Europe. Other Russian citizens have been dissuaded from seeking tourist visas to visit the United States entirely, and have instead sought to schedule their foreign vacations in other countries.

We discussed the staffing reductions for the U.S. Mission in Russia [see article] and the closure of the U.S. Consulate in St. Petersburg on site [see blog]. The U.S. Department of State (DOS) warned that the staffing reductions and closure of the U.S. Consulate in St. Petersburg would substantially slow nonimmigrant visa processing in Russia. The Washington Post article describes the effect of the current diplomatic standoff between Russia and the United States on those seeking visas from Russia.

A prospective Russian visitor seeking a tourist visa or other type of nonimmigrant visa may consult with an experienced U.S. immigration attorney for case specific guidance regarding his or her unique circumstances and prospects for ultimately obtaining a visa. An experienced attorney may also provide the individual with a variety of options and scenarios.

We will continue to update the website with more information regarding visa processing in Russia as it becomes available. To learn about tourist visas generally, please see our category of articles on the subject [see category].

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1. Ferris-Rotman, Amie. “Frustrated by visa holdup, Russians give up on American vacations.” The Washington Post. Apr. 22, 2018. www.washingtonpost.com/world/europe/frustrated-at-visa-holdup-russians-turn-their-backs-on-america/2018/04/22/067f8bc2-4633-11e8-8082-105a446d19b8_story.html