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Will Russia ever change?

Way to Russia Talk Lounge Forum Index -> Russian Visa Forum

Author	Message
Zeus Frequent Guest Joined: 23 Mar 2005 Posts: 21	Posted: Wed Mar 23, 2005 12:33 pm    Post subject: Will Russia ever change? Will Russia ever change its outdated visa requirement? Maybe only allow citizens of the US, Canada, and EU in for a maximum of 90 days because people from these countries usually only want to visit and not stay illegally? Doesn't the visa system discourage a lot of foreigners to Russia thereby losing millions of dollars in tourism?
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overseas_expat VIP Joined: 11 Jan 2005 Posts: 741 Location: Moscow	Posted: Wed Mar 23, 2005 1:17 pm    Post subject: No. Russian visa requirements for Americans are a direct backlash to American visa requirements for Russians. They play a constant game of a-tit-for-a-tat. The other issue is Russian xenophobia. Russians have in their 1,000 or so year history, never been foreigner friendly. They never will be.
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MrSpice Lounge Wizard Joined: 14 Jul 2003 Posts: 3431	Posted: Wed Mar 23, 2005 6:02 pm    Post subject: I would like to bring to your attention that the requirement for Russian visa or travel to Russia are more string than that of Russian tourists visiting America. In Russia, American tourists have to register their visa, have to carry their documents with them at all times and have to go through exit control when they leave (god forbid you lose some documents, then may not let you leave the country).
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wavetossed WayToRussified Joined: 27 Jun 2004 Posts: 339	Posted: Wed Mar 30, 2005 2:30 am    Post subject: Mr. Spice, your comments about American tourists are misleading. In Russia, all residents must register their place of residence and carry their identity documents at all times and go through exit control when they leave Russia. A Russian citizen carries a domestic passport at all times and they must have a stamp indicating their residence in the city in which they are located. Russian citizens must show this passport when they register at a hotel, just like you. And when you go through exit control at the airport, notice the queues of Russians at the windows with Cyrillic writing on them. That writing says "Russian citizens only". I have not noticed those queues going significantly faster than the other ones. However, I do expect that Russia and some EU countries will have make it much less difficult to acquire visas over the next 2-3 years, especially the UK and Germany which have increasing business and social ties with Russia. The richest people in Britain are Russians, for instance. I don't know if much can be done about the registration hassles until the war on terror is well and truly over.
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MrSpice Lounge Wizard Joined: 14 Jul 2003 Posts: 3431	Posted: Wed Mar 30, 2005 11:10 pm    Post subject: My point was that when Russian defined those confusing and ridiculous visa regulations they justified them by the reciprocity rules saying that since Russians have to go through many loops to get American visas, they do the same for American tourists visiting Russia. I have no doubt that Russians themselves have to obey to a whole range of ridiculous regulations. That does not invaliudate my point. They could easily simplify the rules to stimulate tourists. For example, Americans no longer need visas to visit Estonia. Threat of terrorism has nothing to do with it.
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