MOSCOW (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 23rd August, 2018) The number of US business visa applications has decreased twofold among Russian travelers since the United States limited its visa services in Russia a year ago, a survey by the Aeroclub business travel agency said on Thursday.
Since August last year, the US visa operations in Russia have been conducted "on a greatly reduced scale" due to staff cuts. In particular, nonimmigrant visa interviews were suspended at the US consulates in St. Petersburg, Yekaterinburg, and Vladivostok, and have been conducted only at the US Embassy in Moscow since September.
"The study has shown that over the past year the number of applications for US business visas in Russia has declined twofold over the past year. The applications of IT companies staff members, who make up a third of the total number of applications, have decreased by 54 percent. The [Fast-Moving Consumer Goods] FMCG sector staff have applied for US visas 38 percent less," the agency said.
According to Aeroclub CEO Yulia Lipatova, many business travelers now have to seek alternative ways to apply for a US visa, including applications via the US embassies in neighboring countries such as Armenia, Kazakhstan and Ukraine. The main problem now is that the time of submitting the documents for the application could take up to several months, Lipatova said.
The US move to limit its visa services in Russia was prompted by Moscow's scaling down the diplomatic presence of the US mission in Russia by 755 people to 455, the same number of diplomatic personnel Russia had in the United States after the 2016 expulsion of 35 Russian diplomats over alleged US election meddling which Moscow denied.
