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Simon Phipps's personal commentary

For a little while back there I was nearly going to Moscow next week, but then I tried to get a visa. Don't worry, they didn't refuse to admit me or anything. I succumbed to the byzantine application process long before actually applying for the visa. It required:

• an invitation letter
• a letter from my employer
• 3 photos
• photocopy of my passport
• proof of medical insurance
• application by my hosts at the Foreign Ministry in Moscow
• serial number of telex of approval from foreign office to London consulate
• loads and loads of visa fee, in cash
• in my case, a new passport as the old was full

If I had wanted a multiple entry visa I would additionally have needed an AIDS test in the last 30 days. After all that, I would have to pay a consultant even more money to get the visa in anything much less than a week. Still, according to the BBC, Moscow is not a great destination right now anyway.

posted at 11:55 PM (UK) | |