Time to Make a Russian Visa Trip to Ukraine…

Never enough time to get everything done! That is my thinking’s this morning over a cup of coffee…

The Russian consulate in Kiev, Ukraine has changed all the rules to get a visa for Russia. I know only what the website says and you can see everything right here on my article: http://windowstorussia.com/to-enter-the-russian-federation-a-foreign-citizen-needs-a-visa.html

I will have an update when I get back or while I am in Kiev. I plan on doing a lot of work there and was told that I would be there from 7 to 20 work days before I get my visa. I will be doing an article on exactly what I went through, for getting a Russian visa is an experience every time you do it due to changes in visa rules and regulations…

I made my appointment and have gotten all my resources together and on Monday, the 30th of July – we will see what happens…

I have my train ticket (one way) and my hotel reservation (three nights) and any more than that, I can not be sure when I will be back? So I will extend my hotel or rent a room in Kiev and buy my return train ticket when I know that I will be going home again…

Now that I have it settled as to internet connections in virtually all parts of the world, I will be doing all my normal online stuff and should be able to keep up on things…

I know that as soon as I get back to Russia, I will be ready to go to the village again and Sveta and I have most of October and maybe some of September before planned for vacation time. At least three weeks in Tunisia is on the chalk board as I write this and a trip North is definable in my plans of to do things…

But one thing at a time and right now going through the motions and getting a multi-entry year long visa to Russia is the important thing…

Kyle Keeton
Windows to Russia…

To Enter The Russian Federation a Foreign Citizen Needs a Visa…

This information only pertains to going to Ukraine and getting a visa, it also only pertains to the consulate in Kiev.

Citizens of countries who have bilateral or multilateral visa agreements with the Russian Federation may be exempted from visa requirements.

Foreign nationals, residing in Ukraine permanently or having permission for continuous stay for a period more than 90 days may apply to the Consulate. Permanent or temporary Residence Permit in Ukraine, Working Permit, long-term Ukrainian visa or registration with a local Ministry of Interior may serve as such permission. Citizens of some countries are exempted from this provision in conformity with the reciprocity principle.

Effective February 1, 2012, all foreign nationals applying for a Russian visa to the Russian Consulate in Kiev (as well as other Russian Consulates in Ukraine), should complete an electronic visa application form (EVA) posted at: HTTP://EVISA.KDMID.RU

Having completed the EVA in Russian or English, it should be printed out and submitted to the Consulate on the appointment day. Application form must be signed personally by the applicant.

From February 1, 2012 the Consulate accepts visa applications by appointment only. To make an appointment an applicant may:

Impotant! Please, be informed that due to technical reasons from July, 16 till August, 12 applicants are encouraged to make appointment requests by phone from 10:00 am to 13:00 pm only. E-mail requests will not be entertained during this period! Meanwhile, ordinary requests will still be possible.

1. Call (044) 286-45-04 from 10.00 am to 13.00 pm (visa officers speak English)
2. Send an e-mail to visakiev@inbox.ru (in Russian or English)
3. Visit the Consulate in person at office hours.
Full name, citizenship, contact phone number and number of applicants (for families or groups) should be specified. If you send an appointment request by e-mail a desired date of submission should be indicated.

Without an appointment, but during submission hours only, we accept:
1. Members of foreign diplomatic missions and recognized international organizations accredited in Ukraine, holders of diplomatic and official passports.
2. Foreigners who need to enter the Russian Federation for emergency treatment or in case of serious illness or death of a close relative.

WORKING HOURS

Mon

Tue

Wed

Thu

Fri

DOCUMENTS SUBMISSION

 09.30 – 12.30 09.30 – 12.30 09.30 – 12.30 09.30 – 12.00

VISA COLLECTION

15.00 – 16.00 15.00 – 16.00 12.00 – 13.00 15.00 – 16.00 12.00 – 13.00

PHONE CONSULTATION

10.00 – 13.00 10.00 – 13.00 10.00 – 13.00 10.00 – 13.00 10.00 – 13.00

GENERAL INFORMATION

Required Documents:

Regardless of the category of visa foreign citizens need to submit the following documents to the Consulate (located at 8 Kutuzova street, Kiev):

Visa processing normally takes 3 business days (urgent processing) or 7 business days (normal processing). Documents submission date is excluded from this term. Term of processing in some cases may be extended up to 20 business days. Citizens of some countries (Australia, Canada, Italy, Netherlands, USA, Turkmenistan, France), staying in Ukraine temporarily (with allowed period of stay not exceeding 90 days) are subject to longer processing term. Visa processing starts only after a complete package of documents is submitted to the Consulate and a visa fee is paid.

A package of documents for visa should be submitted by the applicant in person or by his/her legal representative. A permission to submit an application by the third person (a power of attorney should be attached) may be granted when an applicant schedules an appointment. Yet if the papers are submitted by the third person, the interview of any foreign citizen may be solely appointed by the Consul.

Having submitted the papers and paid the visa fees, an applicant gets the receipt that specifies the visa issue date. The receipt must be submitted on the specified date of visa issue. When an applicant collects a visa, he/she should check that it contains correct personal data, such as: name and surname in Latin script, validity term, passport number, date of birth, sex and number of entries. If any misprints occur, the visa should be returned in due term for correction
The Consulate is not responsible for any mistakes or incorrect information that an applicant has failed to inform the Consulate upon the visa collection!

MORE INFO
The visa may be extended only during the stay of foreign citizens in the Russian Federation, ordinary for a period not exceeding 10 days due to well-founded impossibility of leaving the country. The exceptions are training, working and temporary residence visa. Consulates outside the Russian Federation are not authorized to extend visas. If visa is expiring or a foreigners need to change the purpose of stay in the Russian Federation they should re-apply to the Consulate for a new visa, presenting a new set of documents. A new visa is issued subject to cancellation of previous visa if the latter still remains valid.

If a foreign citizen who is a holder of a valid Russian visa gets a new national passport and the previous is declared void, the visa may be restored in the new passport upon a written request of an applicant. A fee will be charged for the restoration of the visa.

Regardless of number of entries and validity of visa foreign citizens are permitted to stay on the territory of the Russian Federation for no more than 90 days within each period of 180 days. This provision does not apply to holders of working and student visas.
The Consulate may refuse an applicant a visa in the cases determined by the Russian Legislation. The disclosure of the reason for refusal may be withheld.
In case of refusal visa fee is not refundable.
The documents may not be submitted or accepted by mail.
Additional visa information on visa issues is provided by phone: (044) 286-45-04 at the fixed hours or by e-mail: visakiev@inbox.ru

Prior to calling or mailing us, please read carefully the above information. Prepare your query indicating your citizenship, scheduled dates of visiting Russia and purpose of entry.

Windows to Russia…

Adoption Trouble “Again” in America…

Another Russian child beaten by US foster parents:

Yet another child from Russia suffered from the hands of foster American parents. According to the local government, a week ago, a boy of eight escaped in the night from the house where he lived and knocked on the neighbors’ door. Later, the police found on the boy’s body the marks of heavy blows and opened a criminal case.

As reported on Wednesday in the consular department of the Russian Embassy in Washington, the boy’s name is Daniel Kruchina, born in the Russian city of Tula in 2003. He was adopted by Matthew and Amy Sweeney in 2006 who gave him their second name and the name of Daniel Alexander. The family lives in the town of Bristow in Virginia.According to local authorities, last Wednesday at about 1a.m. someone rang the doorbell of a local resident Ron Kramer. When Mr. Kramer opened the door, on his doorstep he found a little boy who asked him for shelter. Kramer called the police who collected the child and on examination found vivid marks from beatings on his body. The boy told the police officers that he was beaten regularly. In the morning Amy Sweeney told the police about the disappearance of her son. The police, however, did not return the child to her, and instead detained the parents themselves. Later they were charged with child abuse. They were subsequently released on bail of 20,000 dollars each pending court hearings. The boy is now under the care of local social services.
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Source: Voice of Russia.

Education in Russia to stay Free and not become “Pay For” Higher Education

The education in Russia will remain free, Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev said at a meeting of the Cabinet of Ministers Wednesday.

He said that the draft law to that effect had been generally approved.

The Russian government had been given one more week to improve the document before submitting it to the State Duma, lower house of parliament.

Medvedev stressed that the draft law is the most important of those which had been worked out by the government in recent years.

The law “On Education in the Russian Federation” is to replace two laws “On education” and “On higher and postgraduate education”, which were adopted in 1992 and 1996 respectively.

The draft law has been developed since 2009. Lawmakers took into consideration proposals and remarks made by Russian citizens. RIA, TASS

This is a big issue in Russia and for awhile it looked as if Sveta’s son would be the last of free education! In Russia you can go all the way to a doctors degree and it does not cost you a penny. Sveta’s son has gone to a very wonderful University and is working on his doctorate as I write this! It has not cost him a penny to go to school and he is a “Straight E Student” as we in the old days would say. He graduated recently in the first stage of his advanced degree and he got a red diploma and in Russia that is the best that you can do…

In Russia the honor system is based on the grade point averages. At least 4.75 out of 5.0 points required for the cum laude degree (“с отличием” (“s otlichiem”) in Russian or “red diploma”). The graduate has to receive a perfect grade on all final examinations. Usually less than 2% of all graduated students are able to accomplish this (depending on the university and year). In military schools, a “red diploma” may be accompanied by a gold medal (“summa cum laude”) for outstanding performance. Russian high schools also award a Gold Medal to the student who achieves a perfect score in all final examinations and in all other subjects not requiring a final exam. A Silver medal is awarded to high school students who have one or two grades of 4 (“хорошо” in Russian or “good”, being second highest grade) on their final exams or other subjects as listed in the high school diploma (“attestat o (polnom)srednem obrazovanii”).

I have to say that Russian have a fantastic opportunity to get a free education and many take full advantage of it. Most Russians that I deal with are very well educated and have a masters degree at the very least. A bachelors degree is considered worthless and futile, so most of the time I am talking to PHD people as I travel Russia by train all the time. Big difference in this area between Russia and America in education…

I am glad that Medvedev changed his stance on this issue and it looks like they listened to the people of Russia over this issue…

Kyle Keeton
Windows to Russia…