Russian embassy in Nicosia cracks down on overpriced visas

The Russian embassy has given reassurances that charges for obtaining a visa to travel to Russia will be much lower after complaints that some were asked to pay over €400 for emergency tourist visas.

The complaint was filed last January by Alexei Voloboev, member of the political office of the party I, the Citizen (EOP) through a letter to Russian ambassador Stanislav Osadchiy calling on him to investigate the practice of privately operated centres on the island issuing visas for visitors wanting to go to Russia and complaining of overcharging.

Voloboev had said in his letter that apart from the consular and service fees of €25 plus VAT (19 per cent), the centres’ employees impose many additional charges for services that skyrocket the cost of their service.

He gave as an example charges for the delivery of each application from the centre to the Russian embassy in Nicosia which is €50 plus VAT, while to send the documents within the same day the cost is €230 plus VAT. An EU citizen who wanted to visit Russia for the funeral of a close relative, had to pay around €560 for an urgent three-day tourist visa, while a large international company with offices in Cyprus and Russia had to pay between €800 and €900 for annual visas for each of their employees.

The Russian embassy, acknowledging that the higher prices charged urged many to file for visas directly to its consular services instead of going to the private company’s offices, said that measures were taken and that the company, Interlink Service, has improved the quality of its services and changed its charges for additional services.

Now, it said, the charge for regular visa at the company’s Nicosia office will cost €30 plus taxes. An additional €25 will be charged for an urgent issuance of visa. The company’s offices in the other cities will charge an additional €50, the embassy said.

It added that the services offered include receiving the necessary visa documents, checking compliance with Russian law, filing them to the consulate to check, receiving passports for the visa issuance and return of the documents to the visa centres to be given to applicants.

The embassy also said that applications can also be submitted directly to its consular department if applicants can verify the visas concern them or close relatives.

They just need to book an appointment at https://q.midpass.ru , the embassy said.

 

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