Russia and the USA will simplify the visa regime: the law has already been signed
President Vladimir Putin has already signed the law ratifying
the agreement between Russia and the USA to simplify visa formalities.
According to this document, a multiple entry American visa will now be valid up
to three years. It needs to be pointed out that the tour business has been
waiting for this for nearly a year. The actual agreement was already developed
last summer to stimulate mutual trips between citizens of both Russi and the
USA, development of economic, cultural, scientific and humanitarian connections
between the two governments.
Two main visa
concessions await the tourists. American
visas type В1/В2 will become cheaper, and they will need to be renewed much
less frequently: they will be valid for up to 3 years now, instead of the
previous 2. Requests for a visa will be processed within 15 working days.
The general director
of the “America Travel” company and head of Visit USA Margarita Babayan reminds
us that over the course of the past few years, Americans have been gradually
increasing the period of validity of their visas – first to a year, then to two
years. The
new 3 year visa will become even more of a stimulus for Russians to visit the
USA, Ms Babayan is sure. “Experience shows that tourists, who currently hold a
two year visa, try to use it at least one more time. Over three years, there is
the possibility to make even more trips”, - she explained to RATA-news.
Margarita Babayan also
pointed out that Russians practically have no problems associated with
acquiring an American visa the number of refusals makes up no more than 3%. Any citizen can apply for a visa via a tour
operator or go through the process themselves, by filling out a special form on
the website of the American Consulate and paying the visa fee. Starting from
March this year, the American Consulate began giving out visas without
consultation to those tourists who had recently been to the country. Those
seeking an American visa can acquire it without going through the compulsory
interview, if their previous visa had expired with in the past 47 months.
According to
information from Visit USA, from the start of this year the number of American
visas given to Russian citizens has increased around 13% to 23% (depending on
the month), so 18% on average. In
terms of summer sales, according to data from participants of the market, their
growth varies in range from 5% to 12%.
The general director
of the “American Company of Travel” Elena Gubareva thinks that such results are
completely adequate for the specifics of this direction: “Because of the
presence of visa formalities, the bulk of summer sales had already passed 3-4
months ago. Now
people are actively booking their New Year holidays”. At the same time, with
the introduction of the three year visa, tourists will have the opportunity to
get their tickets at the last moment – about a week or two before the start of
their holiday.
The general director
of the company “Agenstvo