Russian diplomats are experiencing visa problems due to the delay in the issuance procedure by the United States. This was announced to RIA Novosti by the Russian Consul General in Houston, Alexander Zakharov.
According to him, the American side not only delays the issuance of permits to new employees, but also does not extend the existing ones. The Consul General added that due to such an attitude, there is often no replacement for diplomats returning to their homeland.
“For several years now, the Consulate General has been functioning in an incomplete staffing precisely because of the tough visa policy of our American colleagues. The waiting time for visas for a year or more has become commonplace, while the result is not guaranteed, ”complained Zakharov.
He added that sometimes colleagues are forced to urgently go to Russia, which in such a situation means “a one-way ticket in the middle of a business trip.” The Consul General hoped that the United States would reconsider its position on visa issues.
A year ago, in February 2020, the UN Disarmament Commission was forced to postpone a meeting in New York due to the refusal to issue a visa to the head of the Russian delegation, Konstantin Vorontsov. A few months earlier, 10 members of the Russian delegation to the UN General Assembly session had not received American visas.
In 2017, the United States demanded the closure of the Russian consulate general in San Francis and the trade office in Washington. The White House indicated that the decision was a response to the reduction of the American diplomatic corps in Russia.
