EASING THE VISA PROCESS FOR YOUR RUSSIAN BUSINESS PARTNER
By Matthew Edwards & Dave Knuti
Helping your Russian business partners or employees navigate the process of obtaining a visa to visit the United States will help ensure a smoother relationship. Companies can ease the process for their Russian partners by advising them of considerations that can expedite, or delay, a visa application. It is important for companies to realize that instances of visa fraud have prompted more careful screening of visa applicants and that applicants have the burden of proving the legitimate purpose of their visits. The following tips address problems commonly encountered by applicants as gleaned from the experiences of numerous U.S. firms that have hosted Russian customers, employees, or partners in the United States.
Apply early: Applicants are advised to apply for visas at least 3 weeks in advance because of the possibility that the applicant will need to return for an interview from the consular section of the U.S. Embassy or a U.S. consulate. If you believe an interview will not be required, apply at least 10 business days before the desired departure date. Although early application does not guarantee a visa by a given date, it offers a better chance of receiving the visa in time than a late application.
Apply for the visa you really need: If multiple trips to the United States are anticipated, suggest that your Russian business contacts apply for the longest term business visas possible (3-year, multientry; or 1-year, multientry). This choice is more expensive than a single-entry visa, but it eliminates the need to reapply for each visit. Besides, the Consular Section will issue only one single-entry visa per applicant, per year. Russian employees or contractors coming to the United States to perform long-term work (as opposed to participation in training, familiarization meetings, or business negotiations) may need work visas—requiring compliance with Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS) regulations, rather than business visas.
Provide a proper invitation: Invitation (sponsor) letters should be written on company stationery with a U.S. corporate address and should be signed by an official at that location. Proofread the invitation letter carefully. Typos and grammatical errors draw tighter scrutiny. The time you save by delegating the drafting of an invitation letter to a staffer who lacks command of business English won’t compensate for the delays such mistakes can cause. Don’t simply copy a text your Russian contact sends you, thinking that he knows what the invitation should say. Remember, an American officer will review this letter, and a grammatically incorrect invitation signed by a U.S. company official can bring intense scrutiny. Do not substitute rubber stamps for an original signature or get the invitation notarized. Simply write a plain, clear, specific business letter summarizing the dates, purpose, and itinerary of the visit.
Be prepared and be forthcoming: If an applicant requires an interview, and new or previously refused applicants generally will, it will be the most important part of the application process. Applicants must demonstrate their legitimate business purpose and intent to comply with their visas (i.e., to return on time). Russians who are young, fluent in English and technically skilled may make better business partners, but should realize that they could be considered higher risks to overstay their visas. The more clearly an applicant states the purpose of his/her visit on the application and in the interview, the more easily he/she will receive a visa. People traveling in groups should give honest, consistent answers. For example, a business visa applicant can run into trouble when accompanying friends or relatives (who will be traveling as tourists) present themselves as employees of the applicant’s company, when in fact they are not. Before the interview, make sure your Russian invitee fully understands the itinerary and purpose of his/her trip, and can explain it. While it is generally not helpful to bring extensive documentation, the inviting company should consider preparing a concise statement of the nature of its business with the applicant, along with other facts that can help establish the legitimacy of the intended visit. Applicants who respond to interview questions by giving answers inconsistent with their invitations or the written information on their applications risk refusal. Fudging information of any sort is never a good idea.
Companies with a local presence in Russia may find it advantageous to be members of the American Chamber of Commerce in Russia (Amcham). The Consular Section of the U.S. Embassy in Moscow has arranged that member firms, by presenting an Amcham letter attesting to their membership, may be able to bypass the interview requirement for their Russian business contacts, as well as their local Russian national employees. Fees to join the Amcham (email: amchamru@amcham.ru) vary depending on company size.Although membership does not guarantee an interview-free visa application, it can be helpful in establishing the bona fides of applicants.
U.S. companies should encourage their Russian business contacts to submit complete, truthful applications with sufficient lead time as the best way to obtain a visa on time. In general, if the application process is handled in this manner, problems can be avoided. However, a Russian company’s current or past applications can have a bearing on its employees’ ability to obtain visas. Russian companies should keep in mind that it may be the individual that they are trying to send to the United States who is rejected, rather than the company itself.
Visa applicants or their hosts can contact the Consular Section of the U.S. Embassy in Moscow at phone +7 (095) 956-4242 (Russian) or +7 (095) 956-4233 (English) for updated official information on application requirements and procedures. Information on visa requirements can also be found on the U.S. Embassy in Moscow website at http://www.usia.gov/abtusia/posts/RS1/wwwhcm.html.
Although the Embassy’s Commercial Section is not authorized to process visas, it is able to offer informal advice to new applicants before they apply and to applicants who have encountered problems in the past. The Commercial Service in Moscow can be contacted at tel: +7 (095) 737-5030, fax +7 (095) 737-5033, or email: moscow.office.box@mail.doc.gov.
Matthew Edwards and David Knuti are Commercial Attach‚s for the U.S. Commercial Service at the American Embassy in Moscow.