(Itar-Tass) The British embassy in Russia will recruit partner companies to deal with visa applications from May 2006.
One of them is VFS, which will work in cooperation with the Russian company Interlink. They will accept visa fees, check the correctness of visa application forms, and type the information into the computer.
All visa decisions will be made by embassy personnel in Moscow and the consulate generals in St. Petersburg and Yekaterinburg, the embassy said on Monday.
British Ambassador Anthony Brenton believes that the new system will simplify the issue of visas and make this process more comfortable for Russian people who live in different parts of the country.
New visa application processing centers will be set up in 11 major Russian cities. They will have longer working hours than the embassies and consulates.
A single embassy-controlled visa processing fee of 900 roubles will be introduced. The sum does not include the cost of the visa and will be paid in addition to the regular visa fee. Last year, the British embassy in Russia issued about 108,000 visas, an increase of 11 percent from the previous year.
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