US tourist visa for Russian in-law

[davet]

The web site for the US embassy in Moscow lists a pretty straight forward procedure for obtaining a tourist visa for a Russian national (in this case my father-in-law) for a short (1 month) visit to the US.

For those members who have gone through this procedure, are there any comments, suggestions, caveats, problems, etc that would be helpful.  We are just starting the process for a hoped-for late summer visit.

Thanks
Dave

[Apk1]

... in response to US tourist visa for Russian in-law, posted by davet on Apr 9, 2004

My M.I.L visited in December for a month, for her it was quite easy to obtain a visa. She is over 60 y.o. and is not considered a risk.

The procedure: Fill out application at an E.L.F. station in Moscow, some are even at the local metro...submit passport, pay the $100 fee and wait. About 3 weeks later she received a phone call stating that her passport will be hand delivered to her home the next day. She was pleasantly surprised that the package included her passport with her visa attached inside. There was no interview, or other documents required.  

By the way, my M.I.L does not have any family in Russia...her sole source of income is by pension...she does own her flat, but that was not required to stipulate.

What I did was send her a letter to state that she will be visiting us, to be used at the interview...but was not needed.

Hope this helps..

[davet]

... in response to Re: US tourist visa for Russian in-law, posted by Apk1 on Apr 10, 2004

Thanks!