US visas

Main article: United States

Simplified visa regime

On September 9, 2012, an agreement between Russia and the United States on the mutual simplification of visa formalities entered into force.

The agreement between the two countries provides for the issuance of three-year multiple visas to citizens of Russia and the United States for continuous stay in each of the countries for 6 months from the date of entry. According to the new rules, Russia will issue business, private, humanitarian and tourist visas with direct invitations from American citizens and organizations, and the United States of America will issue visas of the "B1/B2" category (business/tourism). Visas are expected to be issued within 15 calendar days from the date of submission of documents.

Sergei Lavrov and Hillary Clinton exchanged notes on visa relief in November 2011, as part of the East Asian Summit held in Bali. Later, both countries ratified the agreement and set a deadline for its entry into force^[1] States^[1].

Annual number of visas

According to US Ambassador to Russia Michael McFaul, from January to September 2012, a record number of Russians have already received American visas - about 160 thousand people.

Restrictions on the issuance of visas

2019: US denies people entry over their friends' social media posts

At the end of August 2019, customs USA refused entry to a foreign student who had just entered. The reason was Harvard the messages of his friends on social networks.

Lebanese citizen Ismail Ajjawi lost his right to a student visa and was deported home shortly after arriving at Boston International Airport. Customs officials searched his phone and decided he was ineligible because of his friends' social media posts. Ajjawi countered that he "cannot be held responsible" for other people's posts, but customs officials were adamant.

US denied entry to foreign student

Ajjawi's case is not isolated. A Pakistani national who wished to remain anonymous has been banned from entering the country on the grounds that he received a photo with questionable content on the WhatsApp app. It was an image of a murdered and disfigured child dating back to 2009, widely circulated online and easily searchable by killer name. The Pakistani explained that the message came to him through the mailing of an acquaintance who warned friends about the wave of abductions and murders of children. The WhatsApp application automatically saves graphics applications on smartphones, which happened in this case, but the customs officer did not listen to the explanations. The victim's five-year visa was revoked and he himself was sent on a return flight home to Pakistan.

From 2015 to the end of August 2019, the number of searches of electronic devices at customs quadrupled and exceeded 30,200 per year. Lawmakers accused the US border service of abuse of authority, since customs officers checked the devices without a warrant, but they assured that a search warrant for the devices was not required at the border. Due to several lawsuits filed, the courts are trying to resolve the issue of the legality of such searches, but so far no precedent has been set.^[2]

Work visas in the United States

Main article: U.S. work visas

EB-5: Investor Visa

2020: Who emigrated to the US on an EB-5 investor visa

The United States issued 3,596 EB-5 visas in 2020, according to a report by U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. The record holder was China - 1,686 visas.

The second place was taken India - local residents received 613 visas, and the third place was unexpectedly taken Vietnam with 456 successful applicants. The fourth and fifth places in this list went to South Korea (152) and Taiwan (96).

Among investors from Russia, the situation has changed. Only 1% of EB-5 visas issued in 2020 went to citizens of the Russian Federation - 36 permits. Eight visas were issued to Azerbaijanis and two to Kazakhs.

This is despite the fact that the deadline for issuing EB-5 in Kazakhstan and Russia is much shorter than in India and China, where it is almost impossible to accelerate processes due to the huge flow of applicants.

Notes