Russia will respond in kind to the US Embassy in Moscow and consulates in the country limiting their visa operations as they prepare for staff cuts by September 1, a senior Russian senator told Sputnik on Monday.
“This is of course a demarche. We cannot stay in debt. Everything here is obviously going to be mirrored,” Andrei Klimov, the head of the commission on state sovereignty protection of the Russian Federation Council, said.
Klimov was responding to the US embassy’s announcement earlier in the day that non-immigrant visa processing would be suspended on Wednesday.
The embassy said Moscow’s requirement to cut its staff to 455 diplomats and technical personnel would also affect “the scheduling of a limited number of immigrant visa applications”.
The embassy also said that Russian citizens who had paid a visa fee before the US Embassy in Moscow and consulates throughout the country canceled visa operations as of Wednesday, will not be able to either get a refund or transfer their applications to another country.
“We cannot refund fees that have been paid. However, the fee is valid for one year from the date of the payment,” the embassy said in a fact sheet accompanying its statement.
The embassy added: “Visa fees are not transferrable outside the country in which the fee was paid.
“If you wish to apply outside Russia, you would need to begin a new application and pay the fee according to that location’s instructions.”