Tightening up the legal loopholes

I received the message below in a listserve I belong to, and it might be of interest to those planning to travel to Russia, or those who want stay there for any length of time. I was always worried about my legal status and it seems the visa issue is about to get even trickier.

For those who aren't on the US Consulate warden list:

Warden Message - From U.S. Consul General Kurt E. Amend

First, I wish to thank all of you who participated in the Live Webchat on
October 30. We will soon have a full transcript available on the Embassy's
website, http://usembassy.ru.

Not surprisingly, during the webchat many of you expressed concern about the
new Russian visa regulations. We have been monitoring this issue closely,
and have been in contact with Russian government officials in an attempt to
clarify the new rules. There are still many unanswered questions, and we are
trying to get a complete picture of exactly how these new regulations will
affect U.S. citizens in the Russian Federation.

As I said in the webchat, for now, there are three key changes for American
citizens to bear in mind: First, if your visa expires, you must seek a new
one from the Federal Migration Service, unless the visa has expired within
the last three days. In that case, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs may issue
a new visa. Whatever your situation, please be aware that any foreigner with
an expired visa in the Russian Federation, even a visa expired for just one
day, can face a considerable delay in leaving the country.

The second change has to do with where a person can apply for a visa. There
are some narrow exceptions, but essentially, any foreigner now has to apply
for a Russian visa either in their home country, or in a country where they
are permitted a stay of more than 90 days. We have canvassed the entry
regulations for U.S. citizens for nearby countries, and the only country
where U.S. citizens are regularly admitted for more than 90 days is Great
Britain. I would nevertheless caution anyone considering applying for a new
visa at the Russian Embassy in London to check first, and make sure that
your application will be accepted.

The third change has to do with those on a "Regular" visa. Except for the
student and employment categories, visa holders in this group may now only
spend 90 days in Russia in a 180-day period. We do not know how current visa
holders will be grandfathered, and there may be some uneven implementation
of this new requirement. Please be aware, however, that this is what the new
regulations indicate, and potentially, the penalty for non-compliance is a
five-year ban from the Russian Federation.

Until we have a better sense of how these rules will be implemented, I
recommend that all U.S. citizens in the Russian Federation check with their
visa sponsors regularly, and make sure that they are in compliance with
Russian law. When we have a more definitive picture of the new law, we will
send out additional warden messages and post the information on our website.
In the meantime, you can also get information (in Russian) from the website
of the Federal Migration Service, at: http://www.fms.gov.ru

Regards,
Kurt Amend
Consul General