WP - U.S. Embassy stops issuing nonimmigrant visas to Russians as diplomatic standoff deepens

Andrew Roth at the Washington Post ("Democracy Dies in Darkness") offered a well-written article.

Money quote(s):

"The decision comes after Russia demanded that the U.S. mission in the country reduce its staff from more than 1,200 employees to 455, the same size as the Russian diplomatic mission in the United States. The American Embassy’s announcement will likely mean delays for the hundreds of thousands of Russians who apply for nonimmigrant visas to the United States each year."

Wait times will go up, and keep going up, and applicants will have to travel much farther for their interviews.

"Senior Russian lawmakers in the Duma and the Federation Council on Monday suggested a “mirror” response that could affect Americans seeking Russian visas. Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said he believed that by slowing the visa process the United States may be trying to “provoke discontent of Russian citizens against the actions of the Russian government,” but Lavrov also appeared to rule out a similar response by the Russian government."

In a functioning representative democracy, like the U.S. por ejemplo, that sort of "discontent" means writing your congressional representative or even the White House, and telling them to do something about it.

What that means in Russia, CAA can't predict.

"With a Sept. 1 deadline to cut more than 750 staff positions looming, the embassy announced on Monday that it would suspend all nonimmigrant visa applications and interviews until then, and that afterward it would suspend U.S. visa interviews at the American consulates in St. Petersburg, Yekaterinburg and Vladivostok — effectively forcing Russians across the vast country to travel to Moscow for a U.S. visa."

A staff cut of this magnitude (roughly 60 percent) and including U.S. staff who have to be packed-up and relocated back to (usually) Washington means a huge (if temporary) ramp-up in administrative and logistical tasks, which is why non-essential services get dropped even before the September deadline.

Read the whole thing here.

Reuters - U.S. scales back Russian visa operations after Putin cuts embassy staff

Andrew Osborn and Polina Devitt at Reuters ("the world’s largest international multimedia news provider") report something-wholly-to-be-expected.

Money quote(s):

"The U.S. Embassy said it was suspending all non-immigrant visa operations across Russia on Wednesday and that when they resumed on Sept. 1, they would be offered "on a greatly reduced scale"."

This is what happens when you (Russia) force an embassy staff cut of 60 percent (755 positions) spread out over four posts, all of which have provided consular, including visa, services.  While visa operations are not horribly manpower intensive, taken in aggregate the represent something of an easy target if you don't mind making reducing or eliminating the ease of obtaining a U.S. visa.

""Capacity for interviews in the future will be greatly reduced because we have had to greatly reduce our staffing levels to comply with the Russian government’s requirement," it said in a statement."

Sixty percent is huge staffing cut and the U.S. is all about reciprocity in this sort of situation.  

In a working democracy, local citizens who suddenly can't visit relatives, go on business trips, vacation at Disney (either of them), or have to travel multiple time-zones just to go for their interview (and months later than they'd planned) would scream to their elected representatives to do something.  

In less representative countries, the bigshots (who have no trouble getting visas themselves, even if they have to tag-along as members of an official delegation) are untroubled by this.

"Russian citizens wanting to visit the United States for business, tourism or educational reasons will no longer be able to apply via U.S. consulates outside Moscow and will have to travel to the Russian capital instead.

That will pose a logistical challenge for many Russians, whose country is the world's largest by territory. The United States has consulates in St. Petersburg, Vladivostok and Yekaterinburg."

That's gotta suck.  The flipside is there's just not a similar American demand for Russian visas at their U.S. offices in Washington, New York, and San Francisco, so whatever the retaliation reciprocity will be, it's likely to appear in something not directly linked to visas.  CAA is not a Kremlinologist, but he's been reading the papers long enough to recognized this M.O.

"The U.S. Embassy signaled its new scaled-back visa regime could be in place for some time.

"We will operate at reduced capacity for as long as our staffing levels are reduced," it said."

Can't put it much more clearly than that.

re: "US Embassy Iraq Staffing: To Slash or Not to Slash, That is the Question"

Domani Spero at Diplopundit ("an obsessive compulsive observer, diplomatic watcher, and opinionator who monitors the goings on at ‘Foggy-Bottom’ (i.e. the State Department) and the “worldwide available” universe from Albania to Zimbabwe") looked at the problem of right-sizing AmbEmb Baghdad.

Money quote(s):

"One of the most expensive part of Embassy Baghdad’s operation is security protection. So when the spokesperson says that the embassy is “currently too dependent on contractors” and that “we can do more with Iraqi staff” in one breath, one has to wonder if this includes having Iraqis provide local security protection for the embassy. Are armed Iraqi guards protecting our unarmed diplomats around the Green Zone and across Iraq, an option on the right-sizing table?

See, if State slashes the number of expensive contractors but won’t slash the number of diplomats, who will perform the necessary security protection? I understand that there are 200 Diplomatic Security Agents assigned in Iraq (where a traditional embassy normally gets 2-3), but that number won’t be enough to provide security protection for 1,600-2,000 diplomats.

As an aside, we’ve been training and arming Afghan soldiers in Afghanistan who in turn have used the guns and the training we’ve provided them to kill our own soldiers and coalition forces. And those are not isolated one or two cases. I just feel the need to mention that."

Going local with our embassy security services in Iraq is just chock full of fail. CAA sincerely advises against it and hopes that whomever, if anyone, is considering it do so swiftly and decisively in the negative.

"Iraqi staff at the US Embassy only need a year of service before qualifying for special immigrant visas to the United States (in other places, local employees need 15-20 years of service before qualifying for SIVs). Which means American officials are not the only ones learning on the job with each new rotation into Iraq. Local employees, traditionally the backbone of an embassy operation, are on Iraq’s case, in a state of perpetual training. Just as soon as they learn their jobs, they’re off to a new life in the United States. Then the embassy in Baghdad is off to recruiting and training new local employees to replaced the ones who left."

CAA doesn't find fault, exactly, with our Special Immigrant (SIV) program designed to save the lives of our local staff, as well as the military-employed folks for whom it was originally intended. Another situation chock full of good intentions that bites us where it hurts in terms of ongoing operations. This amounts to a self-inflicted brain drain.

2/9

MT - County clerk cancels passport program. Residents still can take applications to the post office; staffing levels forced the move.

Mail Tribune

County clerk cancels passport program. Residents still can take applications to the post office; staffing levels forced the move.

March 10, 2009

By Damian Mann

Mail Tribune

Local residents no longer have the convenience of heading to the Jackson County Clerk's Office to get passports because of recent staff reductions.

Read the whole article here.

Snippet(s):

"In 2008, the U.S. began issuing passport cards, which can be used to enter the country from Canada, Mexico and the Caribbean, as well as land border crossings or sea ports of entry.

So far, 700,000 U.S. passport cards have been issued, with an average wait time of three weeks. The cards are about the size of a credit card and are less expensive than a passport book, but cannot be used for international air travel.

The card costs $45 for a first-time adult passport applicant and $35 for all minor applicants under age 16. Adults who already have a fully valid passport book may apply for the card as a passport renewal by mail and pay only $20.

For passport application forms, documentation, fees or international travel information, go to www.travel.state.gov."

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Reach reporter Damian Mann at 776-4476 or dmann@mailtribune.com.