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Visas New Visa Regulations for US Citizens The Federal Border Guard control department announced that they had not reported any incidents of US citizens experiencing problems at Russian International airports due to the introduction of Transit Visas. The new restrictions came into force on May 6th following the announcement that the USA had imposed similar requirements for Russian citizens transiting American airports. Previously US citizens required only a boarding pass to leave their plane during a stop-over at a Russian airport. Now American citizens will only be allowed into the International zone of the airport if they are in possession of a valid Transit Visa. Russia to Offer Visas at the Airport With a substantial number of reports and articles from National and Municipal levels for the need to increase In-Coming tourism, Russia plans to offer short-term tourist visas at selected points of entry. Initially it is planned to offer these visas in Moscow's Sheremetyevo-2 and St. Petersburg airports. However these visas will only be valid for short stays of 3 days or less and are limited to one city. "Russia acknowledges the importance of Tourism and this is the first move to simplify visa regulations" No final details were available on cost, conditions and availability of these visas but the importance of this decision was well noted by many short-break specialists who have long avoided Russia due to the visa situations. Hungary adopts EU Visa Policy for Russian visitors As Hungary aligns itself towards entry into the European Union, it introduced visa requirements for several eastern countries, including Russian visitors starting on June 3rd. This move will certainly affect tourism from Russia and it is anticipated that the results will be similar to the impact on tourism to the Czech Republic that introduced Visa requirements in 2000. Hungary is a front runner amongst applicant states for accession in to the European Union and is hoping for membership in 2004.  |
