US to resume interviews for nonimmigrant visas across Russia

MOSCOW – The U.S. Embassy in Moscow says consulates in several Russian cities will resume interviews for nonimmigrant visas, more than three months after they were suspended amid a U.S.-Russian diplomatic tug of war.

The embassy said Monday that the U.S. consulates in St. Petersburg, Yekaterinburg, and Vladivostok will begin to offer limited interviews for nonimmigrant visas starting Dec. 11. In August, the U.S. suspended issuing nonimmigrant visas in Moscow for a week and stopped issuing visas at its consulates elsewhere in Russia.

It noted that “we believe that people-to-people interactions and U.S.-Russian business ties are the bedrock to stability in the bilateral relationship,” but added that services, however, won’t return to the level that existed before Russia ordered the U.S. to cut its diplomatic personnel by about two thirds.