VisaSwift Visa and Passport Services

Embassy Closures

The following Embassies have national or local holidays whithin the next 10 days and may be closed:

14/05/2008
Thailand	Embassy Closed

15/05/2008
Paraguay	Embassy Closed

19/05/2008
Canada	Victory Day

20/05/2008
India	Buddha Purnima

22/05/2008
Portugal	Corpus Christi

22/05/2008
Austria	Corpus Christi

Embassy & Visa News

Russia UEFA CHAMPIONS LEAGUE
EMBASSY’S ANNOUNCEMENT ON UEFA CHAMPIONS LEAGUE FINAL 05.05.2008. The Russian Authorities made a decision to establish a non-visa regime for British supporters traveling to Moscow Champion’s League final on 17 – 25 May. The said decision will be enforced by an Act which to be adopted in a term comfortably allowing the supporters to arrive for the game in time. To qualify a non-visa entrance a football supporter should have: National passport with at least six months validity, which has at least 2 blank pages; Original game ticket (which a supporter must keep and present later to the immigration authorities upon departure) Completed Russian Migration Card (blank Migration Cards were handed to Manchester and Chelsea clubs representatives in Moscow on May, 2) However, in case a game ticket holder wishes for some reason to get a Russian visa for the said period of time, he may do it by applying to Russian National Tourist Office company with the following set of the documents: National passport with at least six months validity, which has at least 2 blank pages; One recent passport size photo glued to the indicated space on the application form; Copy of a game ticket; Completed Consulate Questionnaire (must be completed online). Upon Russian Legislation visitors need not be registered if their visits last less than three days. If a supporter wishes to stay in Moscow for more than 72 hours hotels will automatically do this for him. Russian National Tourist Office 70, Piccadilly London W1J 8HP Tel: 0208 242 4104 Fax: 0207 495 8555 www.visitrussia.org.uk

Russian Visa Delays
Due to 2 English football teams playing in Moscow in 3 weeks time the demand for Russian visas has sky rocketed. The embassy might take longer to issue visas than usual we recommend that if you will be applying for a Russian visa that you try to leave yourself as much time as possible. The 7 day service will be especially affected. If you will be traveling to Moscow for the game the only way we can help you is by going through the normal process of applying for a tourist voucher on your behalf and then applying for a visa. The Russian embassy have however made a special allowance for ticket holders for more details go to the Russian website.

China - Requirement Changes
Please note that the following requirements have been added to the list of paper work required to succesfully apply for a Chinese visa. A Copy of Outward and Return Flight Ticket Booking. A Copy of Chinese Hotel Booking. For Business you will also require . Visa Notification Form Issued by the Relevant Department of Chinese Government or Government Authorised Company. Please note this is not just your normal invite letter, it needs to be AUTHORISED/STAMPED by local government.

China - Visa Changes
Due to changes at the Chinese Embassy,they will no longer issue 3 month single and double visas. However they will be issuing 2 months single and double visas in place of the 3 month visas. All MULTIPLE visa applications have to provide a invitation letter that comes from the Local Government in China. Should the invite letter not come from the Local Government in China, the Chinese embassy will only issue a single or double visa for the applicant.

France - Apply in Person now
Please note that as of 27 Feb 2008, the French Embassy no longer allow agents to lodge applications for Bangladesh,Belarus, Nigeria and Vietnam. Those nationals will now need to apply in person and expect a delay for the study of their applications.

Russia - Application travel dates
Please ensure that the travel dates on application forms match those that are on russian invites/vouchers. The Russian embassy have given us strict guidelines regarding this and we cannot lodge or accept any applications that do not meet this requirement.

Russia - Cut-off Time
We are now operationg a cut of time of 4pm for all Russian visa applications for next day lodging. We are able to offer a sameday lodging service but will need to charge a double procurement fee. If you require this service please notify us asap.

INDIA - Processing Times
Due to the high demand for Indian visa’s at the moment all Indian visa applications will take 2 weeks to process. We have also had to increase our procurement charge by £20 for all our clients in order to accomodate for extra costs due to queuing times. We apologise for any inconvenience that this may cause. Please contact us if this turn around time won’t meet your requirents theer are other ways we can help.

Travel Warnings

The British Foreign & Commonwealth Office has issued travel warnings for the following countries:

Afghanistan

Albania

Algeria

Azerbaijan

Burundi

Cameroon

Chad

Colombia

Congo

Cote D’Ivoire

Ecuador

Eritrea

Ethiopia

Georgia

India

Indonesia

Iran

Iraq

Israel

Liberia

Mali

Niger

Nigeria

Pakistan

Philippines

Somalia

Sudan

Uganda

Yemen

Please check with VisaSwift or the relevant embassy for more information.