The US embassy in Moscow has announced that it will suspend issuing nonimmigrant visas for nine days and will stop visa operations at the US consulates indefinitely in response to the Russian decision to cap embassy staff.
“All nonimmigrant visa operations across Russia will be suspended on August 23. Operations will resume in Moscow on September 1; visa operations at the US consulates will remain suspended indefinitely,” the embassy said in a statement issued on Monday.
The embassy will also cancel all scheduled appointments for visa applicants, in retaliation for Russia-imposed restrictions on American embassy staff.
Russia’s Foreign Ministry last month ordered the US embassy to reduce its diplomatic presence to 455 diplomats and staff by September 1.
That means a drastic reduction of more than 755 diplomatic staff so that the size of the embassy would match the size of Russia’s mission in the US. The move came after the US Congress…