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Date of entry into force of RF-US visa deal to be specified later

Russia and the United States have signed an agreement on easing visa travel formalities

BALI, Indonesia, November 19 (Itar-Tass) — Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said the date of entry into force of the easing visa travel agreement between Russia and the U.S. would be specified further.

After the talks with U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton on Saturday, Lavrov said, “As for visa issues, today we’ve exchanged notes with Clinton. These notes are part of an inter-governmental agreement and this agreement envisions easing visa formalities between the two countries. At present, businessmen and tourists will be able to receive multiple three-year visas and officials of both countries will be able to get multiple one-year visas.”

“The document should be ratified by Russia. That is why we’ll inform you about the date of entry into force of the agreement later,” the Russian foreign minister stressed.

Russia and the United States have signed an agreement on easing visa travel formalities.

The agreement on easing visa travel formalities for citizens between the two countries was concluded on Saturday by exchanging notes.

Earlier, Foreign Ministry spokesman Alexander Lukashevich said, “The agreement should be ratified by the Russian Federal Assembly. Three-year multiple visas, which are planning to be issued to tourists and businessmen of both countries, are not envisioned by Russian legislation.

Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov stressed, “The exchange of notes will be the first step towards the key goal – to establish visa free travel formalities for a term of 90 days.”

The agreement is related to the conditions for issuing visas for brief official trips and the conditions for issuing business, private, humanitarian and tourist visas by the Russian Federation, and B1/B2 visas by the United States.

Under the note, the parties agree to issue multiple visas for the period of stay not less than six months from the date of each entry. The visas will be effective for 36 months from the date of issue. This agreement is effective if the parties observe the principle of mutuality.