Owen, a student in St Petersburg, has been experiencing a few problems renewing his Russian visa:
In order to extend, you need: An HIV test, several passport pictures, proof of medical insurance, proof that you’ve paid the semester’s tuition, two applications, your name on a sheet of paper from the room down the hall (let’s be nice, pretend they have good organization, and call this the “Registrar’s Office), a receipt for payment of the application fee (400 rubles ~ $15), and one small pink monkey (to act as your intermediary should any conflict arise with the passport thief).
These various steps have to be done in a certain order, and that often entails a lot of walking back and forth to the same places multiple times. To start with, the Foreign Office is open to students only between the hours of 3 and 5 pm. Since there are thousands of foreign students at the university, this means that if you want to get in, you often have to come hours in advance. It also means that if you want to go to several rooms in the same building, it might take several days, because each one has its own line. Oh, and they’re closed on Wednesdays, because eight hours a week is enough to take care of thousands of students.
There’s more to Owen’s story. Far, far more… a tale of bureaucratic woe that could only ever be the product of the warped Russian mind.
I count myself truly fortunate that I studied at a Russian university that was progressive enough to take my passport and lots of money out of my sticky little mitts, and do all the work for me.