Season II, Episode 11: Visa
Tuesday June 14th dawned hot and humid in Moscow. The cotton was still falling from the trees and the sun was shining in the sky.
We all got up and had our breakfast. I then left once more for the Metro again. I was going to the Moscow office of my firm. I had sent a package there from Chicago and was going to pick it up. Among the contents of the package, a runner's Camelbak for Pasha. He’s runs marathons and running in Moscow’s summer is oppressive. I thought the Camelbak would relieve some of it.
This trip offered a new challenge, I had to transfer between two different lines of the Metro to get to the office. I would need to take the 2 (Green) line to the Театральня/Охотный Ряд Metro station, then transfer to the 1 (Red) line and take it to the Тургеневская (pronounced “Turgenevskaya”) Metro station.
It was not a difficult as I thought it would be. I arrived at the Театральня/Охотный Ряд station with now problem and followed the arrows on signs with a red “1” in side a red circle to the 1 (Red) line. I looked up and at the “1” and “2” track signs, found Тургеневская on one of the signs and went to the side of the platform the arrow on the sign pointed two. A train arrived and I was on my way.
I did notice that with it being a work-day, event at around 10:30 AM, the Metro was much more crowded that over the weekend or on the Constitution Day holiday. First we stopped at the Лубяанка(pronounced “Lubyanka”) Metro station. I was tempted to get out and see the Lubyanka Square [Лубяанка Площад] home to the headquarters of the RSV, successor to the KGB, NKVD, and Cheka. But I had business to attend to so I kept on going. Тургеневская was the next stop and I exited the train when it pulled up to the platform. I took a guess at which exit from the station would put me closest to my destination and hoped I was going in the right direction.
It was raining when I got to the street and was glad I brought an umbrella with me. When it’s not cold enough to snow in Moscow, it rains often. I found sheltered area, pulled out my map and a small compass I attached to my backpack and started to get a bearing on where I should go. I read a few of the nearby blue street signs that are mounted on the sides of the buildings and, after a short amount of time I figured out where I was. Wouldn’t it be nice if life came with a “you are here” sign everywhere? Oh yeah, it’s called GPS and many say you’re not supposed to take them to Russia.
I then found where I was and where I needed to go. I was actually only about a block-and-a-half away. I entered the building, approached security desk, identified myself and said where I was going. One of the security guards asked me to wait and picked-up the phone. About a minute later a young lady name Ekaterina [Екатерина] came out and introduced herself. We had corresponded by e-mail for several months, but had never met in person. She escorted me with her key-card through the security turnstile and showed me into the lobby of our office. Ekaterina introduced me to the lawyers and staff in the office and showed me around. Then she delivered the package I sent from Chicago. I didn’t stay long. I wanted to get back to our apartment in time for some lunch before DW, Ashton Beau, and I headed to our 2:00 PM appointment at the U.S. Embassy to get Ashton Beau’s visa.
I returned to the Metro, retraced my steps and arrived just in time for lunch. Luckily, I’d called DW from my mobile phone to tell her I was on my way back so there was hot pizza when I arrived. Yes!!
After Pizza we got Ashton Beau dressed, prepared his gear, and waited for Pasha to arrive. He was there at 1:30 PM sharp. We all got into his car and headed off to the U.S. Embassy. Pasha’s wife arrived at about the same time with another family from our agency that joined the queue behind us. The traffic was light and we arrived without delay. There were two queues outside the embassy. One for U.S. citizens waiting to get in – the short queue – and the queue for non-U.S. Citizens waiting to submit visa applications or pick-up a visa – the long queue.
First we went through a security check-point by a grey hut. All of the security guards we encountered were local Russian hired to work at the embassy. After the first check-point we went into a long hall that was bright white. The hall reminded me of something out of 2001 A Space Odyssey. On the right side of the hall is a raised desk with a security guard who checked-in all of my electronic devices (e.g., camera, mobile phone, Blackberry) and gave me a plastic claim check with a number on it.
After the long hall we came upon another security check-point with a metal detector and an x-ray machine, like at the airport. I forgot some electronic device in my bag so they sent me back to the claim-check desk to check it. Then I returned through the metal detector. DW passed through this check-point with no problem. While she waited for me she went to the machine that gave her a ticket with a number on it.
Once I rejoined DW we turned 90 degrees to the left, went 15 paced down another corridor, another 90 left, and up a few stairs. The room then opened up to reveal a lot of waiting chair lined up in six to seven rows. Around the perimeter of the room were cashier like looking windows. We stepped up to the cashier located by window #6 as instructed on the embassy’s website regarding adoptions (http://www.usembassy.ru/consular/wwwhci5.html). DW handed her Master Card to the gentleman behind the window to pay the visa application fee, he pulled out a file with Ashton Beau’s visa application, processed the card, gave us our receipt, and told us to deliver our receipt to another window and few down the wall. We delivered the receipt and, as instructed by the lady who took it, waited in the waiting area.
I have to digress here for a moment regarding the visa application forms. They are used for a lot of visas other than IR-3 and IR-4 orphan visas. One is to be filled out by the applicant him or herself. We filled out Ashton Beau’s for him. Some of the blanks are kind of confusing, and actually funny, when the applicant is only one year old. Things like “what is your occupation?” “How many times have you been married?” “How many children do you have?”
This was one of the few places I did not bring Ashton Beau’s battery powered and I regretted it. It was hot as Hades in that waiting area. We waited 30-40 minutes at least until our number cam up on the counter over one of windows. We stepped up and you gentleman in his late twenties introduced himself. He asked us to proof Ashton Beau’s visa application and then asked us some other questions about had we both seen him before the adoption hearing, were we both aware of his medical condition, were we both prepared register him with the Russian consulate and have post-placement visits from the social worker. After about 10 minutes he handed us a sealed manila envelope. Stapled to the envelope was a summary sheet summarizing information about Ashton Beau and his visa with a photo of him. The gentleman instructed us to deliver the envelope to the immigration officer when we came through passport control at O’Hare upon our return to Chicago and to not break the seal on the envelope or separate the summary page under any circumstances. Lastly, he admonished us to “keep a low profile” because of the recent controversy in Russia surrounding foreign adoptive parents. Timely advice! We’d already been in Russia for over 10 days, almost a week of that with Ashton Beau and we were leaving in less than 24 hours. We assured him we would maintain a low profile.
I put the visa envelope in a nylon case with a clear front so we could show the summary sheet to officials without them having to handle the envelope itself and risk breaking the seal or separating the summary page. Then we turned to leave.
It was raining pretty hard outside and a lot of AP’s were in the exit hallway waiting for the rain to let up. Luckily I still had my umbrella with me. I went out, past the grey security hut and around the side of the main building to a window where I turned in my claim ticket and claimed all of my electronic devices.
Then we met Pasha on the sidewalk and headed to the car. The other family wife from our agency with Pasha’s was going to get something to eat and we decided to join them. We drove about 10-15 minutes to the Amerkansky Café just off of Tverskaya Street, not far from one of the Marriotts. I usually don’t drink them even back in the states, that chocolate milkshake tasted good!
After dining we returned to our apartment. I went back to the grocery store and bough them out of бифидок. For the flight home I loaded my Camelbak reservoir with ice and filled the rest of the insulated compartment with .g liter cartons of бифидок. We had some supper, bathed, finished packing, set the alarm on my mobile phone for 3:30 AM and went to bed.
In the next episode, Nungesser, DW, and Ashton Beau take a Moscow a long flight from Moscow to Chicago and Ashton Beau becomes a citizen of the United States.
The view on a Metro platform.
We all got up and had our breakfast. I then left once more for the Metro again. I was going to the Moscow office of my firm. I had sent a package there from Chicago and was going to pick it up. Among the contents of the package, a runner's Camelbak for Pasha. He’s runs marathons and running in Moscow’s summer is oppressive. I thought the Camelbak would relieve some of it.
This trip offered a new challenge, I had to transfer between two different lines of the Metro to get to the office. I would need to take the 2 (Green) line to the Театральня/Охотный Ряд Metro station, then transfer to the 1 (Red) line and take it to the Тургеневская (pronounced “Turgenevskaya”) Metro station.
It was not a difficult as I thought it would be. I arrived at the Театральня/Охотный Ряд station with now problem and followed the arrows on signs with a red “1” in side a red circle to the 1 (Red) line. I looked up and at the “1” and “2” track signs, found Тургеневская on one of the signs and went to the side of the platform the arrow on the sign pointed two. A train arrived and I was on my way.
I did notice that with it being a work-day, event at around 10:30 AM, the Metro was much more crowded that over the weekend or on the Constitution Day holiday. First we stopped at the Лубяанка(pronounced “Lubyanka”) Metro station. I was tempted to get out and see the Lubyanka Square [Лубяанка Площад] home to the headquarters of the RSV, successor to the KGB, NKVD, and Cheka. But I had business to attend to so I kept on going. Тургеневская was the next stop and I exited the train when it pulled up to the platform. I took a guess at which exit from the station would put me closest to my destination and hoped I was going in the right direction.
It was raining when I got to the street and was glad I brought an umbrella with me. When it’s not cold enough to snow in Moscow, it rains often. I found sheltered area, pulled out my map and a small compass I attached to my backpack and started to get a bearing on where I should go. I read a few of the nearby blue street signs that are mounted on the sides of the buildings and, after a short amount of time I figured out where I was. Wouldn’t it be nice if life came with a “you are here” sign everywhere? Oh yeah, it’s called GPS and many say you’re not supposed to take them to Russia.
I then found where I was and where I needed to go. I was actually only about a block-and-a-half away. I entered the building, approached security desk, identified myself and said where I was going. One of the security guards asked me to wait and picked-up the phone. About a minute later a young lady name Ekaterina [Екатерина] came out and introduced herself. We had corresponded by e-mail for several months, but had never met in person. She escorted me with her key-card through the security turnstile and showed me into the lobby of our office. Ekaterina introduced me to the lawyers and staff in the office and showed me around. Then she delivered the package I sent from Chicago. I didn’t stay long. I wanted to get back to our apartment in time for some lunch before DW, Ashton Beau, and I headed to our 2:00 PM appointment at the U.S. Embassy to get Ashton Beau’s visa.
I returned to the Metro, retraced my steps and arrived just in time for lunch. Luckily, I’d called DW from my mobile phone to tell her I was on my way back so there was hot pizza when I arrived. Yes!!
After Pizza we got Ashton Beau dressed, prepared his gear, and waited for Pasha to arrive. He was there at 1:30 PM sharp. We all got into his car and headed off to the U.S. Embassy. Pasha’s wife arrived at about the same time with another family from our agency that joined the queue behind us. The traffic was light and we arrived without delay. There were two queues outside the embassy. One for U.S. citizens waiting to get in – the short queue – and the queue for non-U.S. Citizens waiting to submit visa applications or pick-up a visa – the long queue.
First we went through a security check-point by a grey hut. All of the security guards we encountered were local Russian hired to work at the embassy. After the first check-point we went into a long hall that was bright white. The hall reminded me of something out of 2001 A Space Odyssey. On the right side of the hall is a raised desk with a security guard who checked-in all of my electronic devices (e.g., camera, mobile phone, Blackberry) and gave me a plastic claim check with a number on it.
After the long hall we came upon another security check-point with a metal detector and an x-ray machine, like at the airport. I forgot some electronic device in my bag so they sent me back to the claim-check desk to check it. Then I returned through the metal detector. DW passed through this check-point with no problem. While she waited for me she went to the machine that gave her a ticket with a number on it.
Once I rejoined DW we turned 90 degrees to the left, went 15 paced down another corridor, another 90 left, and up a few stairs. The room then opened up to reveal a lot of waiting chair lined up in six to seven rows. Around the perimeter of the room were cashier like looking windows. We stepped up to the cashier located by window #6 as instructed on the embassy’s website regarding adoptions (http://www.usembassy.ru/consular/wwwhci5.html). DW handed her Master Card to the gentleman behind the window to pay the visa application fee, he pulled out a file with Ashton Beau’s visa application, processed the card, gave us our receipt, and told us to deliver our receipt to another window and few down the wall. We delivered the receipt and, as instructed by the lady who took it, waited in the waiting area.
I have to digress here for a moment regarding the visa application forms. They are used for a lot of visas other than IR-3 and IR-4 orphan visas. One is to be filled out by the applicant him or herself. We filled out Ashton Beau’s for him. Some of the blanks are kind of confusing, and actually funny, when the applicant is only one year old. Things like “what is your occupation?” “How many times have you been married?” “How many children do you have?”
This was one of the few places I did not bring Ashton Beau’s battery powered and I regretted it. It was hot as Hades in that waiting area. We waited 30-40 minutes at least until our number cam up on the counter over one of windows. We stepped up and you gentleman in his late twenties introduced himself. He asked us to proof Ashton Beau’s visa application and then asked us some other questions about had we both seen him before the adoption hearing, were we both aware of his medical condition, were we both prepared register him with the Russian consulate and have post-placement visits from the social worker. After about 10 minutes he handed us a sealed manila envelope. Stapled to the envelope was a summary sheet summarizing information about Ashton Beau and his visa with a photo of him. The gentleman instructed us to deliver the envelope to the immigration officer when we came through passport control at O’Hare upon our return to Chicago and to not break the seal on the envelope or separate the summary page under any circumstances. Lastly, he admonished us to “keep a low profile” because of the recent controversy in Russia surrounding foreign adoptive parents. Timely advice! We’d already been in Russia for over 10 days, almost a week of that with Ashton Beau and we were leaving in less than 24 hours. We assured him we would maintain a low profile.
I put the visa envelope in a nylon case with a clear front so we could show the summary sheet to officials without them having to handle the envelope itself and risk breaking the seal or separating the summary page. Then we turned to leave.
It was raining pretty hard outside and a lot of AP’s were in the exit hallway waiting for the rain to let up. Luckily I still had my umbrella with me. I went out, past the grey security hut and around the side of the main building to a window where I turned in my claim ticket and claimed all of my electronic devices.
Then we met Pasha on the sidewalk and headed to the car. The other family wife from our agency with Pasha’s was going to get something to eat and we decided to join them. We drove about 10-15 minutes to the Amerkansky Café just off of Tverskaya Street, not far from one of the Marriotts. I usually don’t drink them even back in the states, that chocolate milkshake tasted good!
After dining we returned to our apartment. I went back to the grocery store and bough them out of бифидок. For the flight home I loaded my Camelbak reservoir with ice and filled the rest of the insulated compartment with .g liter cartons of бифидок. We had some supper, bathed, finished packing, set the alarm on my mobile phone for 3:30 AM and went to bed.
In the next episode, Nungesser, DW, and Ashton Beau take a Moscow a long flight from Moscow to Chicago and Ashton Beau becomes a citizen of the United States.
The view on a Metro platform.
Part of the long transfer tunnel between the №.2 (Green) and №.1 (Red) lines of the Moscow Metro.
One of the entrances to the Тургеневская Metro station.
A Russian office building. Note the blue steet and building number sign on the left.
Nungesser riding the Metro back to his apartment.
Nungesser preparing Ashton Beau to go to the U.S. Embassy.
The visa interview ticket from the U.S. Embassy, No. [HO] 17, beside Ashton Beau's passport.
Ashton Beau's sealed visa envelope with the summary page stapled to the front all encased together in a protective map-holder Nungesser bought at REI.
posted by Nungesser at
11:16 PM
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