US Embassy limits consular services after Russia hiring ban
Source: AP
MOSCOW (AP) — The U.S. Embassy said Friday it will sharply limit its consular activities due to a Russian ban on hiring local staff.
The Embassy said in a statement that starting from May 12, it will reduce consular services offered to include only emergency U.S. citizen services and a very limited number of immigrant visas such as life-or-death emergencies.
It noted that non-immigrant visa processing for non-diplomatic travel will cease and it will stop offering routine notarial services, consular reports of birth abroad or passport renewal services for the foreseeable future.
Moscow has moved to ban the U.S. Embassy and consular offices from hiring Russian and third-country nationals as part of its retaliation to a set of new U.S. sanctions imposed over Russian interference in the 2020 U.S. presidential election and involvement in the SolarWind hack of federal agencies — activities Moscow has denied.
Read more: https://apnews.com/article/europe-russia-election-2020-migration-immigration-db413c14728e1eeb8721ab43f882bf0b
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