| Federal Migration Service employees are trying to reduce queues of people wishing to travel abroad Monstrous queues for international passports have become one of the main signs of the approaching summer at Moscow police stations. The Federal Migration Service, which inherited from the Ministry of Internal Affairs the responsibility to provide Russian citizens with travel documents, according to its leadership, is now taking a number of emergency measures to alleviate the suffering of Russians who have gathered abroad and are forced to spend not only days, but sometimes nights at the doors of passport offices. This was stated yesterday by Deputy Director of the Federal Migration Service of Russia Alexander Ledenev, who did not fail to add that a sharp surge in the need of citizens for foreign passports (from 1.2 million in 2003 and 3.8 million in 2005) is observed while the number of service personnel remains unchanged.
On the eve of the summer holiday season in Moscow, all 126 branches of the Federal Migration Service were transferred to an enhanced work schedule. “Now two Saturdays of the month are working days, and the population is also received on Tuesdays and Thursdays until 20.00. But, as a rule, employees do not go home until they have accepted documents from everyone,” he said. The FMS in Moscow has even created an operational headquarters to monitor the situation. Mobile groups have appeared in the central division, which go to those territorial offices where the situation is the most difficult. “Hot passport spots” in Moscow and the region, according to Mr. Ledenev, until recently were Khimki, Krasnogorsk, Yuzhnoye Butovo, Zelenograd. However, according to the deputy head of the FMS, after “measures were taken against the management of the branches,” the situation there improved. Now only Mitino is considered to be in crisis. But even there, the staff has already received instructions to work “until the last client.” Even if it means staying late at work.
However, in the best traditions of the domestic bureaucracy, Alexander Ledenev was unable to resist accusations of creating a stir among the Russians themselves. According to him, the appearance of huge queues should also be blamed on the habit of citizens to straighten documents in the spring and always in the morning. “I myself went to our units and saw queues that cleared up by the evening,” says Mr. Ledenev. At the same time, he advised Muscovites not to keep their emotions to themselves and, in case of conflict situations at passport offices, to complain via the hotline to the FMS. “By calling 624-54-28, any citizen can report problems in obtaining a foreign passport, queues at migration departments and other difficulties,” urges Alexander Ledenev.
According to him, there have been a lot of calls lately. And, interestingly, there have not yet been any complaints about open extortion of bribes for quickly obtaining a foreign passport. Most calls are about queues. “Facts have been revealed in Moscow where migration departments artificially create queues in departments involved in issuing foreign passports. Sometimes enterprising citizens sell their places in queues. Such facts are strictly suppressed,” the official added.
People also call who have to wait a long time to receive the document itself. As a rule, these are those who apply for a passport not at the place of registration, but at the place of actual residence. Taking into account all kinds of checks, the law has set quite long periods for them to obtain a foreign passport - up to four months. In fact, according to Alexander Ledenev, it is usually possible to complete it in 2-2.5 months, but this is still a very long time.
“It would be easier for such people to go to where they are registered and get a passport there, it would be faster. However, we understand that there are objective cases when a person is registered, for example, in Kamchatka, and simply cannot go there for a foreign passport,” he said. For all others, the legal deadline for registration - one month, according to the FMS, is met in 98% of cases. Nevertheless, if there are “good reasons,” according to the deputy head of the FMS, the service “meets halfway” and prepares documents within three days. And this applies not only to those who go to visit a seriously ill relative or to a funeral, but also, for example, to veterans who went to visit fellow soldiers on holidays. Or the children of Chernobyl who needed to go for treatment. “Of course, it would be great,” says the official, “if a foreign passport could be issued in one day. We are striving for this, but it is unlikely to succeed in the next few years.”
Alexander Ledenev called the practice of issuing so-called Foreign Ministry passports, which are issued through the consular department of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs through the mediation of travel agencies, “not entirely legal.” “Russian citizens should obtain foreign passports only from the territorial divisions of the FMS. The consular department of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs works only with legal entities, and when travel agencies issue passports to vacationers in this way, it is not entirely legal,” he emphasized. As for the introduction of an official fee for “expediting the processing of foreign passports,” then, according to the deputy head of the FMS, existing legislation does not yet allow the service to use elements of commercialization. “We will consider this issue, but only within the framework of the law,” said Mr. Ledenev. Irina BELASHEVA |
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