So here's my ridiculously complicated story.

I'm a 23-year-old kid living in America who left Russia in January 1992 right after the collapse of communism. I traveled back to Russia once before to visit family. My father made the travel arrangements, so I don't know what he did.

As far as I know, getting a Russian visa is difficult enough already, but it's even more difficult for former Russian citizens. Or Russian citizens who never renounced their citizenship but have foreign citizenship now and permanently live in the West.

I want to visit my grandparents sometime soon, as they are rather elderly. However, to get a Russian visa, the agency asks me for a "certificate of renunciation" or whatever. I was 4 years old when I left....I don't have such a thing. Neither do my parents, since they didn't formally renunciate.

I can probably get a Russian passport, however, I do not want this to get me involved with the Russian Army. Military service of any sort is best avoided for me.

My question is: is there an agency that specializes in Russia visas for people born in Russia that want to avoid gettin a Russian passport for a while (avoid harassment and questions for Army service, even though I've only lived in the Russian Federation for 3 weeks).

If anyone has any advice, it would be GREATLY appreciated. And if you need clarification, feel free to ask. Thank you!

You'll need to renounce your Russian citizenship. I am not sure what the procedure is. If i had to guess, this would require a trip to the nearest consulate, my guess Houston.

Best to think about this, if i were you. Generally once you give it up, you'll never get it back. Russia is country that is changing rapidly, you may want to live there down the road at some point, in the future. Or work there.

Говорите / читать русские?

I have a friend your age with the same problem. he got a Russian passport and has not had problems with military service.

I am not sure where you got this information about Russian military service. I don't think anybody would come to summon you for it in the US.

Get Russian passport, as it will only make your life easier if you are ever planning to travel to Russia.

http://travel.state.gov/travel/cis_p...y_requirements

Information on how to give up your citizenship is here:

http://www.russianembassy.org/Embass...zhdanstva.html

Only in Russian, sorry!

Personally, I would not try to return to Russia being of military age without renouncing your citizenship. Maybe others haven't had problems, but do you want to risk spending the time in the army to see if you're not going to have problems too?

Unless the regulations changed recently, you're totally safe from the draft if you're not resident here. Which you obviously aren't. Russian citizens who are not residents of Russia (i.e. are not registered as having a permanent address in the country, the famous propiska) are not subject to the military service.

You should check with the consulate but my educated guess is, as far as they're concerned, you're still a Russian citizen but resident in the US. Which means you should be able to get a Russian passport of the kind we use to travel internationally but not the other one, the one which serves as the primary ID inside the country. The only downside of your not having a propiska is you technically have to register with the police should you want to spend more than 90 days in any single Russian city. Oh, and should you want to vote, you should do it where you're resident, i.e. at your consulate in the US (Houston?).

I know all of this because a couple friends of mine used this to dodge the draft back in the 90's, officially renouncing their residency here, with their domestic IDs and propiskas and pretending to move abroad where their fathers were posted at consulates or some such.

As I said, check if the regulations changed but I very much doubt this. Drafting overseas Russians would be unenforceable and the general trend so far has been to relax the draft for everyone, not the other way round. Oh, and to physically draft a Russian citizen they need to take away his domestic ID which you, as a non-resident, can not have in the first place.

Hope it helps

The kid left Russian Federation in January of 1992 which means that he did not live in Russia as of February 1992. I do not know how he left Russia and whether he was de-registered before leaving - it makes a big difference. If I were him, I would apply for a citizenship verification. It takes time, but then he would get a definite answer from the embassy. I am a bit surprised they want to see the certificate of renunciation because it is not their usual practice.

If you apply with US passport for Russian visa how can Russian consulate even know about your fmr russian ties?

They aren't stupid. Place of birth on your US passport is a dead giveaway.

You also have to put POB on the visa application and answer a question if you've ever held USSR/Russian citizenship.

Good point - i forgot about that one...

I would get citizenship verification then - this is very confusing as only those who were USSR citizens in feb 1992 automatically received russian citizenship. Even if OP left the country prior to that he may still qualify, since being in USSR/Russia in feb 1992 is not a requirement as long as there was local registration "propiska".

Well, my friend, I think you face an uphill battle if you try to play by the rules.

Generally, a) to have a valid Russian passport good for travel (e.g. renewal), you need to have an unxpired Russian external passsport. If it is expired, you are out of luck. b) you can't get a Russian passport and prove that you are a Russian citizen, if you don't have a USSR passport as a "conversion case" from a USSR citizen to Russian Citizen that people quoted above. c) you don't have a USSR passport as you were only 4 years old. Your info (picture, data particulars) were probably inserted into your parents passport at the time they left the country.

I think you will be in the world of hurt trying to get that Russian passport. I think at best you'll have to somehow try to get a proof of Russian citizenship (I don't think Russian birth certificate is sufficient in this process) and then pay mucho dinero to get a "Permission to Return". That Permission only lets you get into Russia where you'll have to sort this out to get a real passport. (Can't leave the country with it and can't leave on your US passport because you didn't enter under a visa). Logically, you then would go to the location where you and your parents used to live prior to leaving - good luck with that.

A co-worker of mine faces somewhat similar situation. So, to avoid the hassle, she gets Russian visas with her US passport through some travel agency connected to NYC Consulate. I can get a name and PM it to you. Expensive and legally shady, but it works for her.

Let us know what Houston Consulate advises you to do.

I know a person who was in somewhat similar situation, he paid about $400 for an agency that took care of all requests/forms/etc and restored his passport (he never had one before, but technically russian citizen).
You can do it for free, and probably in same time (took about 5 months), but probably more effort required.

Just get the passport and dont worry about anything.
It saved me a cool $150 when traveling to Argentina - free for Ru, visa fee for US :-)
there are other places too.

PS when i said free - you still have to pay consulate, you just wont have to pay extra

Not so much of a battle. When one applies for a citizenship verification, after 3 months one usually gets an answer. It is a quite clear and discrete - "yes" or "no". If the person is found to be the citizen, then he/she will get the passport. If not, then they will issue a Russian visa. Usually they don't keep applicants in a limbo.

Although it has been a month and a half since the question came up, I want to add some points here. Your issues are not particularly complicated but because of the timing there is room for a great deal of misinterpretation.

Our travel company works with many people who are former Soviet citizens, and in general have no problem getting a visa for them provided that they have the proper documentation (about 2-3 years ago the requirements changed). In short, for FORMER Soviet citizens they need a canceled Soviet passport containing their exit visa ("visa to Israel") OR a certificate of naturalization from the US (even though the official requirement is for both documents). This is generally considered to be evidence of giving up Soviet citizenship for purposes of granting a Russian visa. This is from the Consulate of the Russian Federation in New York's website:

Applicants who used to be citizens of the USSR or of the Russian Federation and then emigrated from the USSR or from Russia must submit one of the documents which confirms that they are no longer citizens of the Russian Federation (so called "Visa to Israel" or stamp in their passport saying that they left for "permanent residence abroad" before the 6th of February, 1992 or official document certifying that their Russian citizenship was renounced), otherwise the applications will not be accepted.
A naturalization certificate is to be submitted also.

You seem to be confused as to whether or not you are a Russian citizen (and left during probably the most confusing month in all of Russian/Soviet history). You do need to clarify that point, although I can guess that your paperwork (or that of your parents, since you probably traveled on your parents' passport) at least SHOULD have been properly stamped. I would NEVER advise someone to rely on others' experience with regards to being subject to military conscription; it might not be enforceable overseas, but it certainly is when you are on Russian territory. Remember, if you are a Russian citizen you are subject to Russian laws without the protection of your American citizenship (whether you entered on a US or a Russian passport).

I would strongly advise that, should you consider in the slightest that you are a Russian citizen, you consult an attorney who has experience in cross-border issues (more on the Russian side). Such a consultation shouldn't take long and it will provide a road map in what you need to do. Once that is done you can decide if you want to renounce your Russian citizenship (and if it is necessary). Our visa people can review the paperwork but may turn it back should there be ambiguity or the need for further research.

Also it is not too difficult to re-establish Russian citizenship-many of my colleagues have done that.