I applied for an urgent Russian visa this week.

I've done this before, and just like last time, the system worked well.
I visited the London visa centre on Monday morning to submit my documents, and on Tuesday afternoon my passport was available for pick up.

What was different this time was the unhelpful note stapled to the freshly-minted visa. It said, "Next time you may wish to apply for a private visa".

I immediately asked the visa-centre staff why that was written, and was told that I must have put into my application that I have relatives in Russia. I do. My mother-in-law lives in Irkutsk. I'm not going to Irkutsk. I'm not seeing my mother-in-law. I am staying in Hotels in Moscow.

Surely I did the right thing. I know that private visas are a pain and are generally avoided, but (at least) this time, I have applied for the appropriate category.