B747-437B,

I totally agree! Although I did not have to go through this insanity since I am a EU citizen as well (visa waiver for travel to the US), and now I have a green card, I have seen this way too many times happening to my friends, and by the way, the INS also requires one to carry all these ridiculous documents with you when you travel to the US, just in case a power-hungry INS officer with a GED in hand may be having a bad day and wants to harass you (citizenship doesn't matter, happened to Icelandic, Ukrainian and German friends of mine). So, virtually every visitor to the US that required a visa to enter the country has to carry a thick folder with all the possible documents on earth, trying to prove something).

Putting things in perspective, Russian visa is a breeze.

[This message has been edited by asnovici (edited 05-02-2003).]

[This message has been edited by asnovici (edited 05-02-2003).]