Unhelpful note with my visa
 

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.

I know this is FT, but "so what?" You got yourself a visa, move on with life.

'Tis the season.

S;) this time you used the proper category. I'd say that the person approving your visa feels you may have used the wrong category in the past and this is a subtle warning to be sure to use the correct one in the future.

What I'm trying to say is that when dealing with bureaucracy (anywhere in the world, and especially related to Russia), oftentimes logic and common sense do not apply :)