When applying for visas, citizens of the Russian Federation often pay consular fees. What is their purpose? In what legal relations can the corresponding payments be paid?
What is the purpose of the consular fee?
According to a common definition, a consular fee is the amount that is transferred to the embassy or the specialized visa center of the state to which a citizen of another country is going to go, despite the fact that for this he needs to obtain a visa. As a rule, an appropriate payment is a prerequisite for considering a visa application, but cannot be regarded as a guarantee of its receipt.
However, it is worth noting that in the legislation of the Russian Federation the concept under consideration may be disclosed in other contexts. Although, of course, in the general case, it is connected with obtaining a visa to another state.
The size of the consular fee in the traditional sense, depends on what country the traveler is going to go to, and for what purpose.
The value of the consular fee for a Schengen visa
For example, the corresponding payment for a Schengen tourist visa is 35 euros. If the visa is issued urgently, the fee is increased. In turn, there are certain reasons for reducing the corresponding collection. In particular, these benefits are established for the following categories of citizens:
- children under 6 years old;
- students of educational institutions who travel to the state issuing the visa for educational purposes;
- close relatives of citizens of the state of the Schengen zone or people who are legally in the relevant territory for a long period;
- pensioners, veterans, people with disabilities, as well as accompanying citizens;
- people traveling to the state issuing the visa for emergency treatment, as well as accompanying citizens;
- athletes, scientists, cultural figures;
- participants in humanitarian missions;
- journalists;
- representatives of the highest authorities.
How the consular fee is paid also depends on the policies of the particular state issuing the visa.
The procedure for paying the consular fee when applying for a Schengen visa
So, if it comes to obtaining a Schengen visa, then the transfer of the corresponding payment in favor of a foreign state is usually made in cash at the cash desk of the embassy or accredited visa center. In some cases, it is possible to pay a visa at a bank with which the embassy has an agreement on the acceptance of payments constituting a consular fee. Sometimes it is possible to pay the corresponding obligation on the check - if, for example, documents are transferred to the embassy through a courier.
The consular fee for a Schengen visa, despite the fact that it is denominated in euros, is usually paid in rubles. The corresponding payment should be transferred in favor of the host state in the general case before visa documents are considered by its diplomatic structures. But in some cases, it is allowed to pay the consular fee even before applying to the embassy.
Visa consular fee is usually a non-refundable payment. Having considered the features of its transfer in favor of the Schengen states, we will study the specifics of its payment to the US Embassy.
Payment of the consular fee for applying for a visa in the USA: nuances
The consular fee for a visa to the United States, as in the case of applying to the embassies of Schengen states, is non-refundable and cannot be considered as a guarantee of issuing a visa to a Russian citizen. Its type determines the amount of the corresponding payment. Citizens of some states planning to visit the United States need to pay an additional visa fee to the US Embassy .
As in the case of obtaining a Schengen visa, the US consular fee, although denominated in dollars, is actually paid in rubles. At the same time, the practice of transferring it through the bank's cash desk or through specialized Internet portals using a credit card is common. In particular, some Russian financial institutions have a similar option provided by corporate remote customer service systems.
Consular fees for a visa in the USA are personified. They cannot be used by others. After the appropriate fee has been transferred to the US Embassy, the visa applicant is given a receipt, which is valid for 1 year. You need to pay a consular fee for a visa in the United States before submitting documents to the embassy. If the applicant does not send them within 1 year after the transfer of the payment in question to the embassy, then he will have to pay again - if the person still wants to subsequently apply for a visa.
US visa application fee
The size of the corresponding fee, as we noted above, depends on the type of visa, which, in turn, is determined by the purpose of the trip of a Russian citizen to the United States. For example, to apply for basic non-immigrant visas - that is, tourist, student, or confirming the status of a participant in an exchange program, you need to transfer 160 dollars to the American embassy. Documents issued during employment in the USA can cost more - about 190 dollars.
It can be noted that US law provides for the issuance of certain non-immigrant visas, under which the consular fee may not be paid. For example, this is possible if documents of type A, G, C-2, C-3, NATO, as well as diplomatic, are drawn up.
U.S. Visa Consular Fees
It can be noted that the consular visa fee in the United States in many cases is supplemented by a number of other payments. Their list depends primarily on agreements between the diplomatic structures of the United States and the state whose citizens plan to enter the United States.
Among such fees is a payment to the SEVIS system, which is designed to monitor the status of US visitors who received a visa as part of the participation of certain programs. In general, the amount of the corresponding obligation is about $ 200. As in the case of the consular fee, this payment must be transferred in favor of the U.S. immigration before the citizen of the Russian Federation sends a visa application to the U.S. embassy.
Russian consular fees for citizens of the Russian Federation
At the beginning of the article, we noted that the legislation of the Russian Federation provides for consular fees that are not related to the preparation of documents necessary for crossing the border with another state. In particular, Decree of the Government of Russia No. 889, adopted on 11.11.2010, introduced rates of consular fees for a number of services provided by immigration agencies of the Russian Federation. For example, the Russian consular fee, regulated by the indicated source of law, may be levied on citizens of the Russian Federation outside of Russia for issuing identity documents.
Summary
Thus, the term in question can have quite a few interpretations. In general, consular fee means a payment in favor of the immigration structures of the state to which a citizen of the Russian Federation draws up a visa. However, there are rules in the Russian legislation according to which Russians can pay consular fees to the benefit of their state - for example, in order to obtain a passport while abroad.