11 August 2011

US visa blacklist sparks response from Russia

As a response to the United States creating a US visa blacklist of Russian officials suspected of human rights violations, Russia is reportedly drawing up its own blacklist of American officials who they suspect of violating the rights of Russian citizens.

US visa

In response to the US visa blacklist, Russia is reportedly planning its own blacklist of American officials.

The US Visa blacklist was made public by the state department last month, which revealed that visa restrictions had been placed on Russian officials accused of involvement in the death of hedge fund lawyer Sergei Magnitsy in a Russian prison.

However, as reported in Russia's Kommersant newspaper, it is now understood that Russia's Foreign Ministry will draw up a similar list of US officials who would be barred from entering Russia in a response to the blacklist.

"Our claims against the United States are much broader and are not limited to the Bout and Yaroshenko cases. We have a list of cases regarding the violation of Russian citizens' rights," one of the Foreign Ministry sources told Kommersant.

The US visa blacklist was made public in what is understood to be an attempt to emphasise that the US already prohibits visa approval for individuals suspected of human rights allegations, meaning that additional legislation is not required.


The American Visa Bureau is an independent consulting company specialising in helping people with their ESTA application to the US Embassy.

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