From the MT:
"Russia to Launch Pilot Project to Fingerprint Visa Applicants"
Russian embassies and consulates in four countries will soon launch a pilot project requiring visa applicants to submit their fingerprints, Interfax reported Sunday, citing the Foreign Ministry's consular division. Starting in January 2015, Russian consulates in Britain, Denmark, Myanmar and Namibia will begin implementing fingerprinting technology, the report said. The initiative will help determine the feasibility of collecting biometric data at other Russian diplomatic and consular facilities, according to Yevgeny Ivanov, the director of the Foreign Ministry's consular department.
Ivanov said that the project had been under consideration for several years and that it was not intended to indicate a tightening of requirements for Russian visa applicants. He added that Schengen countries are set to begin collecting the biometric data of Russian visa applicants next year.
^ This seems like a waste of time and money. I know countries like the US do the same thing both at their embassies and then again at their borders, but they have the technology and means to do it while Russia doesn't. Russia can't even implement their new internal passport card (the Universal Card) to large portions of their population. I remember being in Russia when they tried to replace the old Soviet Internal Passports with new Russian ones and that deadline kept getting further and further out because of lack of funding and supplies. There are more important things that Russia needs to focus on now than this. ^
http://www.themoscowtimes.com/news/article/russia-to-launch-pilot-project-to-fingerprint-visa-applicants/507937.html
"Russia to Launch Pilot Project to Fingerprint Visa Applicants"
Russian embassies and consulates in four countries will soon launch a pilot project requiring visa applicants to submit their fingerprints, Interfax reported Sunday, citing the Foreign Ministry's consular division. Starting in January 2015, Russian consulates in Britain, Denmark, Myanmar and Namibia will begin implementing fingerprinting technology, the report said. The initiative will help determine the feasibility of collecting biometric data at other Russian diplomatic and consular facilities, according to Yevgeny Ivanov, the director of the Foreign Ministry's consular department.
Ivanov said that the project had been under consideration for several years and that it was not intended to indicate a tightening of requirements for Russian visa applicants. He added that Schengen countries are set to begin collecting the biometric data of Russian visa applicants next year.
^ This seems like a waste of time and money. I know countries like the US do the same thing both at their embassies and then again at their borders, but they have the technology and means to do it while Russia doesn't. Russia can't even implement their new internal passport card (the Universal Card) to large portions of their population. I remember being in Russia when they tried to replace the old Soviet Internal Passports with new Russian ones and that deadline kept getting further and further out because of lack of funding and supplies. There are more important things that Russia needs to focus on now than this. ^
http://www.themoscowtimes.com/news/article/russia-to-launch-pilot-project-to-fingerprint-visa-applicants/507937.html
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