NBC: U.S. Suspends Russia Nonimmigrant Visas in Tit-For-Tat Fallout
The United States said Monday it has been forced to suspend nonimmigrant visas in Russia because President Vladimir Putin ordered it to cut hundreds of diplomatic staff.
The U.S. Mission to Russia said it was forced to cancel all appointments in Moscow between Wednesday and Sept. 1 because of reduced staffing levels.
Outside of the Russian capital, at the consulates in St. Petersburg, Yekaterinburg, and Vladivostok, visa operations would remain suspended indefinitely, the U.S. Mission said in a statement.
In the capital, the mission said "visa operations will resume on a greatly reduced scale."
The decision would come as a blow to Russian tourists, nearly 250,000 of whom visited the U.S. last year, according to The Associated Press.
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