Is there anything worse than applying for a new passport or visa? My eyes water and my hands tremble when I see those forms, clearly designed by the torturer-general of the Planet Zog, not a man who needs to visit planet Earth, or who cares for us lowly Earthlings. Anything that makes the visa process easier would make heroes of the brave bureaucrats who helped us citizens. Easier visa rules have been promised.
You know what is coming next.
Russia is going to switch to biometric visa data. In simple terms, this means that your visa will have a bar-coded picture of the insides of your eye. This will doubtless make travel much safer, as all terrorists have shifty, guilty looking eyes, so we can all sleep more easily.
The only problem is that it means, of course, no more visa applications by post, and everyone will have to go to the dedicated application centre in person. The Russian visa section in London has already started installing machines, so they expect the new system to be working next year.
Commentary by Yana.