Consulate of Russia — Attraction in Washington

My wife and me were there a total of 3 times during 3 years. Based on my own 2 visits I would give a rating of 3 stars. I was waiting reasonable amount of time (15 and 20 minutes respectively). However my wife's 2017 visit was not so good experience . She was waiting for 30 minutes to apply for the passport renewal and the representative asked the street address of her former employer where she worked 9-10 years ago. She did not allow to use a smartphone just to check it on the website nor was willing to spend 30 sec on her computer. We did not use the phones of the Consular Section thanks God it is not mandatory if you just renew your valid Russian passport. However my previous experience about 13-14 years ago was awful. I called 10 business days in an attempt to pass through busy signals and no picked ups. I ended up flying back to Russia and made a renewal in 3 days. However this is not an...

Not sure about where all the negative reviews are coming from, since I had only the positive experience here. The process of getting an international passport was as smooth as possible and took me 30 mins max, out of which 15 was the wait. Granted, I've checked my docs several times and made sure everything is the way it is supposed to be, but that's the applicant's duty anyway. Zlata, the employee that helped me with the application, was awesome! Friendly yet professional. Long story short, all the horror stories about the Soviet-style grumpy bureaucrats are not true. Can definitely recommend this place! P.S. To all the critics out here, go check the reviews of a British embassy nearby, with the staggering average rating of 2.1 starts. That's something for an enlightened Brits, huh? And it's not the only example, just check the other places at...

Appreciation for the Visa Center

I contacted the visa center to apply for a visa for my son. I would like to express my sincere gratitude to the staff for their professionalism and kind attitude. Throughout the entire process, the ladies responded to my emails very quickly, clearly, and with detailed explanations. When I visited the office with my son, they were extremely polite and helpful. They explained everything in detail — how the process works and reassured us that it would be handled quickly.

On the day the visa was issued, I had another question and emailed them again. As always, I received a prompt, clear, and kind response. The next day, the passport with my son’s visa was delivered to our home.

Thank you so much for your support, attentiveness, and excellent service every step of the...