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Behind Closed Doors and Underground 8/08

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Behind Closed Doors and Underground 8/08 EA-2 • RUSSIA • August 2008 ICWA Letters INSTITUTE OF CURRENT WORLD AFFAIRS Behind Closed Doors and Underground By Elena Agarkova OSCOW–All Russians have an internal or not to approve… A lot of arbitrary power was passport. However, you cannot travel exercised in those days. Elena Agarkova will be M studying management abroad with it. Before you cross the borders of natural resources and of this country, you have to apply for a special After the fall of the Soviet Union the new the relationship between “trans-border passport.” Back in the old days it government promised its citizens that their Siberia’s natural riches was impossible to get one unless your trip was regular passports would be enough for traveling and its people. Previously, specifically authorized by your organization, be abroad. Seventeen years later Russians still have Elena was a Legal Fellow it a university, a factory, or a government min- to apply for a foreign travel passport when they at the University of Wash- istry. The person traveling — or, to be precise, want to go anyplace that requires a visa from ington’s School of Law, at hoping to travel, since the trip was never a sure Russian nationals. the Berman Environmental thing until you actually crossed the border of Law Clinic. She has clerked for Honorable Cynthia M. the Soviet Union — lived in fear of being turned I’m a Russian citizen still. It so happened that Rufe of the federal district my foreign travel pass- court in Philadelphia, and port expired earlier this has practiced commercial year, and since it takes litigation at the New York the Russian Consulate office of Milbank, Tweed, in New York more than Hadley & McCloy LLP. two months to process Elena was born in Moscow, passport applications, Russia, and has volun- and I wasn’t sure of the teered for environmental non-profits in the Lake exact date of my depar- Baikal region of Sibe- ture, I chose another ria. She graduated from option. I let my passport Georgetown University expire and received a Law Center in 2001, and piece of paper from the has received a bachelor’s Consulate attesting to degree in political science the fact that I was indeed from Barnard College. a Russian citizen and Institute of Current could enter the country. World Affairs That piece of paper also stated that I have to The Crane-Rogers Foundation People waiting in line in front of the militsia, before the passport office opens. “surrender it to the ap- 4545 42nd St. NW, Ste 311 propriate official orga- Washington, D.C. 20016 back for any reason, having been deemed un- nization in three business days since arrival into Tel: 202-364-4068 trustworthy of upholding the country’s reputa- the country.” I had nothing against surrendering Fax: 202-364-0498 tion and/or remaining loyal to the Party in the my passport upon arrival, but I got into Moscow E-mail: [email protected] Web: www.icwa.org midst of lurid yet potentially irresistible bour- late on Monday night, at 9 p.m., when it was geois temptations. Your “candidacy” was vetted obviously too late to go to the militsia (Russian on different levels. People who knew you could police) office. The Information submit comments or write anonymous letters contained in this about you (sometimes ruining your reputation The next day I woke up at two in the af- publication may not and career forever). During Party meetings ternoon (because of flight delays and missed be reprinted or re- communist functionaries would speak for or connections I had not slept for more than two published without the against you going abroad. Would you represent days), and did not feel ready to face the Russian express written con- the country in the proper light or would you fall bureaucracy. So it came down to Wednesday, sent of the Institute of prey to the lights of Broadway? Ah, to approve which, surprisingly, also turned out to be the Current World Affairs. ©2008 Institute of Current World Affairs, The Crane-Rogers Foundation day when my local militsia office was holding ‘passport days.’ All Russians are assigned to a specific militsia district, usually that of where they were born, until they officially secure a relocation somewhere else. According to the handwritten schedule at the office, they only accepted applications for foreign passports on Wednesdays and gave them out on Saturdays and Mondays. The official Moscow Militsia website failed to mention any such peculiarities in local branches. Alas, my luck ran out there. First, in ad- dition to the required documents listed on the official Militsia site, the local policemen scribbled in a few other items on the list hang- ing on the wall, such as a “paper folder” and an “envelope” (presumably to create a file for our papers). I did not possess such items on my person. To make matters worse, I was number 29 in line, at 11 a.m. The office opened an hour A militsia patrol strolling along the Red Square. earlier; the lucky number one showed up at five in the morning, starting a handwritten list of names “They can’t even focus on something right in front of them. that people in line passed around, keeping track of new How are they going to look at the camera on demand? The additions. These procedures reminded me of my childhood, girl taking the picture spent at least 40 minutes trying to spent in lines governed by similar rules. catch my baby at that exact moment!” Our collective conclu- sion was that all of these additional documents were being The office was processing an average of four people an foisted upon the hapless population so that the militsia hour. This wouldn’t be so bad on a regular day, except this and their relatives running consultation desks could make Wednesday was the last day before the four-day long Russia more money. Day holidays, and all of the militsia was going home at two in the afternoon to begin celebrating. I didn’t stand a chance The lines and long waiting periods for foreign travel even with a paper folder and an envelope in my hands. passports (I’ve read accounts of people waiting for up to half a year to receive their passport) are also a reflection of Instead of waiting in the cramped hallway, I went the new wealth and ability of Russians to go abroad. As I around the corner, following a sign advertising consulta- mentioned earlier, when I was growing up, you couldn’t just tions for passport applicants. I did not do so because I don’t buy a ticket to Turkey or Thailand; now these countries are have faith in my own abilities (as an American-trained major tourist destinations for Russians, and a recent front- lawyer or a common-sense-wielding human being) to fill page article in the New York Times described the efforts of out the application. I did so because I believe, after having young Turks to learn Russian, so that they can serve their grown up in the Soviet Union, that these people are all “con- clientele better. nected,” that most likely the local militsia office supplies this guy with the proper forms and paperwork, tells him There are ways of getting your passport faster. If you are how to fill them out, accepts those forms without too much in a real hurry — say, you’re a businessman who absolutely questioning, and takes a cut. needs to leave for China in a week — there are companies offering help in getting your passport in five, sometimes Could I be wrong? Sure, potentially, yes. The chances even three, days. The quicker you need it, the more it will of me being wrong? Quite slim, I thought. It seemed to be cost, of course. When I sat in line, I saw people cut in and a smooth operation. There were no dissatisfied customers go straight into the passport office; sometimes people who lurking around. I went for it. Two hours later I emerged didn’t even go through our hallway came out of the office with a printout of the application form that, upon further with documents in hand. There’s always a back door and examination, stated that I was applying for a foreign travel someone who you can ask, “How can I speed up the pro- passport for the first time, even though the guy filling out cess?” But I was bent on doing it the proper way. the form had my original foreign travel passport in front of him for at least half an hour (and had copied its number into It was too late to go back to the militsia office, so I de- a different part of the application). I came back to correct my cided to wait until Monday, when they re-opened. Instead I application, commiserating with two other women about walked around the city center. In anticipation of the Russia the inanity of the whole process. One of them described Day holidays Moscow emptied out. There were almost no how excruciatingly difficult it is to take a biometric photo cars on the usually packed streets. On a regular day con- (required for the foreign travel passports) of newborns: gestion is terrible and the parking situation is so bad that EA- drivers leave cars on the sidewalks as a matter of course. design. Many stations are the work of famous architects; During these holidays even the Moscow Metro, a spectacu- many feature works of art depicting productive, healthy, lar engineering feat responsible for transporting millions of satisfied members of a socialist society.
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