I too went to the Russian Consulate on 91st street to get visas for myself and my nephew. We were going on a trip to St Petersburg flying via Amsterdam. I had all the required paperwork. As my nephew was a minor that included much additional work. I took one look at the zoo you describe outside and went to a Russian Visa Service. And, it was a good thing too that I picked a Russian Service. I paid them the Visa fee and their service fee. They said to come back in a week. I returned a week later and they had my visa but not my nephew's.First they said that the consulate wanted to interview him. I responded that he was 13 and away at camp and that his parents were in Europe. They already had a copy of the parent's passports and birth certificates but I suspect they lost them. Then I got the real reason. He had a Jewish last name and they wanted to make sure he was not a refusnik. I assured them that he was third generation American. Finally the owner of the service called the consulate and spoke in Russian for twenty minutes to the Consulate General. After he got off the phone he told me to come back the next day to get the Visa. I will never go through that again. Anti=Semitism is alive and wellin Russia!

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