Паспортный Контроль (Passport Control): The Gateway to Russia

Tradition has it that Heaven's entrance is signaled by the Pearly Gates while the United State's iconic Statue of Liberty has always been a representative of coming into the country. Well, Russia doesn't have either of those. Instead, it has Паспортный Контроль (Passportnii Kontroll) or Passport Control. Anybody entering Russia (Okay, I should preface this with saying that I am speaking from the viewpoint of entering the country via an airport; not by train, car, or foot) must pass through Passport Control in order for their migration card (as pictured in the previous post) to be stamped. Without it getting stamped, you cannot legally be in Russia, because no one knows you are there. Regardless of the fact of whether or not you have a visa from the Russian government, all foreign nationals traveling on some sort of visa must have a migration card. No ifs, ands, or buts about it.

So here we are. Coming off the plane. I am in Russia and I can't believe it. We've been briefed about the proper procedure to pass through Паспортний Контроль and we have our migration cards and passports. Everything is set. There are five lines for foreign nationals and another line for carriers of Russian passports of nationals of countries who are in an economic union with Russia. That one involves walking straight through with little difficulty. But our line is a bit different. I wait, three people in front of me (which is really good. We came in at a great time to breeze through the lines), two people, one person, then its me waiting at a yellow line. I can feel myself getting a bit giddy and I suppress it to refrain from bursting out laughing/giggling/smiling or all of the above while the immigration officer is looking over my passport, visa, and migration card. Then it's my turn. I had noticed while standing in line that the officer looking over documents in the line to my right was taking a while with some people. I hoped it was just for show. I step forward and enter a boxed in area big enough for three people abreast and quite tall. There is a window with the immigration officer in it. I pass my passport and documents through like I'm buying a movie ticket. Except this is the ultimate movie ticket; front row seats  to watch and participate in a country, language, and culture I've been studying for a long time. Again, I suppress a smile. No words are spoken as he reviews my documents. It seems like he's checking a computer. He looks at me and my documents, then repeats this again. Eventually, he looks up and speaks to me:

"Вы говорите по-русский?"/"Do you speak Russian?"

"Да, чу-чу."/"Yes, a little" I responded.

He then proceeded to tell me that my visa had me listed as a женщина (zhenshina) or "woman." I am a мужчина (myzhchina), a "man." He laughed and I laughed with him. Then he told me I had to go to the the Consulate post on the 2nd floor near where I came into the airport. At this point, I couldn't help but let a smile creep onto my face. This is just too funny, I thought.

So I headed to this place:

As it usually goes in Russia, a very small, but very
important place.

I met up with my program director and told him what happened. Then he took care of everything. We talked with the people in the post and they approved a new visa (with a laugh at the situation) which was issued to me on the spot. I filled out a new migration card and once again stood in line. This time, I came through with a  bit more confidence. They officer looked over my papers (a bit longer than last time and I got a bit worried) and eventually stamped them and handed them to me. I then crossed over the threshold that brought me officially into the Russian federation. Oh yeah, we are doing this!


This story is too funny to be crowded into my first impressions of the Russia, so I will be posting another blog soon with those stories/details.

Stay Tuned!