By IRNA-Itar-Tass
Moscow : The British Embassy in Moscow will change the rules of taking biometric data from Russian citizens who apply for British visas on Monday. Visa applicants would no longer have to visit the British Embassy in Moscow or the British consulates in Petersburg and Yekaterinburg, an official at the British embassy told Itar-Tass on January 10. All the applicants for the British visas regardless of their citizenship might undergo a procedure of taking biometric data (the fingerprint scanning and taking a digital photograph) at British visa centers in Moscow, Petersburg and Yekaterinburg simultaneously with filing a visa application, the embassy official said.
The new regulations have already come into force in Petersburg on January 10, and will go into effect in Moscow and Yekaterinburg on January 14 and 17, respectively. To ensure a quicker transition to the new regulations the British visa center will be closed for visa applicants, but opened to those who come to take their external passports with British visas in Yekaterinburg on January 15.
If not stipulated otherwise all visa applicants should provide their biometric data. If an applicant refuses or fails to provide the necessary biometric data his visa application will not be processed, the embassy official said.