Bots lined up for visas

It has become more difficult for Russians to register at visa centers because of the bots created by intermediaries. The benefit of the bot for obtaining a visa is that it reduces the time it takes to call the visa center, you only need to pay from 4 thousand to 12 thousand rubles. The problem is that others are left with no choice. In any case, the bot will book a slot faster than a human. And if you are still lucky, the booked time for receiving a citizen will most likely not please you – you will have to wait too long.

As soon as free slots open, the bot automatically blocks this place. As a result, intermediary companies earn. And no deception – the record is legal. A person comes to the visa center, and the slot is really assigned to him.

Consulates and representatives of the tourism industry do not understand what to do about it. This area is not regulated by law. So far, these are just technologies that fundamentally change the process of obtaining a visa, Dmitry Gorin, vice president of the Russian Union of Travel Industry, says:

“This is a technological solution that blocks time, and at this moment other applicants simply cannot make such a number of requests, because the bot makes a large number of requests every minute. Now, out of 27 countries of the Schengen Agreement, 17 countries issue visas, respectively, basically the submission of documents takes place through the visa center, which subsequently submits documents to the consulate. But there are still other intermediary companies that offer commercial assistance in paperwork, filling out the application form, including blocking the appointment time at the visa center. You can sign up without a bot, but it takes quite a lot of time sometimes to catch a free slot.”

At the same time, the time margin should be at least six months from the moment the documents for a visa are submitted until the trip itself, says Dmitry Gorin.

Judging by the correspondence in telegram chats, where people discuss the issues of obtaining visas to the Schengen countries, anyone can buy and legally use the bot, Alexey, a resident of Ivanov, told Business FM:

— I have been trying to sign up at the French Visa Application Center since last week, but I can’t do it because there are no slots. I check with a frequency of about four times a day: in the morning, several times in the afternoon and in the evening. And I try in Moscow and Nizhny Novgorod – these are the nearest cities that I can visit.

— And when is your trip? Is there still time?

— I bought tickets for the end of May. I’ll try to sign up on my own for the time being, otherwise I’ll have to contact the bot. I found, however, only one bot. If there is a subscription to the channel (it is supposedly verified, everyone recommends it), then at prices there 8 thousand to Nizhny Novgorod, if Moscow – then 12 thousand rubles for a record. Only an appointment with the embassy.

Legal intermediary companies also resort to the help of bots so as not to waste either the strength or time of employees, Yuri Pevzner, founder of the ExpertVis visa center, said:

– The queues at the visa centers are now quite large. Signing up has become a problem, and therefore in many companies this service has become paid. In order to sign up, you need to spend some resources – human, temporary, and everything that takes some resources costs money.

– Does a person call you or do you also use such a bot?

– In different cases in different ways.

– Recording is also a paid service?

— If there is no problem to sign up at the consulate, then this service is free, it is included in the cost of the complex. And if there is a problem, then this service becomes paid, that is, if you need to sit an employee and call for half a day in order to make an appointment, then it is clear that the company is forced to take money for this service.

— Does each company order its own bot, create it, or are there any common ones?

– No, there are general bots, there are bots in Telegram that make recordings. But, of course, theoretically, any company can order its own bot for this.

At the time of publication of the material, there were no entries in the Belgian, Austrian and Spanish visa centers. There was a free slot in Italian, but only at the end of March. At the same time, Spain, along with France and Italy, is included in the list of countries where it is much easier for Russians to obtain visas than for other EU states.