Upon entering Russia with your visa that was issued to allow you to get a work permit, you must meet in person with the FMS (Federal Migration Service) within three business days of your arrival for an interview in order to actually get the work permit. I had heard from others that there was a long interview involved as well as lots of stamping of documents. The firm provides someone to take you through this experience that is generally performed entirely in Russian. I faced this with a bit of trepidation.
So my colleagues in Russia set up a meeting with the FMS the Sunday after I arrived. Yes, that's right, a Sunday. The previous Thursday was a national holiday (International Women's Day), so people also took off Friday in exchange for working on Sunday so that they still had a sort of three day weekend. I thought this was just something that our firm was doing and assumed that if the government gave its employees the Friday off, they certainly wouldn't make them work on Sunday (I mean, they're government employees and don't they usually get more holidays off than the rest of us?). But I was wrong. Not only were they working, but the offices were open for business to the public just like on any other business day. This was the beginning of my confusion over the process that was to follow.
Overall, I was surprised with the reality of it all, though - extremely quick, direct and efficient. Yes, we are talking about a government agency here.
The office where we had an appointment was only a short cab ride away. It was a relatively drab, non-descript building that didn't exactly scream "government" in the way that many other drab, non-descript buildings might. The outer door was unlocked and we walked right in and through a metal detector that beeped quite a bit as we passed through. At the top of the staircase as you entered were some security types watching people come in, but who were apparently unperturbed by the beeping and not inclined to ask to search our bags for possible weapons as might be the case at a federal building in the U.S. Also unlike the U.S., we walked directly to a door, knocked and walked in, and were directly in someone's office. No gate keepers. No queue. I was so confused.
When we walked into the office, the first thing I noticed was, of course, the occupant of the office - a relatively young woman in her late 20s or early 30s dressed in a way that suggested competence and professionalism. Hmmmm.
The second thing I noticed was the ambience. By which I mean the chill music that was playing in the background. Where is the horrible elevator music? This was actually, well, pleasant. Not so governmental.....
The third thing that caught my eye was the computer on the desk. No, not an aging PC from the 90s, but an iMac. Which I suppose might also have been enabling the chill music.
And the final thing that I really was not expecting? A Liebherr calendar. No, not featuring their line of eco-friendly refrigerators (including wine cabinets, not that I have been checking), but their heavy construction equipment. German/Swiss equipment. Featured in a government office of a trendy young woman chilling out while working on her iMac. Fabulous. Perhaps it instilled a bit of Swiss efficiency into the process as this normally bureaucratic process was accomplished in just about 5 minutes!
Anyway, I got the work permit. I learned later that those who get the full work permit, versus the HQS type, have to go to a large building on the outskirts of the city where there are long lines and a lot of frustration. Ah, THAT sounds more like government in action, no matter where you go.
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