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I just sent off my app for a Kyrgyz visa for the summer. That process was a hell of a lot easier than a Russian visa. Click here to see what the form looks like. I need a 90 day visa because I'll be arriving before our student group, and since I am requesting a multi-entry visa, it will cost me $150. As a US citizen I don't need a letter of invitation for a 90-day visa, so I hesitated about whether to fill in the "contact organization" line, but I put in our Kyrgyz partner's name just in case. Hopefully that won't mess up my application.

For our students the process will be simpler. We get a letter of invitation from our partner by e-mail. The students print them out. When they arrive at Manas International Airport, they go to a certain window before passport control, pay their $70, and they get a stamp in their passport that gives them 30 days in KY. Our partner renews the visa before the 30 days are up.

So let's see... I sent the package by priority mail, which means it should arrive on Monday, April 13th. They say they have a 5 business-day turn around time, so they should have it completed on Monday, April 20th. I included a priority mail return envelope so, assuming they mail it on Tuesday, April 21st, I should have it back in my hot little hands by Friday, April 25th. Assuming I haven't missed something obvious, and assuming the directions on their website were current. Questions like that are why people often use document handling services for foreign visas, but on this occasion the embassy seemed to direct us to mail them straight to them. Hope that's right. And I will be *so* pleased if it is.