US Flag
Virtual Consulates
of the United States of America
in the Russian Federation
DOS


Welcome to the website of the Virtual Consulates of the United States in Russia. Virtual Consulates are a new tool of U.S. diplomacy designed to promote linkages between the people of the United States and those of the Russian Federation. Click on a city or a territory on the map below to go directly to our Virtual Consulate sites. Click on the links below to learn more about the Virtual Consulate program.

Russian Version RF Flag
Urals Region, Russian Federation
Urals Map
 
List of Virtual Consulates, Ural Region, Russia
Virtual Consulate Perm - http://usa.perm.ural.ru/
Virtual Consulate Snezhinsk - http://usa.snezhinsk.ural.ru/
Web Virtual Consulate Tyumen - http://usa.tyumen.ru/
Virtual Consulate Chelyabinsk - http://usa.chelyabinsk.ural.ru/
Virtual Consulate Novouralsk - http://usa.novouralsk.ural.ru/
U.S. Consulate General Yekaterinburg - http://usa.ural.ru/
 
 
What is a “Virtual Consulate”?

The Virtual Consulate is a new tool of U.S. diplomacy in the 21st century. Virtual Consulates are information vehicles that promote contacts and interaction between the citizens of a foreign city or region and citizens of the United States. As we all become more interconnected, our ability to conduct real business at a distance is increased. Each Virtual Consulate is specially designed to meet the needs of a specific city or region. For citizens of that city or region, you will find a wealth of useful information on how to apply for a U.S. visa, how to find an American business partner, and about U.S. programs and activities in your region. For Americans interested in the city or region, you will find useful links to host government sources of information, business and commercial information, press releases and photographs from official visits to the region, and much more.

In both cases the Virtual Consulate site provides e-mail and telephone contact information for people who can assist you with your needs.

We encourage you to visit our Virtual Consulates. You can find a complete listing of the Virtual Consulates at www.virtualconsulate.com. You may also contact me at any time at niblocktc@state.gov with comments or suggestions on how this program might be improved. My name is Tom Niblock, and I am the U.S. Consul General in the city of Yekaterinburg, Russia.

Background on the Virtual Consulate program in Russia

Following the Cold War, the United States initiated a policy of positive engagement with the new Russian Federation. A key component of that policy is to expand contacts in Russia's heartland beyond Moscow and St. Petersburg. The country's vast interior regions, which span 11 time zones, are vitally important to the success of Russia’s democratization and decentralization programs.

Developments in the Urals and Western Siberia regions in central Russia are key to Russia’s future. Their territory is larger than the U.S. east of the Mississippi and home to almost 40 million people. Economically, the Urals and Western Siberia are rich in natural resources and a center of industry. Politically, many of the cities in this region are among the nation's leaders in reform. Former President Yeltsin and many of Russia's current leading democrats got their political start here.

Because of its concentration of defense-related industries, most of the Urals were closed to foreigners for decades during the Cold War. Most residents could not travel abroad, so contact with foreigners and western ideas was very limited. In 1992, thanks to lobbying efforts by local leaders, the Russian Federation opened the area to foreigners and outside investment. The United States was at the forefront of Western efforts to establish contacts in the region.

In 1994, the late Secretary of Commerce Ron Brown opened the U.S. Consulate General in Yekaterinburg, the first diplomatic mission in central Russia since World War II. Yekaterinburg was chosen because it is Russia's key industrial center and a major transportation hub. Several other governments have since established diplomatic missions in the Urals.

In 2003 the United States intensified efforts to engage with other key cities in the Urals and Western Siberia. The important industrial city of Perm was selected to be the site of the first United States Virtual Consulate. Virtual Consulates have since been established in other cities.

 
 
Disclaimer and Privacy Notice
Top