Prime Minister Zubkov put an end to the well-worn visa run to Kiev, whereby expats could hop on a train to Kiev (for example) and be back with a new visa the next day. Today, foreigners must clear higher hurdles to renew their visas, such as waiting 10 days or paying a fee for quick service. Business visas make life trickier still; foreigners can spend no more than 90 consecutive days in Russia.

The new regulations were not universally clear even in November, when one Moscow News correspondent went to Kiev and renewed her visa in a day. Another found himself stuck in the Ukrainian capital the next week, unable to get back into Russia. He managed to extricate himself and return to Russia after buying an expensive Ukrainian residency permit - from a useful agency situated next door to the Russian consulate.

The new tougher rules are part of a bid to make foreign workers obtain work permits, for which an equally varied array of medical tests are necessary. As with the visa rules, there is more to the system than meets the eye, and exactly what treatment seems to depend as much on luck as on legislation.