Will Russia extend my visa when the coronavirus crisis is over?

Simon Calder answers your questions on tricky paperwork, passenger rights and getting money back for a deposit

Foreign tourists are banned from entering the nation until the beginning of May (Getty)

Q Last month I procured at great expense and inconvenience a visa for Russia. The trip is off. Will I be able to get a refund, or even better an extension of the visa to cover a trip in early summer 2021?

Margaret D

A Plenty of travellers are in the same position as you: saddened that their trip to the world’s largest country this spring won’t be going ahead – and maddened to learn that their visa (priced at just over £100, including the mandatory service fee) is as good as useless. Foreign tourists are banned from entering Russia until 1 May 2020 at the earliest, and that prohibition may well be extended.