Keith traveled to the Soviet Union on a workstudy tour. There he met a young Soviet woman named Svetlana and later returned to Moscow to marry her. Since their marriage in 1984. she has been denied an exit visa from the U.S.S.R. on five different occasions. Soviet authorities have claimed that her visa was denied in the "interest of the Soviet Union." There are many other stories of divided spouses that are equally depressing. An American nurse from Baltimore is married to a Soviet man who has been denied an exit visa on 14 different occasions since the couple married in 1978. An elderly Soviet emigre now living in Florida has not seen his Soviet wife in 31 years. Soviet refusal to grant visas to these divided spouses is in clear violation of both the letter and the spirit of the 1975 Helsinki accords. The Soviet Union. along with 34 other nations. signed that agreement and promised to guarantee reunification of families and the right of binational couples to choose their country of residence. While the admirable efforts of Mr.
Keywords matched
visas visa