Pray, consider the plight of the aspiring foreigner! Imagine, if you will, a gentleman of modest means, arriving at the government bureau with a hopeful heart and a few coins in his pocket, only to be informed that the price of entry has ascended to heights previously reserved for the purchase of a small country estate.

Our illustrious Sovereign has seen fit to sign a decree that would make even the most rapacious moneylender blush with envy. The fee for the honour of Russian citizenship—which was once a mere pittance of 4,200 roubles—has been elevated by twelvefold! Now, should a gentleman desire to be called a citizen, he must part with 50,000 roubles. Truly, it is no longer a mere administrative act; it is a royal ransom!

But the appetite of the State is insatiable. The common merchant seeking a residence permit shall find the price soared from 6,000 to 30,000 roubles, while the temporary permit, once a trifle, now demands 15,000 roubles. Even the multiple-entry visa has become a luxury, leaping to 6,000 roubles. One wonders if the clerks at the window are now required to wear gold-plated spectacles to better observe the dwindling purses of these poor souls.

Of course, there are those 'fortunate' few—the compatriots and the soldiers of fortune—who are spared this financial carnage. For them, the gates swing open wide, while for the ordinary foreign commercialist, the gate is locked with a golden padlock.

As for the profit, the State’s accountants are dancing a jig of joy! They estimate a windfall of 7.9 billion roubles this year, swelling to a magnificent 15.8 billion annually by 2027. It is a masterful stroke of fiscal alchemy: turning a simple piece of parchment into a mountain of gold.

One can almost see the bewildered face of a poor foreign clerk, clutching his last few shillings, staring at the official and wondering if he must sell his very boots to obtain a stamp of approval. The treasury is full, the bureaucrats are smiling, and the foreign gentleman is, as always, the one paying the bill.