Embassy asked for more money for police report (mostly rant/is it normal?)

[Laleh 2]

This is mostly a rant, but also a question as to whether or not this behavior is normal.

We live in Czech Republic (I'm a US citizen, hubs is from Tajikistan), and we've recently started asking for police reports from the relevant embassies. We need several, as he has lived in five countries. Anyways, he made an appointment at the Russian embassy to ask for a police report from them. They told him, before the appointment, that the police report would cost 1000kc (a little over $40). At the appointment, they told him that they normally only do these reports for Russians and to come back in a few days. He went back, and they told him they'd do the report for 2000kc! (And yes, they knew from the phone call that he wasn't Russian) Is this normal? Even the Uzbek embassy is charging less (so far anyways, we don't have the police report in hand yet) and Central Asia is known for bribery!

(I hope this question/post is ok; I couldn't find any forum rules posted)

[gregcrs2 1,777]

In Russia, just like some other places, there is a price for locals and a price for foreigners. The extra 1000kc is most likely a bribe. Best to just pay and be done with it.

[Laleh 2]

In Russia, just like some other places, there is a price for locals and a price for foreigners. The extra 1000kc is most likely a bribe. Best to just pay and be done with it.

Yeah, we paid. We needed the form and they knew it. I'm just really annoyed about it. The Japanese embassy is giving us the police report for free!