 The term "consulate shopping" may have appeared by analogy with "forum shopping" - choosing the best jurisdiction for litigation.In the past, "consulate shopping" was not an uncommon practice for both visitor and permanent resident visas.For example, a Russian citizen would choose to apply for a visitor visa to the US at a US consulate somewhere in Eastern Europe, rather than one in Russia, based on the belief that, due to different office cultures of the consular staff, the likelihood of rejection would be lower, say, in Budapest than in Moscow.