Finnish Consulate General wants to reach the visa saturation point in Saint Petersburg

According to the Russian embassy, the Russian Consulate in Finland issued 169355 visas in 2010, 158534 visas in 2011 and 81927 during the first half of 2012.

According to the embassy, introduction of a visa-free regime for people arriving on passenger ferries for period of three days and less really affected the visa statistics. For instance, in 2011 St. Peter Line ferries, which connect Saint-Petersburg and Helsinki, brought more than 126 thousand visa-free visitors.

During the first six months of 2012 Finland’s Consulate in Saint-Petersburg revised about 496 thousand visa applications.

Olli Perheentupa, Finland’s consul-general in Saint-Petersburg, in an interview to Fontanka.fi said that the increase in visa applications in the first half of 2012 amounted to 23-25%. “That’s a lot! Really a lot. But we’ll manage. We’ve been waiting to hit the saturation limit for some years now. But it always changes with the growing number of international passports”, - said Mr. Perheentupa. According to him, one of the ways to solve the problem might be the extension of visa duration periods.

“If we issue, say, 1200 thousand 1-year visas in 2012, we’ll have all these people return next year. Plus we’ll have people who have just got their international passports. That’s why we want to issue longer visas – 2-3 years. Then we have a chance to reach the saturation point. Where exactly is that point is hard to say right now. Maybe 2 million. But we will reach it”, - said the general-council.

And the question of the visa-free regime is being actively discussed by the EU and Russian authorities. Olli Perheentupa noted: “The general objective is clear. The sides are currently working on specific terms of the agreement and it’s hard to say when the negotiations will come to end. But I must assure you, Finland is supportive of the visa-free regime introduction”.