11/08/2019 16:08

Hot Finnish Visas

[IMG=21597-7451] Starting from the second half of November the Finnish Consulate in St. Petersburg has been overwhelmed with visa applications. According to representatives of St. Petersburg travel companies interviewed by a BANKO correspondent on November 22nd, the Finnish destination is in high demand at the moment that results into queues to the Consulate. Experts forecast that the situation will not improve as the New Year period is approaching. Thus, a representative of ADM Travel Company commented as follows: ‘at the moment our couriers queue at the Consulate for around two hours and a half, that might increase to three hours and a half in a week. Besides, visa issuing process takes from one to two and a half weeks’. Meanwhile, representatives of Aeriotravel Travel Agency assess the situation more optimistically. Thus, Elena Karabanova, Deputy Head of the Scandinavian Department explained ‘the current situation does not affect our work considerably. The visa issuing process does not usually exceed ten days. However, we always warn our clients to take the decision about their holidays as soon as possible as the Consulate will not accept visa applications starting from December 15th’. Otherwise, a tourist can register for an interview in the Consulate. But in this case we do not guarantee the visa will be issued in time’. Furthermore, the Consul of Finland in St. Petersburg, Pauli Kivenen, commented on the situation as follows: ‘we do everything possible to optimize the process; however the current situation can be easily explained. We accept around two thousand visa applications daily, consulate agents have to proceed them even at weekends. In our co-operation with travel companies we are trying to meet their demands and expectations. For example, two weeks ago we organized the informational meeting, made an additional section for applicants in the Consulate and even reduced a visa issuing time to one week for travel companies, while for individual persons it takes two weeks’. Meanwhile, despite the efforts of the consulate it is easy to forecast the development of the situation. Demand for the destination has increased considerably comparing to last year. Thus, according to the Finnish Consul, in 2005 230,000 St. Petersburg citizens received Finnish visas, while in 2006 a number of visas is expected to reach 300, 000.