Last week the Norwegian Embassy in Moscow signed an agreement with the company VFS Services LLC Russia (VFS) on transfer of handling of visa centers will receive applications for visa, work permits and residence permits.
The embassy in Moscow is experiencing a record increase in visa application to Norway. In 2011 the embassy issued 30 236 visas, making it the Norwegian foreign representation office issuing the highest number of visas, the embassy’s web site reads.
Norway is the last Nordic country to outsource visa application handling. Sweden, Denmark, Finland, Iceland and 11 other European countries have all signed agreements with VFS.
The outsourcing is expected to shorten the time it takes to handle applications and make it easier for people all over Russia to deliver their applications. The advantage of the visa service is that they are located in larger cities where the different countries don’t have embassies or consulate branch offices.
The Norwegian visa centers will open in Moscow (May 3), Yekaterinburg, Novosibirsk, Samara, Krasnodar (May 10), Rostov-on-Don, Nizhny Novgorod, Kazan, Krasnoyarsk (May 16), Sochi, Kaliningrad, Irkutsk, Ufa (May 25), Khabarovsk (June 8) and Vladivostok (June 15).