Three days processing of visa-applications is history. “Always apply at least 15 days prior to scheduled departure. Our processing time is 10 days,” says Marit Egholm Jacobsen, head of the visa section at Norway’s Consulate General in Murmansk.
The Polish government wants to include all of Kaliningrad Oblast in a visa-free travel regime with the EU, Foreign Minister Radoslav Sikorski confirms.
Norway outsources the handling of visa applications from Russians to a service company. In course of the next two months 15 visa centers will open all over Russia.
While Russia demands that its state officials get visa-free traveling to the European Union, the EU demands that its NGOs get visa-free travelling to Russia.
Visa to Norway will be more expensive for most travelers from Barents Russia when the VFS.GLOBAL takes over applications handling. Some categories of travelers will, however, still get visa without charge.
Head of County Council in Finnmark, Runar Sjåstad, urges money on the table so Norway could match Russia’s funding to construct new border check-point.
Traffic from the Kola Peninsula to Lapland plunged by 15 percent last year, but a new study shows visa-freedom can give 500,000 more border crossings and millions of euro in extra income.
Norway’s Foreign Minister Børge Brende has asked Russia for an explanation to the high number of asylum seekers coming to Norway via Russia. Syrian refugees that have lived in Russia for a long time, will be stopped on the border and sent back.
