More visas to Norway issued in Northern Russia
While the numbers of visas to Norway issued in Moscow and St. Petersburg goes down, there was an increase in visas issued from The Norwegian General Consulate in Murmansk last year by 8 percent compared with 2008.
In 2009, the Norwegian General Consulate in Murmansk issued 14,639 visas. That is 1,039 more than in 2008, according to the statistics BarentsObserver received from the consulate.
The numbers of visas to Norway issued by the Norwegian Embassy in Moscow and the General Consulate in St. Petersburg was down 19 percent in the first six months of 2009.
-The reason why it is an increase in Murmansk, compared with Moscow and St. Petersburg, might be that there are far less charter tourists crossing the borders in the north, says Consul Lars Georg Fordal to BarentsObserver. –We issues more visas to people going for business, Barents cooperation projects, family visits and shopping, says Fordal.
In the last months of 2009, some 40 percent of all visa applications received to the General Consulate in Murmansk were so-called “Pomor-visa.” Valid from December 2008, all inhabitants of Murmansk and Arkhangelsk Oblasts can get the “Pomor-visa”, a multi-entry visa without having a special invitation from someone in Norway. For first time travelers, a single-entry visa will be issued.
Another positive development is that while the number of visa applications is up, the number of rejections is down. Only 73 applications for visa to Norway were turn down by the visa department of the General Consulate. In other words; 0,5 percent of all applications were denied for one or another reason.
The Norwegian General Consulate in Murmansk also issues visas on behalf of Sweden and the Netherlands. In 2009, 1,170 applications to Sweden, and 83 applications to the Netherlands were handled in Murmansk.
Today, BarentsObserver also reported that an agreement on visa-free border-crossing for people living within a 30 km range from both sides of the Norwegian-Russian border could be ready this year. The Russian border towns of Nikel and Zapolyarny, and the Norwegian border town of Kirkenes are located within this 30 km range.
