Finnish Visa Application Center VFS (Visa Facilitation Services Global) in St. Petersburg from August 1 will stop accepting applications for visas and residence permits. This was reported on the website of the Finnish Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
“Due to a lack of resources, applications for a visa and a residence permit for Finland cannot be accepted at the embassy in Moscow or at any VFS office in Russia during the period from August 1 to August 31, 2023,» the Foreign Ministry added. Applications submitted before August will be processed as usual.
In autumn, all the powers of the St. Petersburg visa center will be transferred to the capital. According to the Foreign Ministry, these changes are related to the decision of the Russian authorities to close VFS in St. Petersburg from October 1.
In early April this year, Finland became the 31st member of the North Atlantic Alliance. The border between Finland and Russia is 1,340 kilometers. This is more than the total of Russia's borders with other NATO countries — Poland, Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia and Norway — with a total length of 1,215 kilometers.