- Visa facilitation for whom?
Norwegian General Consulate, Murmansk
Photo: Thomas Nilsen
Everything was supposed to become easier for Russians applying for Norwegian visa when the new regulations came into force last year. However, what actually has happened is that visas have become more expensive and the application process more complicated than ever.
Since the new visa regulations were effectuated last year, the number of people from the Russian border town of Nikel going shopping in neighboring Norwegian Kirkenes has been drastically reduced, says Nikel travel agent Irina Chueshova to Norwegian newspaper Sør-Varanger Avis. The Nikel Travel Agency used to handle around 40 visa applicants every week. Now the number is down to between 10 and 12.
− It seems like the new regulations are made to ease the work of the employees of the Norwegian General Consulate in Murmansk. Not to ease the process of applying for a Norwegian visa, says Chueshova.
Three trips
One of the new visas which were introduced was the Pomor visa, which can be applied for on the Internet. But it is only the application which can be delivered on the Internet. To get the visa, the applicant has to show up personally in the General Consulate in Murmansk. Earlier, both the application documents and the distribution of visas could be conducted by travel agencies like the one in Nikel.
− A family which would like to go to Kirkenes for shopping now need to go to Murmansk in order to get visas. And not just one of the family members. The entire family must take the trip and get their personal visas.
Some have actually made up to three trips from Nikel to Murmansk to get their Norwegian visa, but have not been admitted at the Consulate because the line of visitors has been to long. The consequence is that many choose to travel via Finland, because this is much easier even though it means an extra journey of 200 kilometers, the Norwegian newspaper Sør-Varanger Avis reports.
Resultless protesting
Chueshova says that she has tried to address the General Consulate in Murmansk, but without success. The issue has also been on the agenda in an official meeting between the neighboring municipalities Sør-Varanger and Pechenga without any improvements.
Deputy Consul Elisabeth Thue at the Norwegian General Consulate in Murmansk does not understand the difficulties described by Chueshova. She confirms that for a Pomor visa all applicants must come to the consulate personally, but she has never experienced that anyone has been rejected at the consulate without an answer.
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