News and Updates
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18 March 2021
Update to Finland Visa Application Centre schedule in March
Dear Clients,
Kindly note that Finland Visa Application Centre in Saint Petersburg will be open on Friday, 26 March with the following schedule:
Submission for individuals: 09.00 to 14.00
Submission for travel agencies: 08:30 to 09:00
Kindly note that taking a prior appointment is required for application submission.
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16 March 2021
The Ministry for Foreign Affairs of Finland will launch a new online visa application portal on 22 March 2021. You can begin the application process as soon as the new portal is open, but please note that you cannot submit applications completed in the new portal to the Visa Application Centre until 26 March 2021.
You can still use the old application portal to fill in applications until 21 March 2021. Applications completed in the old portal will be available for editing and printing until 25 March 2021. Please note that any applications completed in the old portal must be submitted to the Visa Application Centre by 25 March 2021.
Click here to fill in your visa application form
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29 January 2021
Finland Visa Application Centre schedule
Dear Clients,
Below is a temporary schedule for document submission and passport collection at Finland Visa Application Centre in Saint Petersburg
Monday- Wednesday 09:00-14:00- Application submission for individual applicants with a prior appointment for selected visa categories.*
Monday -Wednesday 08:30-09:00 Application submission for travel agencies
Kindly note that only the applications for below visa categories can be accepted.
- Family members of EU and Finnish citizens covered by Directive EC/2004/38;
- Healthcare professionals, health researchers, and elderly care professionals;
- Frontier workers;
- Transport personnel engaged in haulage of goods and other transport staff to the extent necessary;
- Diplomats, staff of international organisations, military personnel and humanitarian aid workers in exercise of their functions;
- Passengers in transit in the international transit areas of airports between connecting extra-Schengen flights;
- Passengers travelling for imperative family reasons;
- Persons in need of international protection or for other humanitarian reasons
- Partners living in Finland.
- Property owners: if an applicant owns a property in Finland and it’s essential to do some maintain and/or repair work in the property, then application can be submitted. However: only the property owner will be allowed, not the family members. When submitting the application, the property owner must present documents about the ownership and also show the proof about the reason why he/she needs to go to Finland.
- Parents of underaged: if an underaged is living (studying) in Finland, the parents can apply a visa in order to visit the underaged child. Only the parents, not siblings or grandparents, etc.
- Seasonal workers
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07 October 2020
Discount for Mobile Biometrics Service
Your safety is our top priority; hence, we are happy to offer a 50% discount with our optional Mobile Biometric service until March 31, 2021, which you can opt for to ensure a safe visa application process at a location of your choice. Click here for more details
Finland Visa Application Centre in Vyborg, Russia re-opens
Effective 12 October 2020, customers can submit visa applications with a prior appointment at the Finland Visa Application Centre in Vyborg as per the below schedule:
Monday 11.01: 09:00-14:00
Monday 15.02: 09:00-14:00
To book appointment to Visa Application Centre in Vyborg, please click here
Kindly note that only the applications for below visa categories can be accepted.
- Family members of EU and Finnish citizens covered by Directive EC/2004/38;
- Healthcare professionals, health researchers, and elderly care professionals;
- Frontier workers;
- Transport personnel engaged in haulage of goods and other transport staff to the extent necessary;
- Diplomats, staff of international organisations, military personnel and humanitarian aid workers in exercise of their functions;
- Passengers in transit in the international transit areas of airports between connecting extra-Schengen flights;
- Passengers travelling for imperative family reasons;
- Persons in need of international protection or for other humanitarian reasons
- Partners living in Finland.
- Property owners: if an applicant owns a property in Finland and it’s essential to do some maintain and/or repair work in the property, then application can be submitted. However: only the property owner will be allowed, not the family members. When submitting the application, the property owner must present documents about the ownership and also show the proof about the reason why he/she needs to go to Finland.
- Parents of underaged: if an underaged is living (studying) in Finland, the parents can apply a visa in order to visit the underaged child. Only the parents, not siblings or grandparents, etc.
Seasonal workers
However, your safety is our priority. As part of precautionary measures, customers visiting our Visa Application Centres may be subjected to body temperature checks to assess their health conditions and will be required to wear face mask and gloves. Customers exhibiting COVID-19 symptoms, including fever (higher than 38 degrees Celsius), cough and difficulty breathing will be allowed to reschedule their appointments for another day and will be advised to seek medical attention at the nearest healthcare facility of their choice.
Thank you for your understanding.
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17 September 2020
Finland Visa Application Centre schedule
Dear Clients,
Below is a temporary schedule for document submission and passport collection at Finland Visa Application Centre in Saint Petersburg
Monday 09:00-14:00- Application submission with a prior appointment for selected visa categories.*
Wednesday 09:00-14:00 Application submission with a prior appointment for selected visa categories
- Visa categories available can be found in the article below
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31 August 2020
Finland Visa Application Centre in Saint Petersburg, Russia re-opens
Effective 02 September 2020, customers can submit visa applications with a prior appointment at the Finland Visa Application Centre in Saint Petersburg, Russia for below visa categories:.
- Family members of EU and Finnish citizens covered by Directive EC/2004/38;
- Healthcare professionals, health researchers, and elderly care professionals;
- Frontier workers;
- Transport personnel engaged in haulage of goods and other transport staff to the extent necessary;
- Diplomats, staff of international organisations, military personnel and humanitarian aid workers in exercise of their functions;
- Passengers in transit in the international transit areas of airports between connecting extra-Schengen flights;
- Passengers travelling for imperative family reasons;
- Persons in need of international protection or for other humanitarian reasons
- Partners living in Finland.
- Property owners: if an applicant owns a property in Finland and it’s essential to do some maintain and/or repair work in the property, then application can be submitted. However: only the property owner will be allowed, not the family members. When submitting the application, the property owner must present documents about the ownership and also show the proof about the reason why he/she needs to go to Finland.
- Parents of underaged: if an underaged is living (studying) in Finland, the parents can apply a visa in order to visit the underaged child. Only the parents, not siblings or grandparents, etc.
Seasonal workers
However, your safety is our priority. As part of precautionary measures, customers visiting our Visa Application Centres may be subjected to body temperature checks to assess their health conditions and may be required to wear face mask and gloves. Customers exhibiting COVID-19 symptoms, including fever (higher than 38 degrees Celsius), cough and difficulty breathing will be allowed to reschedule their appointments for another day and will be advised to seek medical attention at the nearest healthcare facility of their choice.
Thank you for your understanding.
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31 August 2020
- Keeping in mind the health and safety of all our customers and employees in view of the ongoing COVID-19 physical distancing guidelines, passports will be returned back only by courier till further notice for all Finland visa customers, effective 03.09.2020 Finland visa customers cannot visit the Visa Application Centre to pick up their passport once it is ready for collection – the passport will be directly couriered to their location of choice (the location must be serviceable by our courier partner). The fee for this service is Euro 10.76 (equivalent in local currency), irrespective of the delivery location.
- The courier service has been established to limit the spread of the COVID-19 virus amongst our customers and employees. It is expected to be in place until the risk perception of COVID-19 is significantly reduced.
- Other health and safety measures being undertaken at our VACs include: no-contact screening at entry, sanitization, use of face-masks inside the centre according to guidelines of local authorities, and physical distancing measures for customers throughout the visa application process.
- We will post an update on this page as and when the process is reviewed and changed. Thank you for your understanding.
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For families ordering a courier delivery to the same address the below fees are applicable:
2 passports € 16.26 3 passports € 21.75 4 passports € 27.25 5 passports € 32.75 - Other health and safety measures being undertaken at our VACs include: no-contact screening at entry, sanitization, use of face-masks inside the centre according to guidelines of local authorities, and physical distancing measures for customers throughout the visa application process.
- We firmly believe these measures are important in maintaining vigilance during this challenging time and we thank all our partners and stakeholders in the travel fraternity for the initial positive feedback we have received this far.
Courier return of passports to your location of choice
We are grateful for their understanding.
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31 August 2020
Keeping in mind the health and safety of all our customers and employees in view of the ongoing COVID-19 physical distancing guidelines, VFS shall not allow any applicant to walk in for visa application submission. Thus, all visa applications can only be submitted by prior appointment till further notice, effective 03.09.2020.
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31 August 2020
The service fee charge from 01 September 2020
Dear Applicants, please note, that from 01 September 2020 the service fee will be revised to 28,90 euros.
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03 August 2020
Guidelines on making an appointment for passport collection at the Visa Application Centre
Please create an account by registering your email id in the appointment system. Upon registration, you will receive an activation of account email.
Kindly note, that even if you have already had an account it might have been deleted as per the purging policy after not being used for a while. Please make a new registration.
- Once your account is activated, please make a registration entry by clicking on “Schedule an appointment”.
- Choose Visa Application Centre and purpose of travel “Collection of passport”
- Please add your details in the opened screen.
Important:
- In the absence of your foreign passport, the internal passport number can be entered.
- It is not required to schedule and enter details of each family or group member for passport collection. The details of the person visiting the Visa Centre will suffice.
In case of any questions or queries, please, contact us at finlandvisaled@vfshelpline.com
All emails will be attended to within 48 hours on working days of the Visa Application Centre
Please note, that it is necessary to wear a mask and gloves at the Visa Application Centre of Finland.
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29 July 2020
Dear customers,
Please be informed that starting from 03 August 2020 Finland Visa Application Centre will start to operate for passport collection. To collect your passport you need to book an appointment.
Centre is open for passport collection:
Every Monday from 10:00 hrs to 14:00 hrs. Kindly note that passport collection is possible only by appointment. Submission of visa applications is still suspended.
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12 July 2020
Dear applicants!
Due to the Corona virus / COVID-19 situation, Finland has temporarily suspended accepting visa and residence permit applications at the VFS application centres globally.
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09 July 2020
Dear applicants!
Please note that post receiving the SMS about readiness of your passport at the Finland Visa Application Center in Saint Petersburg, you can opt for courier delivery of your passport to your preferred address. Finland Visa Application Center in Saint Petersburg continues to be closed until further notice.
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04 July 2020
Dear customers,
Visa Application Center in Vyborg is open for passport collection:
Every Monday from 10:00 hrs to 14:00 hrs.
Kindly note that passport collection is possible only by appointment. Submission of applications is still suspended.
To book appointment to Visa Application Centre in Vyborg, please click here
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14 November 2019
New visa sticker for use
All Finnish missions abroad and organisations issuing visas, including the Border Guard, Finnish Customs and the Police, started to use the new EU visa sticker on 11 November 2019. Regulation (EU) 2017/1370, amending Council Regulation (EC) No 1683/95 on a uniform format for visas, was adopted on 04 July 2017. All Member States must start using the new visa sticker by 21 December 2019.
The introduction of the new visa sticker does not require any measures from visa applicants. Visas issued before 11 November 2019 will be valid for the period of validity indicated on the visa sticker.
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30 August 2019
Dear Applicants!
You can find the answers to frequently asked questions about the changes of the package of supporting documents for a visa application effective 01 September 2019 here.
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07 August 2019
Changes in the package of documents for visa application submission effective 01 September 2019
Dear Applicants! Kindly note that effective 01 September 2019 the package of supporting documents for a visa application will be changed. For more information, please click here
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21 May 2019
Discontinuance of Austrian visa Application acceptance
Dear Applicants!
Kindly note that as of 01 June 2019 Visa Application Centre of Finland will no longer accept visa applications for Schengen visa to Austria.
You may apply for a Schengen visa to Austria in Saint Petersburg at the Joint Visa Application Centre at Bolshaya Raznochinnaya str., bld. 16,
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30 March 2019
Entering passport number effective 01 April 2019
Dear Applicants! Please be informed that effective 01 April 2019 – the passport number should be entered using only numbers or letters. No blank spaces or symbols are allowed. The length of the passport number must be maximum nine (9) digits.
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29 January 2019
Comfort Lounge Visa Centre on Saturdays
Dear Applicants! Visa Application Centre in Saint Petersburg is happy to announce the comfortable and exclusive service for submission of visa applications in Comfort Lounge for an additional fee.
From 02 February 2019 Comfort Lounge will be open for visa application submission on Saturdays. You may schedule an appointment on our website or by calling +7 (812) 309-40-81 or +7 (812) 426-39-42
Comfort Lounge Service is a facility offered to visa applicants for submitting their visa applications in a comfortable environment.
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12 January 2019
New additional services available from 14 January 2019
For your convenience, we are pleased to offer you our new additional services:
Get It Right Service to check your package of documents online before coming to the Visa Application Centre. This service costs 15 euro per application and includes:
- Pre-check of Visa Application form, passport and supporting documents
- Faster service at the Visa Centre
To request this service, please, contact us at getitrightled@vfshelpline.com
In your request please specify the amount of applications to be checked and your mobile phone number. We will revert back to you with an email and sms with further instructions and online payment link. Kindly note, that the online payment link is valid for 30 minutes. By sending your request you are agreeing to the offer terms and giving your consent for personal data processing
Call Back Service
An information call will be placed to your contact phone number upon the readiness of your passport. The price of this service is 2.7 euro
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31 December 2018
The service fee charge from 01 January 2019
Dear Applicants, please note, that from 01 January 2019 the service fee will be revised to 27,20 euros.
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10 September 2018
Prime Time passport collection service is available from 10 September 2018
Starting from 10 September 2018, all applicants wishing to collect their ready passports after the Visa Application Centre working hours can come for the Prime Time passport collection from 16:00 to 18:00 (Monday-Friday) for an additional fee of 5.5 euro.
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26 April 2018
Dear Applicants!
Please note that Medical Insurance is a mandatory document. We request that you purchase insurance from the Visa Application Centre or from an authorized agency. We are unable to guarantee the authenticity of policy purchased from any other sources
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30 March 2018
Comfort Lounge Visa Centre
Dear Applicants! Visa Application Centre in Saint Petersburg is happy to announce the comfortable and exclusive service for submission of visa applications in Comfort Lounge for an additional fee.
From 1 of April 2018 Comfort Lounge will be open for visa application submission on Saturdays. Kindly note, that it is mandatory to take a prior appointment.
Comfort Lounge Service is a facility offered to visa applicants for submitting their visa applications in a comfortable environment.
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31 March 2016
Prime Time service is available from 4 April 2016.
Starting from 4 of April 2016, all applicants wishing to apply for after the working hours can schedule an appointment to the Visa Centre of Finland in Saint Petersburg from 18-00 to 20-00( Monday, Wednesday and Thursday). To schedule a prime time appointment, please, call + 7 499 704 3608 or +7 499 703 4672. Please note, that the appointment should be scheduled until 17:00 of the day prior to the expected submission date.
The cost of this service is 50 euro(CB rate). Visa and Service fees and all the other additional services provided by the Visa Application Center are not included in this price.
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16 February 2016
Dear applicants!
Please be informed, that starting from 24 February 2016 Finland Visa Application Centre Call center phone numbers will be changed. From 24 February 2016 onwards call center will be available on the following phone numbers: 7 812 309 4081; 7 812 426 3942.
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25 November 2015
Changes concerning submission of minor child’s application
Dear applicants,
Please note that from 30 November 2015 onwards the copy of parent’s Schengen-visa cannot replace the notarized written consent. If parents have valid Schengen-visas and do not apply for a visa with their child, the notarized written consent and the copy of Schengen-visas must be provided. The consent must cover the whole duration of visa applied for. The information about the requirements for the notarized written consent and the documents that can replace it is available here: Click here
The parents that have EU residence permit or EU passport can provide the copies of these documents and also the free form written consent, that would contain all the information required from the notarized one.
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03 September 2015
Dear Applicants!
Please note: starting from 14 September 2015 all the applicants who come to the Visa Application Center of Finland for the application submission personally, will have to provide a copy of the bio page of their foreign passport.
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13 August 2015
Changes in the visa application submission process at the Consulate General of Finland in Saint Petersburg from 14 September 2015
Applicants wishing to apply for a visa at the Consulate General of Finland must have an appointment for submission.
Please note, that every applicant should have a valid appointment with a definite time slot given, only children endorsed in parents passport are accepted without separate appointment for them.
In case an endorsed child is below 12 years of age, she/he need not come for submission in person. Endorsed children between 12-14 years of age should come personally to the Consulate, as they will be required to provide their biometric data as per the VIS rules. -
1 April 2015
New Services provided at Visa Application Centres
Dear Applicants,
From 1 April 2015 Visa Application Centres in St.Petersburg, Vyborg, Vologda, Velikiy Novgorod and Pskov will provide a Visa Application Form filling Service.
More information at “Additional Services” and “After Submission” pages of our website.
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1 May 2014
Changes to Appointment Scheduling Process to the Consulate General of Finland, St Petersburg
Dear Applicants
A new process has been put in place to schedule an appointment to the Consulate General of Finland, St Petersburg. Please visit the Schedule An Appointment Page for more details. Appointment process for the Visa Centre of Finland, St Petersburg continues as is. -
8 April 2014
Dear Applicants!
Please note: starting 15 April 2014, Russian internal passport copy becomes mandatory for applying for a Finnish Schengen visa.
All Russian applicants will need to provide their internal passport at the time of submission and provide copies of the main page with the personal details, as well as all the pages with the registration stamps.
The rule is valid for all the Russian nationals from the age of 14 including the ones having Schengen visa(s) issued previously. -
5 April 2013
Dear Applicants,
Passports received from the Consulate General of Finland are stored in the Visa Centre for 30 days.
After this period passports will be returned to the Consulate General of Finland:
St-Petersburg, Preobrazhenskaya Pl. 4,
Tel. +7 (812) 331 76 03 (Mon-Fri 9:00-12:00),
e-mail: visa.pie@formin.fi
Passports returned to the Consulate are being kept there only for a limited period of time. Please check your passport status by phone or email before visiting the Consulate for documents collection.