The world’s biggest and finest visa application centre opened in St. Petersburg
Finnish Foreign Minister Alexander Stubb festively inaugurated Finland’s Visa Application Centre in the heart of St. Petersburg. The sparkling new centre prioritizes smooth customer service. Queueing for hours to submit visa applications is history now that the Visa Application Centre opens to customers on Friday, 11 February.
“Finland can seldom call itself a great power, but as far as visas are concerned, Finland is truly a great power,” Foreign Minister Alexander Stubb said at the ribbon-cutting ceremony inaugurating the visa application centre that he characterized as the world’s finest.
Last year, Finland’s Consulate General in St. Petersburg granted a record 740,000 Schengen visas. The growth has been explosive: five years ago, fewer than 250,000 applications were processed in St. Petersburg.
According to Consul General Olli Perheentupa, the Consulate General’s own premises had become far too small for the rising numbers of applications.
“We could not increase the number of service counters any further, nor expand the yard of the Consulate General, or even the surrounding streets,” Perheentupa told the festive crowd.
Service within 15 minutes
The dignitaries present admired the bright and spacious Visa Application Centre situated in the Olympic Plaza shopping centre. Located on two stories, the premises total 3,000 square metres in size.
During the inauguration ceremony, Vladimir Zapevalov, who represented the Ministry for Foreign Affairs of the Russian Federation, praised Finland’s granting of visas as fair and democratic. Queues tens of metres long, however, have been a headache for Russians ever since 1991.
Thanks to the new Visa Application Centre’s roomy facilities with no less than 83 customer service points, queuing is now past history. VFS Global, the company operating the new Visa Application Centre, promises that no customer will need to wait longer than 15 minutes for service.
A large staff to handle visas
The Visa Application Centre in St. Petersburg is currently the world’s biggest centre where visa applications are received and visas granted are handed over to their recipients. The centre has 200 employees. Applications continue to be processed at the Finnish Consulate General, and decisions concerning visas are still made there.
The audience could hardly believe their ears when Consul General Perheentupa recalled the late 1980s. In 1988, St. Petersburg had only one person working with Russian visa applications.
Information about the Visa Application Centre:
- Address: Stremyannaya ulitsa 21/5 Olympic Plaza shopping centre, 3rd floor.
- Open Monday–Friday from 9:00 to 17:00; in peak seasons, also other hours as needed.
- The Visa Application Centre begins operations on Friday, 11 February.
- A visa application can be filled out in advance via the Internet at: visa.finland.eu