Russia and Finland have many common points of contact. This includes trade relations, a wide land border, and a century-long historical period when Finland was part of the Russian Empire. All these factors make Finland a very interesting country. In neighboring Karelia there are a large number of people who have family ties with the Finns, so you can not do without the Finnish consulate in Petrozavodsk. In addition, its proximity to the Russian Federation significantly increases the demand for tourist visits.
Consulate of Finland in Petrozavodsk
In Karelia is located not the main representative office of this country in Russia, but only its branch in Petrozavodsk, therefore its scope of activity is somewhat limited. The Consulate General of Finland is located in St. Petersburg.
The main task of the Petrozavodsk representative office is to issue visas to Russian citizens living in the territory of Karelia. Karelia borders with Finland, from here the most visits are made to this country of the European Union, so it was decided to open a separate consulate here, which will regulate visa issues for residents of Karelia.
Features of work
The Finnish Consulate in Petrozavodsk serves the interests of exclusively the residents of this constituent entity of the Russian Federation. If you do not have permanent or temporary registration in the territory of the Republic of Karelia, then you will not be served at this consulate, but will be redirected to another.
An exception is possible only if you manage to prove that you live in Karelia without a local registration. In practice, there are practically no such cases.
The Finnish representative office works both by appointment and directly with those citizens who decide to visit the representative office without prior agreement. We advise you to make an appointment in advance, it is more convenient to do this by phone, which can be found on the official website of the representative office. Do not waste time - do not write to e-mail in the hope that you will be put in the queue, it is better to immediately dial the work phone number of the organization.
Services
The list of services of the consulate of Finland in Petrozavodsk is rather limited. Here, work is not being done to regulate Russian-Finnish relations, and legal assistance is not being provided to Finns residing or staying in Russia. All such questions are redirected to the St. Petersburg Consulate General of Finland. In Petrozavodsk, only applications are accepted and visas are issued to residents of the Karelian Republic.
Only a visa to Finland is issued here. The consulate in Petrozavodsk does not issue visas of other countries, as it happens in the missions of some other states, where by mutual agreement it is allowed to obtain not only the visa of the country to which the consulate belongs, but also some others.
Otherwise, the work of this branch is no different from the activities of other Finnish missions in the Russian Federation.
Conclusion
The Consulate of Finland in Petrozavodsk is a small branch of the General Representation. It was created purposefully to offload the St. Petersburg Consulate from numerous visa applications.
More than a million Russian tourists come to Finland every year, the bulk of travelers from Karelia. Thanks to the work of the Petrozavodsk Consulate of Finland, it is possible to successfully process many visa applications filed by Russian citizens. The quality work of the branch increases the interest of Russians in shopping and leisure in Finland, which can be easily seen by looking at statistics that indicate an increase in demand for this fashionable tourist destination.