Question: We are going on a Baltic cruise and visiting St. Petersburg for 3 day. Do we need visas?

Answer of Consul: All cruise passengers visiting Russia on sea cruise ships may enter and stay there without visa up to 72 hours.

Compulsory conditions are:

- They should have accommodations on board.

- The list of all passengers must be submitted to the local authorities 72 hours prior to arriving to the port of destination.

- Every passenger must have valid identity documents.

- They must be included in the above mentioned list.

- They must travel only with the group according to the pre-arranged program of the shipping company.

All cruise passengers visiting Russia wanting to undertake their own independent shore excursion should apply for a tourist visa.

 

Question: Me and my husband received our visas by mail on time. Thank you for such quick service. But we have one question. We submitted our photographs and we thought that our photos will be printed on our visas. On the photo place only three words in Russian language. Our visas are still valid?

Answer of Consul: Indeed on visa sticker there is a notice written "ДЕЙСТВИТЕЛЬНА БЕЗ ФОТОГРАФИИ". It means "VALID WITHOUT PHOTOGRAPH" It is not a mistake or bug. You may travel without any fear.

TO BE CONTINUED