Russian tourists "took" undisputed leadership, obtaining 95% of 1.57 million Finnish visas issued in 2013. St. Petersburg consulate endeavored the most, issuing 1.2 million visas, which is by 17% Finnish visas more than in 2012.
Moscow consulate lags far behind: last year it granted 143 thousand Finnish visas or by 2% more than in 2012. However, if compared with the number of visas issued by Finland to other countries, even the amount of Moscow visas will turn out substantial: 16.8 thousand visas were issued in Kiev, 7.8 thousand in Shanghai, 7.8 thousand in Bangkok, 7 thousand in Beijing and 6 thousand in New Delhi.
The overall increase in the issuance of Finnish visas was 13% in 2013. Last year, there were 14197 visa refusal decisions, which is less than 1% of all applications.
Author: Anna Dorozhkina