Immigration paperwork for St. Petersburg for SPB tour

Hi,

We received our tour tickets from SPB as we are planning to take a 2 day tour. Besides, having to bring the tour tickets (which act as a Visa), and our passports, they also mention that we need the following:

"Immigration Card (provided by your ship). Please fill it out on board the ship before you go through the Russian immigration."

How do we get them? Are these normally given to passengers the night before or do we need to go to the guest services to ask for them?

thanks,

Steve

They will be given by the ship a day or two prior to arrival in SPB.

Yes, as Bruce stated, you get them on your ship, usually the day before St Petersburg. A while back, some posters said they were only given to people who had booked excursions thru the ship, and others had to go and get them from guest services, but now, they are usually distributed to everyone.

You fill it out, and carry it with you off the ship and give it to Russian immigration along with your passport and tour ticket.

Cheers

Len

Thanks.

Just curious. Do you know that Princess does this? Should we expect any hassle from Princess since we aren't booked on their, more expensive, excursion?..

Steve

Sent from my iPad using Forums mobile app

They're called Migration Cards, & they're similar to the little slips of paper you're given to complete on overseas flights. You complete with broadly the info on your passport.

If the ship doesn't deliver, you can collect from Guest Relations.

They're supplied free to the ship by Russian immigration, and must be made freely available.

Complete it the evening before, don't leave it til you go ashore.

Unless they've changed in the last 18 months, there's two identical halves - but don't tear it in two. Because you've handed in a form on day one & had your passport stamped, you don't have to fill in another that evening or next day. And because of that, the line at immigration moves much more quickly on day two.

Here's an example:

Westerners don't tend to have a "Patronymic" name, just leave that bit blank.

And leave the "visa number" blank, that doesn't apply.

Name of host - I think that's your tour operator.

JB :)

Wow. Thanks for the picture. That's very helpful.

Do I complete both halves and they (Russians) keep one? So I bring my half on the 2nd day?

Thanks,

Steve

Wow. Thanks for the picture. That's very helpful.

Do I complete both halves and they (Russians) keep one? So I bring my half on the 2nd day?

Thanks,

Steve

Russian immigration kept the whole thing when we went. But they stamped our passports & the stamped passport (plus tour ticket) was good enough for day 2.

Might be different for different nationalities, but whatever they decide to do with it, best leave it to them. ;)

But definitely complete & present the whole thing in one piece.

BTW that example was for Belarus, but the Russian one is the same. And yes, it's in Russian & English. :)

JB :)

IIRC, when we first went ashore, they took one half, we kept one half. When we "exited the country" (returned to the ship), we had to give them the other half.

thanks for all the great answers.

Steve

IIRC, when we first went ashore, they took one half, we kept one half. When we "exited the country" (returned to the ship), we had to give them the other half.

Was that for a multi-day trip? If so what day did they collect it?

Was that for a multi-day trip? If so what day did they collect it?

We were there for two days, but didn't go ashore on the second day. However, the person at the Immigration checkpoint didn't ask if we were going ashore the second day. We were told we had to surrender the other half of the Migration form.

We did an Alla tour in SPB. Alla had already advised us we would need the forms. They were delivered to our cabin.

I hear all this. But I just called Princes to confirm and the 2 people I spoke with never heard of such a thing. I'm sure they are wrong but it seems strange. They both said if you go on a Princess excursion, you're all set. Otherwise, you need a Russian Visa.

When I mentioned the authorized Russian tour groups and tour tickets, they were surprised that exists.

I read the form another CC member posted. I just want to make sure from Princes that I get these forms before we arrive at St. Petersburg.

They are looking into it. When I get a reply, I'll post it here.

Steve

You are probably talking to an office person who can't possibly be expected to know all the idiosyncrasies of each of the hundreds of ports Princess stops at. They clearly know about the Visa requirement. But the paperwork we are talking about is relatively small stuff, in the big scheme of things of running a cruise line.

I would ask on the Princess board how it was handled. But, as several of us have mentioned it, it is definitely required of ALL people getting off the ships. All people getting off the ship, whether on a ship's excursion, or on a privately booked trip, go through the same process. It is NOT separated.

I hear all this. But I just called Princes to confirm and the 2 people I spoke with never heard of such a thing. I'm sure they are wrong but it seems strange. They both said if you go on a Princess excursion, you're all set. Otherwise, you need a Russian Visa.

 

When I mentioned the authorized Russian tour groups and tour tickets, they were surprised that exists.

 

I read the form another CC member posted. I just want to make sure from Princes that I get these forms before we arrive at St. Petersburg.

 

They are looking into it. When I get a reply, I'll post it here.

Steve

Sometimes people in the res dept have no idea what goes on when on the ship let alone what the immigration officials do

I would not stress about it as long as you have your paperwork in order

But shouldn't they know who to contact within Princess to confirm that some paperwork is given to or made available to this "small" group?

I am sure everyone is correct. I just want to confirm with Princess.

Maybe I'll post it on a recent Princess roll call as my specific roll call group is for a cruise many months away and they wouldn't know first hand as to what happens.

thanks,

Steve

I hear all this. But I just called Princes to confirm and the 2 people I spoke with never heard of such a thing. I'm sure they are wrong but it seems strange. They both said if you go on a Princess excursion, you're all set. Otherwise, you need a Russian Visa.

 

When I mentioned the authorized Russian tour groups and tour tickets, they were surprised that exists.

 

I read the form another CC member posted. I just want to make sure from Princes that I get these forms before we arrive at St. Petersburg.

 

They are looking into it. When I get a reply, I'll post it here.

Steve

Hi Steve,

Both of those Princess staff said that you need a Russian Visa if you don't take one of their excursions, and you know that's incorrect. Can't blame the staff, it's what their literature says.:mad:

Other cruise lines say "you don't need a visa if you go on one of our tours, but you do if you want to go ashore on your own" . That's misleading, but true. Princess say "you need a visa to go ashore if you don't take one of our excursions." And that's a lie.

You're not going to get knowledgeable answers from them on Migration Cards.

As Bruce posted, cruise head office staff can't be expected to know all the detail of all the world's cruises, and you're wasting your time with them.

Worse than saying "sorry, never heard of them" there's a risk of staff disguising ignorance with a guess as a reply. I've had duff info on visas, currency, ports & other matters from various cruise line head offices.

Staff on the ship will know their stuff, they'll provide Migration Cards or you can collect from Guest Relations.

No worries :cool:

JB :)

All the cruise lines want you to buy their own excursions as they make so much money out of them. A lot of the cruise lines excursion literature suggests you can't get off the ship in SPB unless you take one of their trips. Now, we all know that is not true.

The immigration form will be available onboard, believe us all, we have done the tours with tour operators that have nothing to do with the cruise lines.

As others have said, don't put too much trust in the info given to you from a young administrator who has probably never even eaten a plate of Borscht, let alone visited SPB.