Cruise passengers to Russia who lose passport face expensive journey home
British travellers on no-visa trips to Russia who lose a passport will unwittingly become entangled in an an expensive race against time to put things right.
A new Foreign Office warning shows how the sharp deterioration in diplomatic relations between London and Moscow can impact holidaymakers.
Tens of thousand of British travellers each year circumvent the difficult and expensive procedure to obtain a Russian visa. Instead, they take advantage of the freedom to explore for up to 72 hours if they arrive by ship.
Typically, a Baltic cruise will stop at St Petersburg for two nights to allow passengers to make the most of the opportunity to explore Russia’s most beautiful city without the usual red tape.
In 2016, the last year for which figures are available, 69,000 British travellers visited St Petersburg under this arrangement.
The same courtesy applies in two other Baltic ports, Vyborg and Kaliningrad; Sochi and Novorossiysk on the Black Sea; and two cities in the Far East of Siberia, Korsakov and Vladivostok.
Everyone visitor to Russia must carry their passport with them at all times. The Foreign Office warns: “A copy will not be sufficient. Police carry out random checks, especially during periods of heightened security.
“Failure to produce your passport when asked can lead to a fine.”
But this requirement places travellers at risk of losing their passport, or having it stolen. The Foreign Office also warns: “Be alert to the possibility of mugging, pick pocketing and theft in the main tourist areas.” If a passport is lost or stolen while ashore, the first step is to obtain a police report.
Next, the traveller must go to the only remaining UK diplomatic mission in Russia, the British Embassy in Moscow.
The British Consulate-General in St Petersburg was closed in 2018 by order of the Kremlin, in the wake of the Sergei Skripal poisoning case.
The UK expelled 23 Russian diplomats after concluding that the attack in Salisbury in March 2018 had been a Novichok-class nerve agent developed in the Soviet Union.
Once the traveller reaches the British Embassy In Moscow, they can obtain an Emergency Travel Document.
Before they are allowed to leave Russia, they must also get an exit visa from the authorities, and pay a fine for breaching the rules on cruise access.
But the Foreign Office warns: “If it is not done within the 72-hour visa free regime, you will be facing a court hearing, fine, deportation and a possible ban from re-entry.”
For someone in St Petersburg, the trip to Moscow could be done in a day – assuming the embassy is open. But from Vladivostok, the trip to the Russian capital involves an 8,000-mile round trip.
Vladivostok, the end of the Trans-Siberian Railway, is an increasingly popular port of call for Pacific cruises. This summer Princess Cruises, Holland-America Line and Royal Caribbean will carry British passengers to the Russian port.
Neil Taylor, a guest lecturer on Baltic cruises and former tour operator specialising in Russia, said: “It is dire to lose a passport under these regulations.
“Normally if there isn’t a British Consulate you go to another EU one and they would issue an emergency document to get you home.
“Not allowing that is particularly bitter. It creates a lot of antagonism and harms the industry.”
Many European Union countries, including France, Germany and Spain, have Consulates-General in St Petersburg.
