Russian Girls
Driving Across the
Russian Border (to St. Petersburg)
Although potentially a time consuming exercise it is possible to drive a car to St. Petersburg Russia. Depending upon the season and time of day - crossing the Russian border can take anything from 30 minutes to 8 hours or more! Inefficient processing, regulation amendments, frequent shift changes and the sheer volume of cars all contribute to the tedious affair.
There are various routes and options open for driving to Saint Petersburg
Russia – this site will elaborate on first-hand experiences
for crossing the border at various points from Finland
and also a seasonal ferry crossing
from Rostok Germany (via Tallinn Estonia) to a port in
St. Petersburg Russia.
Required Documentation:
1. Passport with Russian visa (see Russian
Visas)
2. Vehicle ownership paperwork
Note:A driving licence is not required for
the actual border crossing, but is a must while driving in Russia especially
for those inevitable police
documentation checks – more about this later.
PROCEDURE:
At Russian borders there are various booths/kiosks that
must be visited in a specific order to gather the required paperwork.
At long last these booths have been labelled but the whole exercise will
still prove frustrating.
Immigration Control Booth
The first step is to obtain and complete an Immigration
Card that must be submitted along with your
passport. These are available from the Passport Control booths – it is
quite acceptable to quickly jump any queue (line) and head straight for
the opening to request it.
Vehicle Insurance Booth
Any vehicle entering Russia must have a form of Russian
road vehicle insurance – the minimal permissive type is a basic 3rd
Party Insurance Policy. There are companies in Finland that can provide
the required insurance but it can be sorted at the border. The price
varies according to the vehicle’s engine capacity and the period of
cover. The price for insuring an average car for 6 months is approximately
100 USD.
You are given an Insurance Policy – in Russian only.
Customs’ Declaration Booth
The owner of the vehicle must complete a Declaration
form (complete 2, just in case as some border
crossings require it) for the vehicle. On this form the
details of the vehicle are registered along
with the type of importation - i.e. "Temporary Importation"
Note: Grab several forms – you will need to complete one (or two) upon exiting Russia.
Submit this declaration form(s) along with the obtained Russian insurance policy, passport (with immigration form) and vehicle ownership details.
The officials print the associated import paperwork – you sign it – they keep a copy and return the original to you along with a freshly stamped custom declaration form – do not lose any of this paperwork!
There is a maximum period of time that the vehicle can be "temporarily
imported" this is stated on the paper work received from
the official. This time varies from 2 weeks to 2 months
depending upon which border
you crossed!