From Mr H. Brincat

I have decided to write this letter to make prospective travellers to the beautiful city of St Petersburg in Russia aware of the ordeal we had to go through because of a genuine mistake on our part regarding the departure date on our visa.

My family and I had a most enjoyable holiday in St Petersburg, which, regrettably, was ruined by the Russian Immigration authorities at Pulkovo Airport a few minutes before we should have boarded the last direct Air Malta flight for the season to return home.

We were never allowed to board that plane as we were stopped at Passport Control. Unfortunately, when we applied for the visa, we did not include the departure date. This was probably because the hotel where we were to stay advised the Russian Embassy (at the official request of the latter) of our arrival and departure dates. The visa was issued by the Russian Embassy here to expire on the 23rd at midnight and our flight was on the 24th at 6am. That plane, in fact, was the first – and only – flight back to Malta. (The hotel staff later explained to us that the discrepancy on the visa departure date was probably due to the fact that we had the right to stay at the hotel till midday on 24 October).

Anyway, we went to the airport and checked in at 4am on 24 October, before we proceeded to passport control, where we were stopped by the officer on duty who informed us that we had a big problem. In fact, we were told that we could not board the plane as our visa had expired (by just six hours!) and there was no immigration officer to solve the problem. We thought they would have deported us immediately having been in the country for six hours without a visa! But it was not to be, or, better still, common sense did not prevail in our case. The Air Malta handling agent kept trying to contact the Immigration officer who, he told us was asleep at home and the phone appeared to be off the hook.

Anyway, despite our obvious (and genuine) case – we only wanted to go home – we saw our luggage being returned to the departure lounge and were told by Air Malta’s handling agent that our only option was to travel to Malta via Moscow on Friday, i.e., three days later, on the only other direct Air Malta flight available.

Back at the hotel we considered this and even checked other flights available through different routes.

We were helped in no small way by the staff and the general manager, Mr Held, of the Corinthia Nevski Palace Hotel.

When we finally decided to take the Moscow option, we were told that once the extension of the visa was being issued in St Petersburg, we could not travel back home from Moscow but could only depart from St Petersburg to another European country.

We finally found a flight to Malta via Amsterdam on 25 October. This meant that we had to pay for air tickets from St Petersburg to Amsterdam and from Amsterdam to Malta, which cost us around Lm230 per person.

Had we stayed in Russia till Friday and taken the Air Malta flight from Moscow, we would have paid Lm135 per person, including the cost of accommodation and train tickets.

You cannot imagine our great disappointment when the Russian Embassy staff in Malta informed us that the visa they had issued for us covered the whole of Russia and not just St Petersburg! However, it was too late but it is still a mystery why there was no agreement on this issue between the Russian Immigration authorities in St Petersburg and the Russian Embassy in Malta.

On that same day (24 October) it also became clear that had there been someone at the airport we could have paid for the extension of our visa (if this was ever needed), and would have been allowed to board the plane! If the Immigration officer had been on duty, we would only have had to pay $100 for the four of us because this is what we paid to have an extension for our visa the next day.

We did not expect such unfair treatment as, apart from having missed our flight and lost a possible transfer of the Air Malta ticket to the Moscow flight, we had to pay an extra Lm1,000 in flight tickets, hotel accommodation and other expenses for the four of us to get home.

At St Petersburg airport, the fact that only the Air Malta handling agent could speak some English did not help either. This gentleman, the very helpful Corinthia Nevski hotel staff and the Russian Embassy staff in Malta, to whom we complained soon after our arrival, all sympathised with us. However, there seems to be no mercy from the Immigration authorities in that northern city, even if a case is genuine from start to finish. In our case, we felt that the St Petersburg Immigration authorities did not care about us at all. For just $100 dollars (about Lm30), we were forced to pay Lm1,000, which is no joke!

Apart from feeling that it was completely unjust, we also feel the whole issue just did not make sense.

Moreover, we are also concerned that they did not allow us to board our plane to come home, opting instead to let us stay in Russia for a whole 15 hours without a visa. It would have made more sense had they detained us at the airport until the immigration office opened to issue the new visas.

My complaint is not directed at the staff of the Russian Embassy in Malta. I only want to make public the poor treatment we received at the airport in St Petersburg in the hope that others will not go through the same ordeal that I and my family suffered. I hope that both the Maltese and Russian Foreign Ministries will follow up these matters so that such unnecessary obstacles are cleared for the benefit of Russian and Maltese citizens in the future.

Henry Brincat

BIRKIRKARA