Visa and visa waiver for seafares

The main requirements for visa exemption are: holding a seafarers’ identity card in accordance with the ILO-convention(s) on Seafarers' Identity Documents (ILO Convention no. 108 from 1958, revised in 2003 by ILO Convention no 185), and that he/she is a citizen of a country which has ratified the convention(s) (among them are Russia, Ukraine and Belarus).

Seafarers fulfilling these requirements do not need a visa for joining a vessel in Norway or for transiting through Norway to join a ship in another port in the Schengen territory. Please note however, that the port nation may still require a visa. In such a case the visa should be obtained from the port nation, irrespective of the ship being Norwegian or not. Only in very exceptional cases an emergency visa might be issued by the police/immigration authorities in Norway (if in Norway, in transit). The Norwegian Embassy in Vilnius is not in a position to issue visas on behalf of other countries.

The visa waiver does not apply to seafarers going to Norway for a course/training. In such cases the seafarer must apply for a visa at the relevant foreign mission (see below).

Against this background, the Embassy will not issue visas for seafarers to whom the mentioned visa free regime applies.

The Norwegian embassy in Moscow is the Norwegian diplomatic representation for Kaliningrad. In order to make visa applications from Kaliningrad more convenient, Norwegian and Lithuanian authorities have agreed that the Lithuanian Consulate General in Kaliningrad may handle visa application on behalf of Norway. In other words the primary point of contact for visa applicants in Kaliningrad is the Lithuanian Consulate General, and their primary Norwegian point of contact is the Norwegian embassy in Moscow. The embassy in Vilnius does not have a role in visa/consular matters from Kaliningrad.