I went to Russia (Moscow and St. Petersburg) in 2002 while living in Finland (I&#x27;m a US citizen).  My then girlfriend, now wife is a German citizen and arranged the paperwork and I took my documents to the Russian consulate in Helsinki and paid for expedited handling (unease about foreign country and no passport on hand).  There wasn&#x27;t a lot of paperwork at the time.<p>First couple of nights were in Moscow.  Train ride to St. Petersburg, check into the hotel.  Take a nap.  Phone call -- &quot;Um, your papers expired today.&quot;  Dumbass that I was, didn&#x27;t look at the visa the consulate had issued only covered the Moscow portion.  This was a Sunday.  Monday meant a trip to the St. Petersburg airport and talking with a border official.  A nice gentleman in a tweed suit.<p>A couple of hundred euros handled the issue (we had 4 days left on our trip).  Something I will remember.  Putin was president at the time as well.