The Finnish Border Guard will pilot the Digital Travel Credentials (DTC) at Helsinki Airport from 28 August 2023 in cooperation with Finnair, the Finnish Police and Finavia.
The DTC pilot project will allow passengers on Finnair flights to London, Edinburgh and Manchester to pass through border control without queuing faster and smoother than usual. This is possible by registering as a voluntary DTC user and using it at border control when leaving and/or arriving in Finland.
The pilot project will test the DTC in a real border control environment, reportedly for the first time in the world. The DTC is a digital version of a physical passport and is equally reliable. It allows smooth and fast border crossings without compromising security.
This is how you can take part in the testing:
1. Download the FIN DTC Pilot digital travel document app on your smartphone from the Play Store for Android and the App Store for iOS. Please make sure that one of your phone's screen locking methods (PIN, fingerprint or face image) is enabled before installing the app.
2. Register with the police at Vantaa Main Police Station's licence services in
- Tikkurila (Ratatie 11 C, 6th floor, 01300 VANTAA)
- Eastern Uusimaa servicepoint in Helsinki Airport, licence service (Lentäjäntie 1 B, 4th floor, 01530 VANTAA).
Book an appointment for registration via e-services of the Police.
You must be a Finnish citizen at least 18 years of age
- For registration, take your valid Finnish passport with you. The passport will be used to identify you and its chip is read to create a digital travel document.
- During registration, a facial photo will be taken and you will be asked to sign a consent form. If you wish to withdraw your consent, you can do so at the registration points or by sending an e-mail to [email protected]. The message must contain the passport number with which DTC registration was completed.
- You will only need to register with the police once. After registration, you can use your DTC at Helsinki Airport each time you travel to the United Kingdom and return to Helsinki Airport on direct Finnair flights.
3. Send the data from the application to the Finnish Border Guard
36−4 hours before your flight each time you fly from Helsinki Airport on a Finnair flight
to London, Manchester or Edinburgh and when you return to Helsinki Airport on Finnair
flight.
DTC can only be used for border control at Helsinki Airport. During the border
control in the UK, follow the instructions of the local authorities. Take your passport with
you.
4. Use the DTC at the border control at Helsinki Airport when you leave for and return from Great Britain. Please arrive at the DTC border control line no earlier than two hours before departure to ensure that the DTC border control line is available.
The border guard will compare your facial photo with the DTC facial photo. Place your passport on a separate reader while looking at the camera. At Helsinki Airport, as a volunteer testing DTC, use border control line 21 when you leave Finland and line 19 when you arrive in Finland.
If for any reason the DTC does not work at the border check, your trip will not be blocked and you can still travel by presenting your travel document to the border guard. Please report the problem to the Finnish Border Guard at [email protected] so that the problem can be resolved.
