Is your question about health safety measures?
This could include approved vaccinations, required certificates, avoidance of close contact, COVID-19 tests, or other obligations under the Communicable Diseases Act? The best way to find information on these issues is on the website of the Finnish Institute for Health and Welfare (THL): Travel and the coronavirus pandemic – THL.
Q&A about the effects of COVID-19 on border traffic
Entry into Finland from EU and Schengen countries
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Yes. There are no travel restrictions when arriving from these countries.
Remember, however, that the obligations under the Infectious Diseases Act apply to all those entering Finland. You must familiarise yourself with the health authorities' instructions before entering Finland. See the THL website for health safety instructions.
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The Schengen States: Austria, Belgium, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Italy, Latvia, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden and Switzerland.
Norway, Iceland, Switzerland and Liechtenstein are Schengen countries but not EU countries.
Ireland, Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus and Romania are EU countries but not Schengen countries.
Entry into Finland from other countries
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Third country nationals, for example Russian citizens, who have a residence permit or a D-visa issued by another Schengen state, can transit through Finland to the country issuing residence permit or D-visa.
Due to COVID-19 restrictions, transit for a person travelling with D-visa is only allowed when returning to the country, that has issued the D-visa (a single trip).
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EU and Schengen citizens who cannot be vaccinated against covid-19 for medical reasons may enter Finland given they present a medical certificate indicating this.
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EU can decide to automatically recognise certificates issued by other countries, by adopting equivalence decisions.
You can find the list of these countries on the EU Commission’s website: Recognition by the EU of COVID certificates issued by third (non-EU) countries EU Digital COVID Certificate (europa.eu).
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The required covid-19 certificate accepted at the border control can be in Finnish, Swedish or English.
Information about approved vaccinations and required certificates: Vaccine series accepted in Finland (thl.fi).
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A certificate of a full series of vaccinations is valid for 9 months. After this, a booster shot is required. After the booster shot, the certificate is valid until further notice.
Read the guidelines of the Finnish Institute for Health and Welfare (THL): Travel and the coronavirus pandemic.
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If you have a certificate of a complete and valid vaccination series or an EU digital COVID certificate that proves the person has recovered from covid-19 within 6 months, and you are 18 years old or older, minors travelling in the same travel party with you can enter the country. Also minors are required to have a covid-19 vaccination certificate. This requirement applies to minors born in 2006 or earlier.
If you enter the country for an essential purpose and you are 18 years old or older, minors travelling in the same travel party with you can enter the country. In this case, a covid-19 vaccination certificate is not required.
The requirements above do not apply to Finnish citizens or permanent residents of Finland returning to Finland. However, all passengers are required to comply with the Communicable Diseases Act and decisions made by the health authorities, such as compulsory health examinations. Travel and the coronavirus pandemic – THL.
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Family members of Finnish citizens are allowed to travel to Finland if they meet the requirements of Section 37 of the Aliens Act. However, a family member of a Finnish citizen may be a family member of a Finnish citizen living in Finland or abroad. The family member must also have the required travel documents and, if required, a visa or residence permit.
However, all passengers are required to comply with the Communicable Diseases Act and decisions made by the health authorities, such as compulsory health examinations. Travel and the coronavirus pandemic – THL.
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The constitutional right to enter and leave the country also applies to you. If you do not have a passport or driving licence, Finnish citizenship can be proven, for example, by some other document granted by a Finnish authority or by a Finnish identity number.
However, all passengers are required to comply with the Communicable Diseases Act and decisions made by the health authorities, such as compulsory health examinations. Travel and the coronavirus pandemic – THL.
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If you have a residence permit issued by Finland, you can enter the country through external border. The residence permit card must be presented at the border check.
However, all passengers are required to comply with the Communicable Diseases Act and decisions made by the health authorities, such as compulsory health examinations. Travel and the coronavirus pandemic – THL.
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The current instructions for border traffic apply also to students. You need to present a certificate of a complete and valid vaccination series or an EU digital COVID certificate that proves the person has recovered from covid-19 within 6 months at the border. You may also return or enter Finland with a residence permit issued by Finland.
In addition, participation in an entrance examination of an educational institution, if such participation requires physical presence, is considered a justified personal reason to enter the country.
Decision to allow entry is always made during border checks.
However, all passengers are required to comply with the Communicable Diseases Act and decisions made by the health authorities, such as compulsory health examinations. Travel and the coronavirus pandemic – THL.
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Transit on regularly scheduled routes is permitted. During the transit journey, a person must remain in the transit area of the airport. Entry into the country for transit, or for example, for hotel accommodation that is not in the transit area, is allowed only for a grave reason. In this case, passengers entering the country will be bound by the obligations stated in the Communicable Diseases Act.
Destination countries may also require passengers to take a coronavirus test at transit airports. Waiting for the test and the test results is not as such a ground for allowing entry during transit.
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You can enter Finland on the basis of a partnership relationship. This applies to Finnish citizens, EU and Schengen citizens living in Finland (registered right of residence) and their family members as well as third-country nationals residing in Finland with a residence permit. A dependent of a person who is entering the country on the basis of a dating relationship may also enter Finland.
This includes both persons who are married and those living in a marriage-like relationship in the same household on a permanent basis, regardless of their gender. In this regard, partnerships are also accepted without the requirement for having lived together for a continuous two-year period. In addition, distance relationships in which the individuals mostly live in different countries are accepted as partnership relationships, as are other well-established forms of being in a relationship.
As a rule, border inspectors trust passengers own statement about their partnership relationship. It is possible to ask for more detailed information in isolated cases.
However, all passengers are required to comply with the Communicable Diseases Act and decisions made by the health authorities, such as compulsory health examinations. Travel and the coronavirus pandemic – THL.
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Yes you can. A pressing personal reason should involve a compulsory or unpredictable cause which requires personal attendance, which cannot tolerate delay, and which would cause undue harm within the context in question if the person concerned would not tend to it. A pressing personal reason can be, for example, participation in the funeral of next of kin.
In addition, participation in an entrance examination of an educational institution, if such participation requires physical presence, is considered a justified personal reason to enter the country.
A person who owns property, a residence or a secondary residence in Finland may also arrive in Finland. The owner's family (spouse and minor children) may also enter the country.
Pressing personal reasons are assessed on a case-by-case basis in connection with the border check. If you can please bring documents that prove the situation, this may streamline the border check.
However, all passengers are required to comply with the Communicable Diseases Act and decisions made by the health authorities, such as compulsory health examinations. Travel and the coronavirus pandemic – THL.
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Travellers may enter Finland for pressing family matters. Such family matters include, for example, the birth of one’s own child, serious illness of a close relative, one’s own wedding, meeting a relative, or courting relationship.
For the purpose of meeting a relative, the entry into Finland is applied to the following persons:
- The entry into Finland of relatives of Finnish citizens residing or staying in Finland
- Relatives of EU/Schengen citizens residing in Finland (registered right of residence) or of their family members
- The entry into Finland of relatives of third-country nationals residing in Finland with a residence permit.
Relatives include spouse, children, parents, parents-in-law, and grandparents, including the family members (spouses and minor children) of the above-mentioned persons. As a rule, authorities assume that the traveller’s own notification of the kinship is correct. The guardian or trustee of a dependent person is also treated as a relative in this purpose of entry.
However, all passengers are required to comply with the Communicable Diseases Act and decisions made by the health authorities, such as compulsory health examinations. Travel and the coronavirus pandemic – THL.
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With regards to external border traffic, other essential traffic refers particularly to border traffic which is related to work that is important for the functioning of society or security of supply, requires work tasks to be carried out by persons from another country, and cannot tolerate delay.
For seasonal workers (third-country nationals), this covers work on agricultural and horticultural farms as well as forestry. The seasonal work permit must be granted before entering the country, so that the employee has a real opportunity to carry out work that is critical to security of supply that cannot be delayed.
The Ministry of Economic Affairs and Employment has overseen the process of defining the types of work that are important for the functioning of society or security of supply and cannot tolerate delay. This list of critical tasks does not constitute an advance decision granting entry into the country. The employer must use a separate form to justify why the work of the employee coming to Finland is critical and cannot tolerate delay. The employer fills in the 'Employer's or client's justification for the necessity of an employee's entry' form and gives it to their employee. In addition to the other documents required for border crossing, the employee seeking to enter Finland presents this form at the border check.
The border control authority will take into account the list of critical tasks and the employer's explanation when assessing a necessary reason for entry.
List of critical tasks (tem.fi).
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Leisure travel (for example, visiting the summer cottage of an friend) is not an essential reason for a foreign citizen to come to Finland.
Entry into Finland is nevertheless permitted from all countries if the traveller has a certificate of a complete and valid vaccination series or an EU digital COVID certificate that proves the person has recovered from covid-19 within 6 months.
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Disembarkation for passengers arriving on cruise ships from outside EU or Schengen countries is allowed, if a passenger has a certificate of a complete and valid vaccination series or an EU digital COVID certificate that proves the person has recovered from COVID-19 within 6 months. Disembarkation for passengers arriving on cruise ships from EU or Schengen countries is allowed without entry restrictions.
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Entry to Finland may be permitted for special groups, such as representatives of culture, sports and business life if entry is justifiable for those persons or groups of persons. These kind of tasks include activities essential for ensuring the revitalisation, new growth or long-term operating conditions for particular industries.
Applications relating to special groups should be sent by email directly to the Finnish Border Guard ([email protected]). The application is made by the party extending the invitation.
If you meet the requirements for entry into Finland, there is no need to apply for a special group permit.
The applications must include justification regarding the national significance of the activities and the reasons why other procedures cannot be observed as well as the procedures that will be used to ensure the implementation of health security. The employer or other such party inviting the person or persons to enter the country must be able to present a health security action plan that complies with the national instructions for them.
If the health security measures are at least in accordance with currently valid national recommendations from the health authorities, the application does not require a separate statement from the health authorities on these measures. In cases where the health security measures presented in the application contain deviations from the current recommendations or an application is otherwise different (e.g. a large group size or several separate groups), a separate statement from the local infectious disease authority (municipality or hospital district) must be included in the application.
The applications are sent from the Finnish Border Guard to both the relevant government ministries and also the Finnish Institute for Health and Welfare or the local health authority, who then issue a statement on them. After receiving the statement, the Finnish Border Guard will prepare a policy concerning entry to Finland and inform the applicant of that policy. The final decision on entry to the country, however, is made during the border check.
Entry into Finland from the green list countries and regions
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Countries on the green list mean countries with a sufficiently good epidemiological situation for which the Council of the European Union has decided to allow free travel to the EU.
The following countries and regions are on the green list: Bahrain, Colombia, Chile, Hongkong, Indonesia, Kuwait, Macao, New Zealand, Peru, Qatar, Rwanda, Saudi Arabia, South Korea, Taiwan, United Arab Emirates and Uruguay.
For residents of these countries and regions, there are no entry restrictions when arriving in Finland from these countries and regions.
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In principle, a person travelling with a passport issued by one of these countries can be assumed to live in that country. As the place of departure for a third-country national must be determined in connection with the border check, questions may also be asked during the border check in order to determine the country or region of residence. As a rule, authorities assume that the traveller’s own notification of their country or region of residence is correct.
If necessary, place of residence can be confirmed by presenting, for example, an ID or driving licence issued by the third country in question or another document demonstrating residence. In addition, residence and work permits of the countries concerned indicate a person’s residence in those countries or regions. Other official documents that confirm residence may also be used to prove residence in the said country or region.
Entry into Finland from the green list countries.
General
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Finnish citizens must have the required travel documents when leaving the country.
Foreign citizens must have the required travel documents and, if necessary, the required visa or a residence permit.
However, travel documents that deviate from those required earlier are not needed for crossing an internal border. In traffic between Nordic countries, it is sufficient for Nordic citizens to be able to prove their identity in some way. Further information about travel documents
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Internal border traffic, or traffic crossing the internal border, refers to traffic crossing the border between Finland and another state that is a member of the Schengen area. The Schengen countries include Austria, Belgium, the Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, the Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Slovakia, Slovenia, Sweden and Spain, and of the non-EU countries, Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway and Switzerland.
External border traffic, or traffic crossing the external border, refers to traffic between Finland and a state that does not belong to the Schengen area. To traffic crossing the border between Finland and another state, the guidelines concerning border crossing apply, if the other state does not belong to the Schengen area. This also applies to non-Schengen EU member States. Of the EU member states, Bulgaria, Ireland, Croatia, Cyprus and Romania are not part of the Schengen area. Neither is the United Kingdom part of the Schengen area.
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Receiving insurance compensation for a cancelled or interrupted journey is a matter between the customer and their insurance company. The Border Guard does not take a stand on insurance compensation matters or issue certificates related to the matter. Basic information on travel insurance can be found on the Finnish Financial Ombudsman Bureau website.