Information on visas and travel documents
(Following texts are from homepages of the Finnish Immigration Service and the Ministry for Foreign Affairs of Finland)
Aliens who wish to travel to Finland for a short period of time as tourists, in order to visit relatives and friends or to participate in a business or travel to a conference, need a visa unless an agreement on the abolition of visas applies to them. A visa is an entry permit to the country for a short-term and temporary residence that lasts for a maximum of three months.
Finland applies the Schengen Convention to visas. Together with other countries that have signed the Schengen Convention, Finland has decided which countries’ citizens can enter Finland and other Schengen countries without a visa, and which countries’ citizens need a visa.
Those who do not need a visa when coming to Finland include citizens of EU member states, citizens of the Nordic countries and citizens of countries on the list of visa-free states, providing they possess other valid travel documents.
In addition to Finland, the member states of the European Union include Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Cyprus, the Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, the Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden and the United Kingdom.
Norway, Iceland and Switzerland are not member states of the EU, but they have made an associate agreement, on the basis of which it is possible to travel to these countries under the same conditions as when travelling to other EU countries.
As a rule, foreign nationals who need an entry visa are requested to apply it from the Finnish mission that represents Finland in their home country. General enquiries about travel documents accepted by Finland and visa issues should be emailed to the passport and visa unit in Ministry for Foreign Affairs. Enquiries about the progress of visa applications or about the application procedure itself should be made directly to the Finnish
embassy processing the matter.
Useful links for information on visas/travel documents needed for Finland:
Finnish Immigration Service:
Visiting Finland
Ministry for Foreign Affairs of Finland:
Foreign nationals arriving in Finland
Visa requirement in the Schengen area and travel documents accepted by Finland (by country)
