Finland tightens travel restrictions on Russian citizens

Finland will continue to impose restrictions on the travel by citizens of Russia, said the Ministry for Foreign Affairs in a press release on Thursday.

The government on Thursday adopted a resolution with the provision for continuation of restricting non-essential travel by Russian citizens to Finland and through Finland to the rest of the Schengen area for the time being.

At the same time, restrictions will be tightened for business travellers, property owners and students.

In future, business travellers will only be allowed to travel to Finland, transit to other countries will be prohibited.

Business travellers must also have an essential reason to come to Finland in person.

As regards property owners, they will also be required to provide grounds for their personal presence. In future, students will only be allowed to participate in programmes leading to a degree or studies completed as part of a degree. This will exclude participation in courses offered by folk high schools, for example.

The government resolution confirms the guidelines for assessing whether Russian citizens fulfil the entry conditions, for granting visas and for assessing the conditions for the validity of visas.

The Ministry for Foreign Affairs will be responsible for implementing the restrictions on the issuing of visas and the Border Guard for issues relating entry to the country.

This resolution reforms the government resolution issued on 29 September 2022. The new restrictions will enter into force on 10 July 2023 at 00:00 and will remain in effect until further notice.

Earlier on June 27, the President and the Ministerial Committee on Foreign and Security Policy noted that travel by Russian citizens may still be harmful to Finland’s international relations and observed that the restrictions on non-essential travel should therefore be kept in place and tightened to prevent breaches.