Entry restraints to be in place up to 30 April

The government on Wednesday decided to extend the restrictions on entry into the country until 30 April.

The COVID-19 pandemic continues to spread, and there are no adequate measures available yet to replace the restrictions, said the Ministry of the Interior in a press release.

For this reason, and to curb the spread of COVID-19 variants, both internal border controls and restrictions on external border traffic will continue.

No substantive changes have been made to the decisions taken on 11 March. The changes will enter into force on 1 April.

In addition to the restrictions on internal and external border traffic, restrictions on the opening hours of certain border crossing points at the western border in Lapland and the eastern border will continue.

At the border crossing points that are open to passenger traffic, the accepted criteria for entry are the return of persons living in Finland or in another EU or Schengen country and other essential reasons.

Finland will also continue to provide assistance to neighbouring Estonia. In accordance with the current operating procedure, the Gulf of Finland Coast Guard District has informed passengers at the Port of Tallinn about the conditions for entry since September 2020.

The aim is to ensure that passengers will not be turned away at the Finnish border. For example, a holiday or work except tasks considered essential from the perspective of security of supply or the functioning of society does not entitle travellers to enter the country, even if they have a negative COVID-19 test certificate.

Finland continues to restrict entry from all other Schengen countries, except Iceland.

External border traffic refers to traffic between Finland and non-Schengen countries. Restrictions have already been lifted earlier for traffic arriving in Finland from the Vatican, and for traffic between Finland and Australia, South Korea, Singapore, Rwanda, Thailand, and New Zealand for residents of these countries. Entry from these low-risk countries is not restricted due to their low incidence of COVID-19.