Apply for a passport

Before travelling abroad, contact the authorities of your country of destination to find out what travel document you will need, if you need to obtain a visa and if your passport needs to be valid for a certain period of time after you have left the country.

You can travel to the EU countries and certain other European countries with an identity card. As a rule, travel documents are not checked at the border in Schengen countries, though you must show it if requested. A travel document is usually not needed when travelling in the Nordic countries, but you must be able to prove your identity if requested.

On all current passports, the first two characters of the passport number are letters and the remaining seven characters are numbers. This information is useful when you are filling in an ESTA form or applying for a visa.

Apply for a new rapid or express passport with an expedited delivery time. For more information about these passports, see section Passport delivery.

If a passport cannot be delivered to you in time even with an expedited delivery time, a passport officer may grant you a temporary passport at their discretion. To apply for a temporary passport, you must visit a police station as the passport will be printed out while you wait. Please note that only the largest police stations have the necessary equipment for printing temporary passports. At the police station, you must prove that you are travelling soon for example by showing your travel ticket.

Temporary passports only cover the necessary time period, and a maximum of 12 months. Before applying for a temporary passport, contact the authorities of your country of destination to find out if a temporary passport will grant you entry to the country. Some countries do not accept a temporary passport as a travel document due to its considerably lower security level.

If your passport is lost or stolen, report it to the police. This is very important in order to prevent abuse. 

Submit the report using the electronic form for reporting an offence or visit a police station. Submit a detailed explanation of how you lost your passport. If you lose your passport abroad, you can contact a Finnish mission to report it. 

You can apply for a new passport after submitting a report.

The police will register your report and cancel your lost or stolen passport. A warrant is issued for your passport in Finland and abroad.

You can no longer use a passport reported lost or stolen or revalidate it even if it was found later.