Getting a passport

Getting a passport 

You can apply for a standard passport online or by visiting the police station of your choice. It is easiest to do this online.

  1. Have your passport photograph taken. The photography studio sends your passport photograph to the police electronically. You will receive a photograph retrieval code as a text message or e-mail message for attaching the photograph to the application.
  2. Fill in the application using our online service. Attach the photograph retrieval code you have received to the application. Select the delivery time and collection point. The system will tell you if you need to visit a police station. Pay the application fee online. You can also monitor the progress of your application process online.
  3. Book an appointment using our online service if your application requires a visit to the police station. Remember to take your current passport or identity card with you if you have one.
  4. Pick up your new passport from the collection point you chose when you receive the collection note.

If you cannot or do not want to submit an application online, you can also do so at a police station. Please note that submitting the application online is cheaper and quicker.

You can apply for a standard passport and a seaman's passport online. You cannot apply for a temporary passport online.

Please note that filling a paper form has not been needed in passport applications since 2006. When you visit the police station, the passport officer asks you questions and types your application information directly into the system.

Näin haet passia - haitarit en

A visit to a police station is not always required

A visit to a police station is not always required

The police’s online service or a permit adviser will tell you if you need to visit a police station for identification. Below are some examples of situations in which a visit to a police station is not required.

When you apply for a passport online, you won’t need to visit a police station if

  • you have seen a passport officer for identification and fingerprints for a passport or ID card application within the past 6 years.
  • your name has not changed since your last passport was issued.
  • a passport official can see that the person in your new and previous passport photographs is the same.

If all three statements above apply to you, you won’t need to visit a police station. In other words, it is not enough to have fingerprints taken at some point in the past – they must have been scanned in the past six years.

In most situations, this means that you can renew every second passport without visiting a police station. Your earlier passport does not need to be valid when you apply for a new passport. The police may issue you several passports in a row without a visit to a police station if you fulfil the criteria listed above and if you have an appropriate reason for applying for a passport more frequently than normal. You might need to do this for example if you run out of empty pages in your passports due to stamps.

If you do not fulfil the criteria: If you do not fulfil the criteria listed above, you can still submit your application electronically but it will only be processed after you have visited a police station for identification. At the same time, your fingerprints will be scanned again. You will only be charged for the fee for submitting an online passport application even if you need to visit a police station.

The application system is there to help you: The online service will tell you if you need to visit a police station for identification. 

At the police station

Place for service: You can visit any police station you want regardless of where you live. The only exception is the police service point at the Helsinki Airport, which only accepts emergency passport applications from air passengers transiting through the airport. Police services are also available through mobile permit service units and at some joint service points.

Making appointments: To book an appointment, go to our online service or call the police helpline at +358 (0)295 419 800 (at standard call rates) from Monday to Friday between 8:00 and 16:15. You may also go to a police station without an appointment, but keep in mind that the waiting times may be long especially in the summer.

Verifying your identity: At the police station, you will be asked to verify your identity using either your valid passport or identity card. If you don’t have either, the police can still verify your identity, but this will take some time. Bring your expired passport, identity card or driving licence, if you have one, and any other documents that you think could be used to verify your identity with you.

Verifying the identity of a minor: Minor's passport.

If you have submitted a passport application online and the system tells you that you need to visit a police station, please bring the following with you:

  • a previous passport or identity card. For more information, see section Verifying your identity.
  • any appendices the online system has instructed you to bring with you.

If you apply for a passport at a police station without using the online service at all, please bring the following with you:

  • one photograph retrieval code or a printed passport photograph. For more information, see section Passport photograph.
  • a previous passport or identity card. For more information, see section Verifying your identity.
  • a bank card or cash. For more information, please see Payments.
  • the consent of all guardians if you are applying for a passport for a minor under the age of 18. If a guardian is not present at the police station, they can provide their consent in writing. For more information, see section Minor's passport.
  • proof of conscript’s clearance, if you are a conscript between the ages of 23 and 30. For more information, see section Issuing passports to conscripts.
  • the necessary proof if you don’t want your existing passport to be cancelled when the new one is issued to you. For more information, see section Applying for a new passport without cancelling your existing one.

Prices - haitari

Applying for a passport for a minor

Applying for a passport for a minor

Even young children need their own travel document. An electronic application for a minor can be submitted online the same as for adults, but almost all minors require a visit to a police station for identification.

For more information, see section Minor's passport.

Changes in personal data

You cannot use your passport if your name or personal identity code has changed and your current passport has your old details. However, you can still use an expired identity document to verify your identity when you pick up your new identity document, but only if the old document expired no more than a year ago.

We recommend that you apply for a new passport as soon as your new name or personal identity code has been confirmed.

A visit to a police station is not always required - haitarit

Passin myöntäminen asevelvolliselle

Issuing passports to conscripts

Compulsory military service may prevent the issuance of passport or limit the validity period of a passport to be issued. Under the law, men of conscription age can be issued with a passport with an expiry date no later than the end of the year of their 28th birthday, unless they can prove that conscription is not an impediment to issuance of passport. 

Conscript’s clearance: Conscript’s clearance means that you have performed military or civilian service or that you have been exempted from service. The process to check conscript’s clearance status is being gradually automated, which is why a separate certificate is not always needed.

You can use any of the following to demonstrate conscript’s clearance:

  • a military passport
  • a civilian service certificate
  • a clearance certificate issued by a military official
  • a conscription certificate which states that you are exempt from military service either absolutely or in peacetime.

Different types of passport

The police issue several different passport types. Different passport types are listed below.

Passports issued by the police: The police issue standard passports, temporary passports and seaman’s passports. The Police Authority of the Åland Islands also issues Åland Islands passports.

Passports issued by the Finnish Immigration Service: The Finnish Immigration Service issues alien’s passports, temporary alien’s passports and refugee’s travel documents.

Passports issued by the Ministry for Foreign Affairs: The Ministry for Foreign Affairs and its missions issue the same passports as the police and also diplomatic passports, service passports, alien’s passports and emergency passports.

Different types of passport -haitarit

Rejected passport application

Rejected passport application

Before a passport can be issued, the passport authorities must establish that you are eligible to hold a passport.

According to the Passport Act, a passport application may be rejected if

  • you are strongly suspected of having committed an offence punishable with at least one year of imprisonment and you are still the subject of a police investigation or indictment in the matter, or if you have been charged with the offence or wanted by the authorities
  • you have been sentenced to unconditional imprisonment which you have not yet served
  • you are a conscript and you have turned 28 and you haven’t demonstrated that compulsory military service is not an impediment to issuance of passport. In a situation like this, your passport may be revoked until the end of the year in which you turn 30.

A passport application will always be rejected if you have been given a travel ban under the Coercive Measures Act or a ban on leaving the country under the Bankruptcy Act.

Alaikäisen passi - infolaatikko en

Issuing a passport to a minor

Even young children need their own travel document. An electronic application for a minor can be submitted online the same as for adults, but almost all minors require a visit to a police station for identification.

For more information, see section Minor's passport.

Ilmoita kadonneista asiakirjoista infolaatikko en

Report a lost passport, identity card or driving licence

If a document issued by the authorities (passport, identity card or driving licence) is lost or stolen, you must report it to the police. It is extremely important to file a report in order to prevent misuse. 

You can file the report using the electronic crime report form or by visiting a police station in person.

Näen haet passia oikea palsta kuva en

Käsi ojentaa passia poliisin lupapalvelupisteellä.