Travel documents

Remember to check the travel requirements for your destination before you travel. Travel requirements map

When preparing for your journey, it is important to ensure that you have all the needed travel documents up to date and with you. You will be asked to prove your identity at various points during your journey. The travel documents you need depend on your nationality, destination and transit countries.

Things to remember

Find out which travel documents are needed to travel to your destination considering your nationality. You can use our travel requirements map to check the details.
Also, see the requirements for transferring through one country to another, for example if your route includes more than one Schengen country.
Note that many countries require that your passport is valid for three to six months after your trip has ended.
Note that a visa may also be required for your destination or your transit countries.
Note that if you don’t hold a return or onward ticket, you could be refused entry at your destination, especially if travelling on a tourist visa.
Check if special health certificates are needed to enter your destination country. If corona certificate pre-checks are available for your destination, it is possible to get your certificates checked in advance with our digital tool during online or mobile check-in. Read more about how to use the tool.
Allow enough time for applying or renewing your travel documents.
Ensure that your first and family names are spelled in the same way on your flight ticket, passport and any frequent flyer cards you may have. On Finnair flights, it is sufficient to have in the ticket your family name and one of the first names from the passport written correctly.
Take a copy of your e-ticket receipt with you, especially on intercontinental flights. If you bought your ticket directly from Finnair, you can order the e-ticket receipt using this web form. Otherwise, you can contact the ticket issuing airline or travel agent.
You can visit the IATA Travel Centre site for information on passport, visa and health requirements.

Documents accepted on Finnair flights

Citizens of Finland and Scandinavia

Flights within Finland and other Nordic countries (no border control in place):

Passengers of 16 years and over must carry a passport, a photo identification or a driver’s licence.
Passengers under 16 years travelling with their parents are not required to have an identity card of their own.
Passengers under 16 years travelling alone or with someone other than their parents must carry either a passport or a photo identification.
Passengers under 12 years travelling alone and carrying a properly completed Unaccompanied Minor Advice form (PDF) are not required to carry an identity card of their own. However, the people seeing them off and receiving them at their destination must prove their identity with a valid form of identification (e.g. an official identity card or a passport).

Reinstated internal border controls: Nordic countries may reintroduce internal border controls at short notice for security reasons. In such cases, airlines must ensure that all passengers travelling to the affected country meet the entry requirements. It is important to note that the passport exemption within Nordic countries only applies to Nordic citizens. This means that during periods of internal border controls, a Nordic driver's license cannot be accepted as a travel document since it does not indicate the holder's citizenship. We recommend that you carry a valid passport or valid national photo ID in such situations.

There are still changes to the travel document requirements in some countries due to coronavirus. Please see more information on the Travel requirements map or Travel Updates page.

Flights within the Schengen Area, EU countries and Switzerland:

You need a passport or a photo identification complying with EU standards and allowing international travel.

Flights to destinations outside the EU:

You need a passport and, when necessary, a valid visa or a residence permit.
When travelling to the USA, Canada or Australia, please see our additional instructions.

Apply for a passport or identity card online

Other EU nationals and citizens of Switzerland

Flights within Finland and between countries in the Schengen Area or the EU:

You need a passport or a photo identification complying with EU standards and allowing international travel.

Flights to destinations outside the EU:

You need a passport and, when necessary, a valid visa, residence permit or another travel document that entitles travel via/entry into the country.
When travelling to the USA, Canada or Australia, please see our additional instructions.

Citizens of countries outside the European Union

You need a valid passport, and when needed, a valid visa, residence permit or another travel document that allows entry via the first Schengen country and possible onward travel to any other Schengen country.
- For example, when travelling via Finland to Denmark, the travel documents must be valid for entering both Finland and Denmark.
See the visa requirements and travel documents accepted by Finland
When travelling to Finland and the Schengen area, your passport must be valid for more than 3 months beyond the period of intended stay.
See further details on Schengen Visa
When travelling to the USA, Canada or Australia, please see our additional instructions.

Travelling through more than one Schengen country?

If your route includes more than one Schengen country, you enter the Schengen area.

Travelling to a Schengen country through another Schengen country

If you are travelling to your Schengen destination country via another Schengen country, you need to fulfil the visa regulations of both the country through which you enter the Schengen area and the destination country. Although both countries are Schengen member states, the regulations and the accepted documents may not be the same for both countries.

For example, if you are travelling from Shanghai to Frankfurt via Helsinki, your travel documents must be valid for entry via Finland (fulfil the requirements of Finland) and they must be valid for onward travel to Germany.

Transferring via one Schengen country

If you only transit via one Schengen country and your destination is outside the Schengen area, you don’t enter the Schengen area, and a visa is not required.

For example, if you are travelling from New Delhi to New York via Helsinki, your travel documents must be valid for the USA.

Transferring via more than one Schengen country

If you transit via two or more Schengen countries although your destination is outside the Schengen area, you need to enter the Schengen area, and a visa is required.

For example, if you are travelling from New Delhi to Montreal via Helsinki and Paris, your travel documents need to be valid for the Schengen area (fulfil the requirements of Finland) and for Canada.

EU Digital Covid Certificate (DCC)

You can use the EU Digital Covid Certificate to prove your coronavirus certificate status at border crossings in many countries.

The EU Digital Covid Certificate can contain three different certificates: a coronavirus vaccination certificate, a certificate of a negative coronavirus test result and a certificate of recovery from the coronavirus.

As a Finnish national or resident, you can access your EU Digital Covid Certificate through My Kanta Pages. For other nationalities, please check your government websites for more information. Read more on My Kanta pages here or on the website of the Finnish Institute for Health and Welfare.

In case your destination or transit country requires checking coronavirus related requirements, to many of these destinations you can pre-check your certificates using our digital tool as part of the online or mobile check-in.  Read more

Additional requirements for minors

In some countries, travel consent from parents or guardians is required for minors travelling alone or in the company of only one parent or guardian. The consent may be required either when leaving or entering the country.

To find out whether the authorisation of minors will be required on a particular journey, please contact the local authorities of the country you are departing from as well as the embassy of your destination country.

Example of a consent letter (PDF)

Want to know more? See related frequently asked questions

Navigated to page: Travel documents