Finland family and friends visit visa

This visa is for private visits: parents visiting a child who works or studies in Finland, relatives attending a wedding or a birth, or friends staying with a host. If the person you visit is a Finnish citizen and you are their family member, Finnish missions publish separate guidance on visas and residence permits for family members of Finnish citizens, and EU free-movement rules may make the process simpler.

The invitation is a free-form letter. It gives the host’s name, address and contact details and the visitor’s name, date of birth, address and passport number, together with the purpose and length of the visit. A host who is not a Finnish citizen attaches a copy of the residence permit; a Finnish citizen attaches a copy of the passport.

If the host pays for your stay, the host fills in the proof of sponsorship form introduced by the Ministry for Foreign Affairs and adds evidence of means, such as the last three months’ payslips and bank statements. The mission can then take the host’s funds into account instead of requiring the full EUR 50 per day from you.

Applications are lodged in person, by appointment, at the Finnish embassy or consulate responsible for your country of legal residence or at the visa application centre it designates, usually run by VFS Global; where Finland has no mission, another Schengen state may handle visas for it. Forms sent by e-mail or fax are not processed. Fingerprints and a photo are taken for the Visa Information System unless you gave them in the previous 59 months. A service provider only receives the file and returns the passport; the Finnish mission examines it and decides.

The European Commission sets the general rules: apply no earlier than six months and no later than 15 days before the trip, the usual processing time is 15 days and it can be extended to 45 days. You apply in the country where you legally reside.

Typical weak points are unclear ties to your country of residence, funds that do not match the length of stay, and an invitation that leaves out the host’s legal status in Finland. The mission can ask for further documents or an interview, which extends processing up to 45 days.

A refused applicant has 30 days from receiving the decision to request an administrative review, written in Finnish or Swedish and sent to the Ministry for Foreign Affairs electronically or to the mission on paper. The review fee is EUR 255 and must be paid before the request is processed, which normally takes two to three months. The Ministry’s review decision can then be appealed to the Helsinki Administrative Court within 30 days.