The COVID-19 pandemic continues to influence the entry permit services of the Finnish diplomatic missions abroad. All missions are not able to provide these services in the same way and to the same extent as in normal circumstances before the pandemic. In this fall, the missions have been reopening their services as far as possible, and currently entry services are provided in most countries at least to a limited extent.

According to the Government decision made in September, restrictions on entry may be lifted for traffic between Finland and those EU and Schengen countries and the counties on the green list specified by the Council of the EU where the incidence of COVID-19 has not exceeded 25 new cases per 100,000 persons in the previous 14 days. The Government assesses the situation in different countries once a week. This news article will be updated with changes to the guidance and restrictions.

The embassy of Finland will close from Friday 18th December and open again on Thursday 7th January 2021. Emergency numbers for Finnish citizens outside office hours +358 9 160 55555.

Finland makes the Elements of AI online course available for EU citizens during the period 2020–2021. Finland offers free access to the Elements of AI online course to one per cent of EU citizens, thereby strengthening digital competence within the EU. Elements of AI is a free online course designed and organised by the University of Helsinki and Reaktor, a Finnish technology company. The objective of the course is to encourage everyone, regardless of age or educational background, to learn the basics of artificial intelligence. The course will be launched in Ireland on October 30, 2020. In Ireland, the local partner is University College Cork (UCC). The course will be launched as a part of Silicon Republic’s Future Human event.