What documents are needed for a visa to Finland?

Before you collect documents for obtaining a visa to Finland, you need to figure out what type of visa you need to leave.

There are the following types of visas:

• Single entry travel for 3 months. The document indicates either the number of days for which the visa is open, or the date until which it is valid;
• Schengen multivisa. Since Finland is one of the countries participating in the Schengen Agreement, you can get into the country on a standard document without additional difficulties. This document gives the right to stay in the country for 90 days;
• A transit visa allows the traveler to pass through Finland, but must leave it no later than 5 days;
• A return visa is not issued to those entering the country at the Finnish consulate in St. Petersburg or other cities, it is issued by the local police to a citizen of a foreign state who arrived on a tourist pass and who is forced to leave and then return to Finland.

Most often, travelers need to obtain a tourist or Schengen visa, this is done at the Finnish document issuance center in Moscow, St. Petersburg or other cities.

A general list of documents can be found on the website of the consulate, or contact travel agencies for help. The following documents are required for a visa:

• Questionnaire filled out according to the sample. Forms, as a rule, are issued at the visa center or they can be downloaded from the official website, fill out and bring a ready-made document;
• Two photos;
• A passport with at least 2 blank pages and a validity period of at least three months;
• Medical insurance policy;
• Copy of Russian passport;
• Tickets confirming that the tourist does not intend to stay in the country;
• Receipt for payment of the fee.

It is better to fill out the application form for obtaining a visa on the website, in online mode. The language can be English, Swedish or Finnish, but you can also enter the data in Russian if you use Latin letters and transliteration rules. One copy of the questionnaire must be printed, brought and given along with the rest of the documents.

The photo must be printed on a light background, 35*45 mm in size. Most of it should be taken by the face of the passport holder. The photo must be taken from the front, and the face must have a neutral expression.

The passport must be valid longer than the visa, this is another prerequisite for obtaining the right to enter, and it must have at least 2 blank pages.

If there were several international passports, then you should bring their copies to the visa center.

Documents for a visa must also be supplemented with tickets booked in both directions and a hotel or hostel in which the tourist plans to stay during the trip. Tickets and reservations can replace a letter from a travel agency.

All documents, except for passports and tickets, are left in the center, so copies must be made in advance.

Usually, at the visa center in Moscow or another city, when collecting documents for a visa, specialists specify whether the child will travel with the family. The presence of a child expands the list of required documents; for small travelers, you will also need a birth certificate of the child, his passport (if it has already been issued), and a marriage certificate of the parents. If the baby is traveling with only one accompanying person, then it is imperative to present a notarized consent of the second parent to take the child out of the country.

Children's visas to Finland are issued for a period that both parental visas are valid. In other words, if one of the parents' document ceases to be valid earlier than the other, then the child's right to stay in the country will end at the same time as the visa of the first adult ceases to be valid.

Children under the age of six can do without filling out the questionnaire, and the fee for their entry will be less. For older travelers, parents must collect a complete package of documents, including photographs, medical policies and questionnaires filled out in accordance with the rules.

Additional documents for a visa confirming the solvency of a tourist, which may be requested by the Finnish Visa Application Centre:

• Certificate from the place of work;
• Account statement to confirm solvency;
• Pension or student certificate, if there is no place to work;
• A sponsorship letter in which a third party promises to pay for the trip with their own money.

You can obtain the right to enter at the Consulate General of Finland in St. Petersburg, at the Finnish Visa Application Center in Moscow, Murmansk or Petrozavodsk. At the Consulate General of Finland in St. Petersburg, there are additional services such as delivery of finished documents by courier, filling out a questionnaire, instant printing of necessary photos and other equally convenient services. For working citizens, there is a Prime-time service, that is, an appointment with a specialist of the center at a later time. In addition, you can give the necessary documents to the courier who will arrive anywhere in the city.

Other visa centers in Finland in Moscow, Murmansk or Petrozavodsk also have similar services, to get them you need to go to the website of these organizations or call and ask a consultant a question.

To obtain a visa to Finland, you must pay a visa fee of 35 euros, and if the document is needed urgently, then 70 euros in rubles at the rate of the Central Bank. Payments are accepted at ATMs or banks, or you can pay the fee by submitting documents for a visa. Obtaining a visa to Finland at the visa application center is a simple procedure, and modern institutions with a wide range of services make obtaining documents fast, easy and inexpensive.