Finland has become the latest European country to remove testing requirements for fully vaccinated tourists. Finland has been one of Europe’s most restricted nations through the pandemic, and they’ve often closed the border to non-citizens since March 2020.
However, the new entry requirements starting from February 14 make it easier for U.S, U.K, and Canadian tourists to enter the country.
Non-European tourists can now enter Sweden, Norway, Denmark, and Finland without worrying about testing if they’re fully vaccinated.
The New Entry Requirements
There are currently no restrictions on entering Finland if you’re coming from an EU or Schengen member state.
Finland has placed various non-EU nations on a green list, whereby no restrictions apply. These nations include:
- Bahrain
- Colombia
- Chile
- Hong Kong
- Indonesia
- Kuwait
- Macao
- New Zealand
- Peru
- Qatar
- Rwanda
- Saudi Arabia
- South Korea
- Taiwan
- The United Arab Emirates
- Uruguay
Fully vaccinated tourists from all non-EU countries that aren’t on the green list—including Australia, Canada, Russia, the U.K, and the U.S.—can enter Finland without testing if they meet the following requirements.
- They have a certificate of complete and valid vaccination at least 7 days before traveling to Finland. Many countries require/still require all travelers to wait until 14 days after their last dose before traveling. Finland, however, is choosing only 7 days.
- They have a certificate proving they’ve fully recovered from COVID-19 and have had one dose of a vaccine.
- They have an EU digital COVID certificate proving the person has recovered from COVID-19 in the last 6 months.
If unvaccinated tourists from outside Europe—who aren’t traveling from a green list nation—have recovered from COVID-19 but haven’t had a one vaccine dose yet and don’t have an EU digital COVID certificate, Finland classifies them as unvaccinated.
Unvaccinated travelers are currently banned from Finland unless they apply for essential or compassionate entry. That doesn’t include tourism purposes.
The Finnish government states all travelers entering Finland are still bound by the Communicable Diseases Act.
The Current COVID-19 Situation In Finland
Finland currently has its highest level of COVID-19 cases since the pandemic started. The current 7-day case average is 7,869; that’s a large increase from 875 in November 2021.
However, Finland kept COVID-19 cases low throughout the pandemic. That’s because of their low population density and strict border measures. Finland has recorded 2,170 deaths since the pandemic began.
Finland has fully vaccinated 76% of its entire population since 2021, after administering 11.4 million vaccine doses.
The Current Internal COVID-19 Restrictions Within Finland
Although Finland has lowered the COVID-19 entry restrictions, internal restrictions are still in place. The Finnish authorities recommend all people over the age of 12 wear face masks on public transport and in public indoor spaces. They recommend this to fully vaccinated and unvaccinated people.
Travelers are free to travel around Finland without restrictions. Although there are some restrictions on the opening hours of bars, cafes, and restaurants in specific areas. The Finnish government also has restrictions on large-scale events and crowds.
You can check out the Helsinki City website for more information on restrictions within Finland’s capital city.
Europe’s Reopening
Europe enforced various COVID-19 restrictions when the Omicron variant emerged. Sadly, this severely harmed travel in Europe at the end of 2021.
However, various European nations have now ended COVID-19 testing for vaccinated travelers. These nations include the United Kingdom, France, Greece, Portugal, Spain, Croatia, Germany, Hungary, the Czech Republic, Sweden, Norway, and Denmark.
The European summer looks very promising after two years of utter frustration.
