Finnish Embassy in Nairobi trims consular counter to Mondays and Wednesdays from 23 February 2026

The Embassy of Finland in Nairobi has announced a major overhaul of its public-facing timetable: as of Monday 23 February 2026, the consular section will open only two mornings per week, compared with the previous four-day schedule. According to the Ministry for Foreign Affairs notice, walk-in enquiries will be accepted from 09:00 to 10:00, followed by document drop-off and collection until 11:00 and a dedicated phone hour from 11:00 to 12:00. The embassy cites staffing optimisation and the increasing uptake of its online “Enter Finland” portal as drivers for the change. Visa and residence-permit applicants are now expected to complete most steps digitally and appear in person only for biometrics or exceptional cases. For Finnish companies deploying experts to Kenya—or Kenyan firms sending staff to Finnish HQs—the shift means longer lead-times to secure Schengen short-stay visas and work-based residence permits. Business-immigration advisers recommend booking appointment slots at least four weeks in advance and factoring the compressed timetable into project plans. Emergency travel documents will still be issued outside the new hours, but only for proven humanitarian reasons and subject to duty-officer availability. The move reflects a broader Foreign Ministry push to consolidate consular workloads across Sub-Saharan Africa, where Finland maintains eight missions but has seen visa demand fluctuate sharply since the pandemic. Similar two-day models are being tested in Windhoek and Lusaka; if successful, they could become the norm. Companies with pan-African mobility programmes should monitor further announcements and refresh their internal visa matrices accordingly.