Travellers holding older Russian passports without an embedded biometric chip will be turned away at Finnish borders from 1 June 2026, the government confirmed in a decree published on 9 April. The move aligns Finland with EU document-security standards and mirrors similar bans already introduced by the Baltic states. There are limited grandfathering provisions. Russian citizens under 18 may still enter with a non-biometric document, and adults who already hold a valid Finnish visa can continue to use their existing passport until 31 December 2026. Holders of Finnish residence permits are unaffected, provided they carry their permit card. The tightening comes amid a broader freeze in cross-border traffic since Finland closed most land checkpoints in late 2023. Tourism flows from Russia had recovered slightly through indirect air routes via Istanbul and Belgrade, but travel agents say the new rule will deter budget-conscious visitors from making the trip unless they upgrade to the more expensive biometric booklet. For Finnish employers the main impact is on seasonal forestry and construction workers who still carry the older documents; recruiters will have to verify passport type before filing residence-permit applications or arranging charter buses. Logistics companies meanwhile expect fewer last-minute refusals at the Vainikkala rail crossing, improving schedule reliability for freight trains that carry Asian e-commerce parcels into the EU.
Source: 112.ua
