Finland: visa and entry rules
What you need to get in, how long you may stay, and what an overstay costs
Finland's borders: every crossing point
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The land border with Russia is closed. None of the road crossing points on the Russian side are working, and this has been the situation for several years now.
Since 1 July 2026 the rail crossings have been closed as well. Russia for its part has suspended traffic through Vyborg, Svetogorsk, Vartsila, Lyutta and St Petersburg-Finlyandsky. No reasons have been announced, and no dates for resumption either.
The borders with Sweden and Norway are open and lie inside the Schengen area: Tornio — Haparanda on the Swedish route, Kilpisjarvi and Utsjoki on the Norwegian one.
Ferries operate to Sweden, Estonia and Germany — Helsinki is linked with Tallinn and Stockholm, Turku with Stockholm.
The practical conclusion: Finland can be reached from Russia only through third countries, and no direct overland route exists at the moment.
Driving to Finland
The land border with Russia is closed, so there is no overland approach from that direction whatever the car.
The practical option is to rent a car in Europe after flying in.
A Green Card is mandatory for foreign-registered cars.
In winter, winter tyres are mandatory, and the rule is strictly enforced.
Travelling to Finland with a pet
The rules are the same throughout the EU.
An ISO-standard microchip is mandatory, and it is implanted BEFORE the rabies vaccination — otherwise the vaccination does not count.
Rabies vaccination — no earlier than 12 weeks of age, and 21 days must pass between the vaccination and entry.
A rabies antibody titre test is required only for pets from a country not on the EU's approved list. The US, Canada, Australia, New Zealand and the UK are on the list, so this does not apply to pets travelling from those countries; Russia is one of the countries it does apply to. Blood is taken no earlier than 30 days after the vaccination, after which there is a three-month wait before entry.
An EU veterinary certificate is required, issued by the state veterinary service.
No more than five animals per person without commercial paperwork.
Overstaying your visa in Finland
The violation is recorded across the whole Schengen area, not against one individual country.
The main consequence is a refusal of your next visa. The record stays in the system, and getting a Schengen visa afterwards becomes considerably harder.
An entry ban for a substantial overstay applies to the entire area at once.
The days are counted across the whole of Schengen. The typical mistake is to count your stay in each country separately.
What else to check before you go
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Entry rules change faster than anything else on this site, and they change without notice. We cross-check every page against several sources and state the date it was verified, but that does not replace the main step: before you travel, check an official source — the country’s consulate, its immigration service or its e-visa portal. Especially if more than a couple of months have passed since our check.