Arctic Circle Jukola organizers have received a lot of questions about entering the country by teams from abroad. This story has information on the topic gathered from webpages of Finnish authorities.
Organizers will gladly help in questions related to entering the country, but decisive power on the matter belongs to the Finnish Border Guard. Everyone must take care to fulfill entering requirements and obligations. See the Finnish Border Guard webpages for full guidelines. We will also try to post updates if anything new appears on the subject.
It is possible to enter Finland without restriction from low-risk countries (see link at the end of this story).
Additionally, arrival from any country is possible by a person who has been fully vaccinated (2 doses), with not less than 14 days since administration of the last vaccine dose. List of approved vaccines can be checked via link at the end of this story.
Normal travel documents (passport, visa) are needed as usual.
Health safety requirements when crossing internal borders (e.g., from Sweden, Norway, Estonia)
Internal border control in Finland has been discontinued, but arriving travellers have obligations by the Communicable Diseases Act.
Those obligations do not concern (i.e., can enter the country freely):
– travellers born after 2005;
– those arriving from low-risk countries/regions;
– those who have had coronavirus infection within the past half year;
– those who have received a full course of COVID-19 vaccination (2 doses). Last dose must have been administered at least 14 days ago.
In other cases, it is possible to enter Finland over internal borders if submitting to COVID-19 testing as follows:
– One COVID-19 test. If upon arrival from a high-risk country you have a certificate of a negative COVID-19 test (at most 72 hours old) or proof of having received the first vaccination dose (at least 14 days before arrival), you must take a COVID-19 test within 3-5 days (72-120 hours) from entering Finland.
– Two COVID-19 tests. If upon arrival from a high-risk country you do not have any aforementioned certificate, you must take one test at the border and another one 3-5 days after entering Finland. In case border crossing point does not provide COVID-19 testing, you have to seek testing yourself within 24 hours as well as within 72-120 hours from entering the country.
– Note that the mentioned COVID-19 tests are by law mandatory. You must see that you take a test, even if you haven’t received a separate invitation for it.
– Tests pertaining to arrival in the country are free of charge. Testing will also be organized in Rovaniemi and at the Competition center. A test can be taken also at a private laboratory, at own expense.
– High-risk countries are all those that are not regarded as countries with a low risk of COVID-19.
Information for those who arrive from outside the EU and Schengen areas (e.g., Russia)
Finnish external border control has not yet normalized, but it is possible to enter Finland from low-risk countries or if having received a full course of COVID-19 vaccination. Please note other, usual, requirements for entry (e.g., visa).
To ensure participation in the competition by lead teams from outside the EU and Schengen areas, Arctic Circle Jukola organizers have made a “top 200” list of teams and applied for an exceptional entry permission in their case to the Finnish Border Guard. That can be useful if arriving from a high-risk country and not meeting the vaccination condition.
In case something about entering the country or related testing is unclear, or if you have questions on exceptional entry permission, please contact the competition office directly. We’ll be happy to answer!
Contact: general secretary Sami Leinonen, sami.leinonen@jukola.com.
More information:
Guidelines of the Finnish Border Guard on entering the country (incl. the list of low-risk countries):
https://raja.fi/en/guidelines-for-border-traffic-during-pandemic
Travelling instructions in different languages:
Which vaccines are accepted at points of entry into the country:
Lapland-entry service:
https://www.lshp.fi/fi-FI/Sairaanhoitopiiri/Laplandentry_Covid19#English
Finentry service:
Photo: Keijo Lehtimäki / Kangasala Jukola 2019