COVID-19 passport: FAQ

COVID-19 passport: FAQ

The EU Digital COVID Certificate includes three different certificates: the COVID-19 vaccination certificate, the test certificate and the certificate of recovery. All three certificates are also valid as a COVID-19 passport.

The suspension of the national COVID-19 passport ended on 28 February 2022. From this date onwards, the passport can be used as an alternative to restrictions. If no restrictions are in place, the passport is not needed. This means the situation is the same as in the autumn before the COVID-19 passport was suspended. In principle, the COVID-19 passport will remain in use for as long as the regulations under the Communicable Diseases Act concerning the passport are in force, i.e. until the end of June. A working group is currently preparing new COVID-19 passport legislation in case the COVID-19 situation becomes worse.

The EU Digital COVID Certificate available from My Kanta Pages (kanta.fi) is used as a COVID-19 passport. If you are unable to use My Kanta Pages, you can get a paper printout of the certificate from the healthcare service.

The EU Digital COVID Certificate includes the COVID-19 vaccination certificate, the test certificate and the certificate of recovery. Any of these three certificates can be used as a COVID-19 passport. 

The COVID-19 passport can be requested in connection with entry to various venues or events where the passport acts as an alternative to COVID-19 restrictions.

You may be required to show the COVID-19 passport in connection with entering, for example, restaurants and public events. The COVID-19 passport, i.e. the EU Digital COVID Certificate, can be used, for example, in

  • restaurants and night clubs
  • public events
  • gyms and other indoor sports or exercise venues
  • swimming pools and spas
  • dance venues
  • facilities used for group leisure activities
  • amusement and theme parks, indoor areas at zoos, indoor play parks and indoor playgrounds
  • museums, exhibition spaces and other similar arts venues

The COVID-19 passport is an alternative, for example, to complying with COVID-19 restrictions related to customer numbers or opening hours. The event organisers and operators decide on its use. If there are no restrictions, the passport will not be needed, either. If the venue is closed due to a serious COVID-19 situation or the event is completely prohibited, the COVID-19 passport cannot be used.

You can get the EU Digital COVID Certificate, which is used as a COVID-19 passport, from My Kanta Pages:

  1. Log in to My Kanta Pages on the kanta.fi website with your own means of identification, such as online banking codes or mobile certificate.
  2. Select COVID-19 certificate from the menu on the left-hand side. You will also find a link to the certificate section on the front page of My Kanta Pages.
  3. Download the certificate by clicking the link “Open the COVID-19 vaccination certificate (PDF).” If you have a certificate, it will open in a new tab in PDF format.
  4. Save the PDF file to your own phone. That way you will have the certificate with you when you need it. You can also print the certificate on paper.

The COVID-19 vaccination certificate is usually available within five days of receiving the vaccine. Healthcare professionals have been instructed to record the test result in the information system without delay. Usually, the test certificate is available within 24 hours of the test.

Further information on using My Kanta Pages is available in My Kanta Pages online school (kanta.fi).

Your COVID-19 passport will be approved if any of the following is true:

  • you have been vaccinated twice, and it has been seven days since the last dose
  • you have been vaccinated once with a Janssen vaccine and it has been seven days since the vaccination
  • you have been vaccinated three times
  • you have a negative PCR coronavirus test or antigen test that is up to 72 hours old, and you are eligible for an EU COVID-19 Certificate
  • you have had the coronavirus disease up to six months (180 days) ago, and it has been 11 days since falling ill (since a positive test result)
  • you have received one vaccination after having the coronavirus disease, and it has been seven days since the vaccination
  • you have received one vaccination, had the coronavirus disease after that, and it has been 11 days since falling ill.

Learn more about how the COVID-19 Certificate reader application works (thl.fi)

The certificate is rejected if it does not comply with the national rules of verification: for example, vaccinations are missing, vaccination has been too recent or the COVID-19 test is too old. In addition, the certificate is rejected if the correctness of the QR code could not be verified.

The inspection rules have been drawn up in Finland on the basis of Finnish legislation.

If you cannot have the vaccine for medical reasons, you can get a COVID-19 passport by taking a COVID test. By law, municipalities must provide for the possibility to have a COVID-19 test to obtain a COVID-19 passport for persons who are unable to have the COVID-19 vaccine for medical reasons. Further information is available from your home municipality.

Please note that when using a test certificate as a COVID-19 passport, it is valid for 72 hours from testing.

The EU vaccination certificate acts as a COVID-19 passport in Finland when 7 days has passed from the person receiving the full vaccination series.

In the case of a third vaccination, the vaccination certificate is valid immediately.

The validity of a test certificate starts from the time of testing, and it acts as a COVID passport in Finland for 72 hours after testing.

The certificate of recovery is valid as a COVID-19 passport in Finland 11 days after the person has received a positive COVID-19 test result.

The COVID vaccination certificate is valid as a COVID-19 passport for 12 months after it has been retrieved from My Kanta Pages, after which the vaccination certificate can be retrieved again from My Kanta Pages.

As from February 2022, the EU countries will accept the COVID-19 vaccination certificate only for 9 months after the second dose. There are no restrictions in terms of validity after the third vaccine.

The test certificate acts as a COVID-19 passport in Finland if the person has received a negative test result within the previous 72 hours.

The certificate of recovery is valid as a COVID passport in Finland for 180 days after the person has received a positive COVID-19 test result.

Different EU countries may have different validity periods for COVID-19 certificates, and therefore the COVID restrictions and practices in the country of destination must always be checked before travel.

Yes. All persons over 16 are required to have a COVID-19 passport.

The EU countries:

All COVID-19 certificates from the EU countries (EU Digital COVID Certificate) can be used as a COVID-19 passport in Finland.

Countries that have signed a cooperation agreement with the EU

A number of countries have agreed with the EU on the equivalence of COVID-19 certificates. The digital COVID-19 certificates of these countries can also be used as a COVID-19 passport in Finland and they can be inspected with the COVID certificate reader application.

Other countries

As from 23 December 2021, COVID certificates from outside the EU have also been valid as COVID-19 passport in Finland.

Operators can check certificates issued outside the EU manually without the COVID certificate reader app.

In addition, persons who are permanent residents in Finland and who have received the Covid vaccine outside the EU can request the health authorities of their municipality of residence to issue an EU Digital COVID Certificate.

Vaccination in an EU country

If you have received the COVID-19 vaccine in an EU country you will, in principle, get the EU COVID-19 vaccination certificate from that country.
You must get the certificate from the member state that administered the vaccine even if you are no longer staying in that country.

If you have received the different doses of vaccine in a vaccination series in different countries, you will get the EU Digital COVID Certificate in the member state where the latter dose was given.

Vaccination outside the EU in a country with an agreement with the EU on the equivalence of COVID-19 certificates

If you have received the COVID-19 vaccine in a country outside the EU, you can utilise the digital COVID-19 certificate granted by that country in the EU area in the same way as the EU COVID-19 certificate if the EU and the country in question have agreed on the equivalence of the certificates.

Further information:

Other situations

As from 1 January 2022, a municipality must grant the EU Digital COVID Certificate for a resident of that municipality who has a certificate of a vaccine received in an EU member state or in a country outside the EU.

The EU Digital COVID Certificate can be granted only with respect to vaccine products which have a marketing authorisation granted by the European Commission or which have obtained emergency use listing by the World Health Organization (WHO).

Municipalities will provide their residents with further information about local operating models.

A resident of a municipality means a person who is domiciled in Finland or living in the municipality, for example, due to work or studies.

The EU Digital COVID Certificates are not granted to travellers or to those who are visiting Finland for a very short period.

If you cannot obtain an EU Digital COVID Certificate, you will be able to get an EU COVID certificate of a negative test result by taking a COVID-19 test in Finland.

Please check with a private operator whether it is possible to produce and print out an EU Digital COVID Certificate.

Yes. As from 23 December 2021, COVID certificates from outside the EU are also valid as COVID-19 passport in Finland.

Certificates issued outside the EU can be checked manually without the COVID certificate reader app.

Operators subject to COVID-19 restrictions, such as restaurants and organisers of public events, can introduce the COVID-19 passport on a voluntary basis.

As a customer or participant, you must present the COVID-19 passport in connection with entry or participation if the event organiser so requires.

 

Vaccination is not compulsory. The vaccination certificate used as a COVID-19 passport is one of the EU COVID certificates. The others are the test certificate and the certificate of recovery. Any one of these three can be used as a COVID-19 passport.

The vaccination certificate is valid for 12 months, the certificate of recovery for 180 days and the test certificate for 72 hours.

Yes. By law, people aged 16 and over are required to present a COVID-19 passport.

If a 16-17-year-old has not been fully vaccinated, they can get a COVID-19 certificate after having a COVID-19 test in the public healthcare service, where the test is free of charge for them.

 

The act on COVID-19 passport will be valid until 30 June 2022.

Information about venues using the COVID-19 passport is available directly from various operators, for example, on the websites of restaurants and event organisers. The operators will notify themselves if they have decided to use the COVID-19 passport as an alternative to COVID restrictions.

The COVID-19 passport would be an alternative measure only when there are restrictions concerning the event or venue in question. These restrictions could apply to, for example, opening times or the number of attendees. However, the COVID-19 passport would not be an alternative to restrictions when the authorities have closed a venue or banned a public event completely due to the COVID-19 situation.

The COVID Certificate Reader is used for reading a person’s valid EU Digital COVID Certificate.

Event organisers can read the COVID certificate used as a COVID-19 passport with a mobile device to which the COVID Certificate Reader app approved by the Finnish Institute for Health and Welfare THL has been downloaded.

The reader app opens a camera for scanning the QR code of the COVID certificate.

 

The COVID-19 passport reader application is called the COVID Certificate Reader (Koronatodistuksen lukija). 

Anyone will be able to download the COVID Certificate Reader from the Apple or Google application store.

The COVID Certificate Reader application is primarily intended for use by event organisers and organisations.

The app shows a green or red result depending on whether the COVID certificate meets the national rules. A green result means that the COVID certificate is valid and accepted. A red result means that the certificate is not accepted.

In addition, in accepted cases, the name of the certificate bearer will be shown in order to verify that the certificate belongs to them. No other information will be shown.

If a certificate is rejected, the person’s name is not shown for data protection reasons.

The COVID certificate reader app does not show your health data to the person inspecting the COVID-19 passport.

The app only shows your name to the person checking the COVID-19 passport when your COVID certificate has been accepted. The name is required in order to confirm your identity.