PH Embassy in Stockholm, Honorary Consulate in Helsinki Hit Passport Backlog in Finland

HELSINKI 26 September 2020 — A small, combined team of the Philippine Embassy in Stockholm and the Honorary Consulate in Helsinki made significant progress this week in fixing the passport backlog caused by the COVID-19 pandemic in Finland.

During the outreach mission to Helsinki on 19-20 September, close to a hundred passports were renewed or extended, in addition to first-time applications by minors.

Because of travel and quarantine restrictions, Filipinos cannot travel to Sweden from Finland for passporting, causing the backlog.

Follow-up missions to Finland scheduled until next year will seek to stabilize the situation caused by hundreds of expired passports in this far Nordic country.

Finland is home to some 5,000 Filipinos who work in varied, vital fields. Many are married to Finns.

Their work visas and residence permits depend on passports being current.

Full consular capabilities have been the objective of the DFA landing mission in Sweden and in Finland, which falls under its jurisdiction, since last year.

Prior to and simultaneous with the landing, consular operations were accomplished under the leadership of the Philippine Embassy in Norway. END

For more information, https://stockholmpe.dfa.gov.ph/