A fresh travel advisory circulated on 22 November underscores that all eight passenger crossings on Finland’s 1,340-kilometre frontier with Russia remain shut, almost two years after the government first sealed the points in December 2023. The notice, highlighted by VisaHQ, reminds travellers that Finnish parliament in June 2025 renewed emergency legislation allowing border guards to refuse asylum applications and to extend the closure indefinitely as a defence against what Helsinki calls ‘instrumentalised migration’ orchestrated by Moscow.
The shutdown has wide-ranging mobility impacts. Road freight is now funnelled onto Baltic Sea ferries via Tallinn and Stockholm, adding days to supply-chain lead times and raising costs for companies moving heavy machinery between Finland and projects in north-west Russia. Visa-holding travellers, including cross-border commuters and dual-country families, must enter by air or sea; Schengen visas issued by Finnish missions remain valid, but carriers have been instructed to deny boarding to passengers aiming for a land crossing.
![Travel advisory reiterates full closure of Finland’s land border with Russia, warns corporates to keep contingency plans]()
Prime Minister Petteri Orpo has hinted the border could reopen if Russia ceases facilitating undocumented crossings, but officials concede no timeline is on the table. Winter conditions complicate any sudden change: border infrastructure has been mothballed, and staffing has shifted to maritime and airport control points.
Employers with assignees in eastern Finland should keep contingency transport contracts active and review emergency-leave policies for staff with family ties in Russia. The advisory also urges mobility teams to brief travellers on asylum rules: family members cannot file protection claims at closed land posts and must do so at Helsinki Airport or designated ports instead.
The episode highlights an EU-wide trend of suspending Schengen norms on security grounds. Finland’s position could serve as precedent for member states facing similar hybrid-migration tactics, making it a bell-wether issue for companies with pan-European mobility footprints.
The shutdown has wide-ranging mobility impacts. Road freight is now funnelled onto Baltic Sea ferries via Tallinn and Stockholm, adding days to supply-chain lead times and raising costs for companies moving heavy machinery between Finland and projects in north-west Russia. Visa-holding travellers, including cross-border commuters and dual-country families, must enter by air or sea; Schengen visas issued by Finnish missions remain valid, but carriers have been instructed to deny boarding to passengers aiming for a land crossing.
Prime Minister Petteri Orpo has hinted the border could reopen if Russia ceases facilitating undocumented crossings, but officials concede no timeline is on the table. Winter conditions complicate any sudden change: border infrastructure has been mothballed, and staffing has shifted to maritime and airport control points.
Employers with assignees in eastern Finland should keep contingency transport contracts active and review emergency-leave policies for staff with family ties in Russia. The advisory also urges mobility teams to brief travellers on asylum rules: family members cannot file protection claims at closed land posts and must do so at Helsinki Airport or designated ports instead.
The episode highlights an EU-wide trend of suspending Schengen norms on security grounds. Finland’s position could serve as precedent for member states facing similar hybrid-migration tactics, making it a bell-wether issue for companies with pan-European mobility footprints.
