The Finnish Police have confirmed that, from 1 January 2026, Finnish passports and national ID cards will only be handed over to the applicant, the holder’s legal guardian, or a representative who has been authorised electronically during the application process. The announcement, published late on 5 December, ends the long-standing practice of presenting a handwritten or printed power-of-attorney at collection points.
According to the Police, the change is driven by new EU security standards for biometric travel documents. Paper authorisations are considered too easy to forge and cannot be automatically cross-checked against the population register or the document-issuing database. Under the new model, applicants grant permission for a representative within the online service or at the police station when their fingerprints and photo are taken. That digital mandate is then stored in the issuance system and displayed to the officer handing over the document.
![Finland abolishes paper powers-of-attorney for passport and ID pick-up]()
For global mobility and corporate travel managers the implications are significant. Expatriates who customarily asked colleagues or relocation agents to collect passports on arrival in Finland will now have to plan for either personal collection or arrange the e-authorisation before travelling. Employers should budget extra lead-time during peak renewal periods—particularly December–January—when many employees extend assignments or apply for renewed ID cards to maintain the Finnish personal identity code (henkilötunnus).
The Police will take their e-service platform offline for a four-hour maintenance window on 5 December to embed the new authorisation fields. Documents issued on or before 5 December may still be collected with a paper proxy until 31 December 2025, creating a short transition period. All other issuance fees and processing times remain unchanged.
Finland joins countries such as Estonia and the Netherlands that have already eliminated paper pick-up mandates. The Police say the overhaul strengthens the integrity of Finnish travel documents ahead of the EU-wide Entry/Exit System (EES) launch in October 2025.
According to the Police, the change is driven by new EU security standards for biometric travel documents. Paper authorisations are considered too easy to forge and cannot be automatically cross-checked against the population register or the document-issuing database. Under the new model, applicants grant permission for a representative within the online service or at the police station when their fingerprints and photo are taken. That digital mandate is then stored in the issuance system and displayed to the officer handing over the document.
For global mobility and corporate travel managers the implications are significant. Expatriates who customarily asked colleagues or relocation agents to collect passports on arrival in Finland will now have to plan for either personal collection or arrange the e-authorisation before travelling. Employers should budget extra lead-time during peak renewal periods—particularly December–January—when many employees extend assignments or apply for renewed ID cards to maintain the Finnish personal identity code (henkilötunnus).
The Police will take their e-service platform offline for a four-hour maintenance window on 5 December to embed the new authorisation fields. Documents issued on or before 5 December may still be collected with a paper proxy until 31 December 2025, creating a short transition period. All other issuance fees and processing times remain unchanged.
Finland joins countries such as Estonia and the Netherlands that have already eliminated paper pick-up mandates. The Police say the overhaul strengthens the integrity of Finnish travel documents ahead of the EU-wide Entry/Exit System (EES) launch in October 2025.
