The Embassy of Finland in Abu Dhabi announced that it would be “exceptionally closed” on Tuesday, 9 December 2025. In a brief notice posted on 8 December, the mission advised Finnish citizens needing urgent assistance to contact the Ministry for Foreign Affairs’ 24/7 emergency centre in Helsinki (+358 9 1605 5555) or email [email protected] Routine document collection has been postponed to Thursday, 11 December (13:30–15:30 local).
The closure – reportedly due to building maintenance – underscores the importance of contingency planning for Finns residing or travelling in the Gulf. Although the UAE enjoys visa-free status for short-stay Schengen travel, many Finnish companies maintain project staff in Abu Dhabi’s energy and defence sectors who rely on the embassy for passport renewals and notarials.
Mobility managers should note that residence-permit applicants who had biometrics appointments scheduled for 9 December will be reassigned automatically; VFS Global Abu Dhabi continues to accept visa submissions as normal. Children’s passport renewals, a peak year-end demand, will be prioritised once the chancery reopens.
![Finnish Embassy in Abu Dhabi closed 9 December; consular emergencies handled via MFA hotline]()
If the temporary mission closure disrupts your paperwork timeline, VisaHQ can bridge the gap by offering step-by-step online assistance, document validation and secure courier options for Finnish travel documents—keeping projects on schedule even when on-the-ground services pause. Explore their Finland-specific solutions at https://www.visahq.com/finland/.
The embassy closure also serves as a reminder to register travel plans on the Finnish MFA’s matkustusilmoitus.fi portal so that consular officers can push SMS alerts in real time. During last summer’s flooding in the Emirates, only 40 % of affected Finns had filed travel notifications, delaying welfare checks.
The Abu Dhabi post is one of Finland’s busiest missions in the Middle East, processing more than 6,000 consular transactions in 2024. No further closures are expected, but travellers are advised to monitor the embassy’s social-media channels for updates.
The closure – reportedly due to building maintenance – underscores the importance of contingency planning for Finns residing or travelling in the Gulf. Although the UAE enjoys visa-free status for short-stay Schengen travel, many Finnish companies maintain project staff in Abu Dhabi’s energy and defence sectors who rely on the embassy for passport renewals and notarials.
Mobility managers should note that residence-permit applicants who had biometrics appointments scheduled for 9 December will be reassigned automatically; VFS Global Abu Dhabi continues to accept visa submissions as normal. Children’s passport renewals, a peak year-end demand, will be prioritised once the chancery reopens.
If the temporary mission closure disrupts your paperwork timeline, VisaHQ can bridge the gap by offering step-by-step online assistance, document validation and secure courier options for Finnish travel documents—keeping projects on schedule even when on-the-ground services pause. Explore their Finland-specific solutions at https://www.visahq.com/finland/.
The embassy closure also serves as a reminder to register travel plans on the Finnish MFA’s matkustusilmoitus.fi portal so that consular officers can push SMS alerts in real time. During last summer’s flooding in the Emirates, only 40 % of affected Finns had filed travel notifications, delaying welfare checks.
The Abu Dhabi post is one of Finland’s busiest missions in the Middle East, processing more than 6,000 consular transactions in 2024. No further closures are expected, but travellers are advised to monitor the embassy’s social-media channels for updates.
