The Finnish authorities have announced that prices for some official services provided by the country’s embassies and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs have increased.
According to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Finland, the decree for the increase of prices was approved by the Finance Committee of the Government on August 31, 2023.
Following the approval of the decree, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said that the new prices for official services will start applying from September 1 and will remain unchanged until the end of the year, December 31, 2023.
“Some of the prices for the official services provided by Finnish embassies and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs will increase. The new prices will come into effect on September 1, 2023,” the Ministry said in an official statement issued last week.
As the Ministry explains, in line with the new rules, the price of passports issued by the country’s embassies has increased. Instead of paying €175, applicants are now required to pay €235 for their passport issued by the embassy.
Moreover, it has been stressed that the price for notary services has also increased. According to the Ministry, the price for notary services has increased by €10-20, depending on the type of the document.
On the other hand, the price of identity cards issued by the country’s representative offices has been reduced. The price for identity cards now is €60 instead of €96.
Prices for several other services that the Ministry and the Finnish embassies offer have changed, too, with some being increased and some others being lowered.
By changing some of the prices of official services, the Ministry said that they want all the prices to correspond to the service that is offered, and the same stressed that all the changes are based on the Basic Payment Act.
“After the change, the prices of the government services provided by the foreign administration will better correspond to the cost price. The revisions of the payments are based on the cost principle of the State’s Basic Payment Act and the general increase in the cost level,” the statement of the Finnish Ministry of Foreign Affairs reads.
Finland is constantly making changes related to personal documents and other related services.
In an attempt to make it easier for all those travelling, Finland decided to be the first country to test digital travel documents.
The Finnish Border Guard said the digital travel documents would be tested on flights to London, Manchester, and Edinburgh.
