The customer service at the Finnish Immigration Service's office in Helsinki will be improved. The customer service will be open as from 2 January 2006 every weekday from Monday to Friday between 9.00 and 15.00 for those customers who wish to visit the office personally.
At the same time the system of appointed times will be abandoned.
Documents may be submitted to the office as before during office hours from 8.00 to 16.15. The address of the customer service is Lautatarhankatu 10, Helsinki.
The telephone service will continue three days a week on Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays. The immigration unit answers inquiries from 10.00 to 11.00. The regional unit answers inquiries regarding refugee and asylum matters from 14.00 to 15.00. The nationality unit answers inquiries from 14.00 to 15.00. The telephone number is (09) 476 5500.
General information will be given by telephone each weekday from 8.00 to 16.15. The telephone number is 0300 44300 (price 0.08 € min + local access charge).
Applications are still submitted to Finnish missions abroad or to the local police in Finland. No applications can be submitted to the Directorate of Immigration.
The aim of the extended opening hours is to improve the customer service and the possibility of the customers to reach the office. By means of general information the Finnish Immigration Services aims at improving the quality of the applications in order to decrease the number of clarifications required. Thus the processing times of applications can be shortened.
Helsinki 29.12.2005
