Guidelines for those coming from abroad

Instructions for Managing Conscription matters in Finland

You can contact the Defence Forces’ regional offices if you have questions concerning conscription. Your last home municipality in Finland determines which regional office you should contact.  If you are unsure which regional office is, you can contact any regional office. The regional offices’ contact information is found on https://puolustusvoimat.fi/en/regional-offices.

Coming to Finland from Abroad to Carry Out Military Service 

The Finnish diplomatic mission abroad (Embassy, Consulate) is the contact authority for conscripts. In addition to these, you can also contact your regional office in matters relating to military service. Before military service, you need to take care of the following: 

• issues relating to citizenship
• medical examinations relating to possible changes in your state of health
• passport and visa issues 
• applying for conscript’s allowance (from the Finnish Social Insurance Institution, see: kela.fi)
• tickets for travel relating to entering military service
• familiarising yourself with the Conscript booklet

In addition to this, conscripts entering military service must notify the necessary authorities and make arrangements concerning their accommodation, work, studies or taxation outside Finland. Conscripts arriving from abroad have the right to use their own mother tongue in service-related matters, so an interpreter will be arranged upon request. However, please note that the language of training in military service is primarily Finnish or Swedish.

Things to Think About Before Military Service

Some matters relating to civilian life should be taken into consideration before entering military service. One of the most important things is to take care of yourself - this includes both your physical and mental fitness - and close relationships. For these purposes it is important to get information on military service and also to tell the people close to you about it. Being prepared will also make your own service time easier. 

Studies, Work and Financial Matters

If you have been accepted to study at an educational institution, you must contact it and agree on when you will begin or continue your studies after military service. It is a good idea to do your military service before starting any long-term studies. If you are working, you must inform your employer when you will be entering military service. The obligation of employers to allow an employee to return to his previous position applies only in Finland (Law on Continuing Employment and Service in Defence Responsibility Act 305/2009).

The conscripts' daily allowance is only enough to cover small expenses relating to garrison life, so you should consider how the change in income level may affect possible loans and other expenses. It is a good idea to try arrangeto postpone loan instalments or make part-payment arrangements with your bank or other lender. It is better not to take new loans of any kind before entering service because you have to fulfil obligations relating to them also during service.

Conscripts who live alone, or who have a family, can apply for conscript’s allowance from the Social Insurance Institution (KELA) from the day that service begins to the end of the month that you muster out. The spouse and children of conscripts living abroad are entitled to the same conscript's allowance as the families of conscripts who live in Finland. A conscript who lives alone abroad can receive conscript's allowance for the duration of military service either for keeping accommodation abroad  (reasonable housing costs), or for accommodation that the conscript may have had to acquire in Finland because of military service. More detailed information on conscript's allowance is available at KELA's website (kela.fi) or in the Conscript booklet.

Travel Relating to Entering Service and Mustering Out

Travel costs relating to military service are reimbursed only if you live abroad permanently when you enter military service.  When you travel from your place of residence abroad to enter service in Finland, you can be reimbursed for travel that has begun at earliest four weeks before the date that you enter service. You can also be reimbursed for travel home when you muster out from service if you travel within four weeks of the date that your service ends. Exceptions can be made to this four-week time limit if there is an especially weighty reason for travelling at a different time.  If you intend to travel to Finland more than four weeks before your entry into service, you must contact the regional office before you buy your travel ticket. 

Instructions for Booking Travel Tickets

To book travel tickets, the primary contact is the CWT customer service, which can be reached at [email protected]. A scanned copy of the call-up orders should be attached to the email when booking travel tickets. Tickets cannot be booked without a copy of the orders.  

The following information is required in order to book flight or ferry tickets:

• your first and your last name (as written on your passport)
• Ms/Mr (gender)
• date of birth
• email address
• mobile phone number
• orders to enter service as an attachment (bar code must be covered)
• passport number and expiry date
• country where the passport was issued

In case of emergencies when the tickets have already been booked and/or issued:

• in case of illness or injury before entering service which prevents travell 
• in case of illness or injury during the trip which prevents completing the travel 

Call +358 2056 159 50 as soon as possible. The call will be connected to CWT customer service team during office hours (Mon-Fri 08:00-17:00 (8:00 AM-05:00 PM) EET).
Outside the office hours the call will be forwarded to the 24/7 customer service team at additional cost. 
The primary call time is during office hours and the 24/7 customer service number should be contacted in emergencies only. 

• In case you miss your connecting flight as a result of delay(s) regarding your previous flight you should contact the airline service desk at the airport (see flight ticket for details of the airline). The airline will book the next available connecting flight(s) to the destination.

You can be reimbursed for tickets that you have bought yourself when you travel using the cheapest mode of travel and deliver the receipts and related documentation together with your application for reimbursement to the Shared Services Centre to the company sergeant major of your brigade-level unit immediately after you enter service. 

You do not need separate travel insurance, because the Finnish state insures all conscripts in case of military-related accidents and service-related illnesses during all travel relating to military service, also during leave. Baggage is not insured.

Notification of change of address

When you come to Finland to carry out military service you must make the notification on your change of address. You can do this electronically at muuttoilmoitus.fi. If you come to Finland only for the duration of military service, you must make notification of a temporary change of address. If you know that you will stay and live in Finland after military service, you must make a notification of a permanent change of address. After you have made a permanent change of address, you will not be entitled to reimbursement for travel abroad during leave or after mustering out from military service.  

Living in Finland

During military service, the Defence Forces arrange room and board only in barracks. Conscripts will have weekend leave and other leave time, during which you have to arrange room and board for yourself. If you do not have friends or relatives in Finland who you can stay with during leave, you need to think about where you can live while on leave: will you rent an apartment, stay in the garrison, or elsewhere with friends.   The Defence Forces does not reimburse conscripts for accommodation or other costs relating to this. You can apply for conscript’s allowance from KELA to help cover living costs (living costs do not include rental deposits or home insurance). 

Bank Account

A conscript’s daily allowance and other reimbursements will be paid to your bank account every two weeks. If you do not have a bank account in Finland, in an EU or EEA country, then you will have to open one before you begin your service. We recommend that you have a Finnish bank account, especially if you want to avoid possible fees that foreign banks may charge.

Travel Abroad During Leave

The company sergeant major procures tickets needed for travel to destinations outside Finland. Conscripts who live abroad permanently and come to Finland from there to carry out their military service can travel home 1-4 times during military service depending on the length of their service:

• Those serving for 165 days:
  • two times for those living in Europe
  • one time for those living outside of Europe
• Those serving for 225 days:
  • three times for those living in Europe
  • one time for those living outside of Europe
• Those serving for 347 days:
  • four times for those living in the Nordic countries
  • three times for those living elsewhere in Europe
  • two times for those living outside of Europe

In addition to the above, conscripts may be granted a free return trip abroad in the case of a serious illness or the death or burial of a family member, the conscript’s own wedding or the birth or christening of their child.

Information and Assistance 

Each brigade-level unit has a social welfare officer who assists in social matters. The duties of the social welfare officer include for example providing advice in social security matters, questions concerning choice of profession, studies and work and in handling problems that may arise in one’s personal life. In such matters, you can contact the social welfare officer of your own brigade-level unit already before you enter service.

You should also join your brigade-level unit's Instagram group. There you will find information on everyday life in the military and useful tips for entering and carrying out your military service. In the group, you can also get to know your fellow soldiers already beforehand. Groups are maintained by the previous contingent’s conscripts and you can also ask them questions by private message.