Finnish Embassy in Nigeria



Finnish Ambassador to Nigeria



Finnish embassy in Nigeria is located at 9 Iro Dan Musa Street, Asokoro, Abuja.

Mrs. Riitta Korpivaara is the Ambassador of Finland in Nigeria. She is also the Permanent Representative of her country to the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) and she is accredited also as Ambassador to other west African countries like Benin, Ghana, Liberia and Senegal.



Others staffers in the embassy include, Mr. Lauri Voionmaa who act as the First Secretary and Deputy Head of Mission for the embassy, Mrs. Nina Hallan is the Third Secretary, and handles consular matters. Ms. Sinikka Koski is the Counsellor on conflict prevention and development, and Ms. Arja Koski is the Third Secretary; she operates as financial officer.



Operation hours:

The embassy opens its services to clients from 8 a.m. to 11 a.m. from Monday to Thursday.

Its consulate office operates Monday to Thursday 8 a.m. to 4.15 p.m., and 8 a.m. to 1.15 p.m. on Friday.



Visa Application procedures:

One can apply for Finnish visa if the length of stay is a maximum of three months. If a stay exceeds three months it is expected that a residence permit is applied for.

Since last year October 1, the embassy now only accepts E-passport from Nigerian applicants.

The embassy processes visa within 10 calendar days.



It is expected that applicants for visa and residence permits book appointments in advance.

The following are required from a tourist visa to Finland:

The application form should be carefully filled by the applicant before coming to the embassy;

Applications have to be submitted personally, and all applicants will be interviewed;



An international passport which is valid at least three months after the journey;

One passport size photograph with white background;

Reservation for accommodation and/ or a letter of sponsorship from the host in Finland and a copy of the flight reservation.

For a business visa, in addition to the above the following are required:



 A letter of invitation from the Finnish company;

A letter of authorisation from the company represented;

Company’s tax clearance and registration documents.

For applicants attending a conference, an acceptance from the organisation and proof of payment for the conference should be submitted, also, an introductory letter from the applicant’s office is required.



After visa is granted the visitor need to present a return flight ticket, proof of sufficient funds in foreign exchange, health and travel insurance issued by an accredited Schengen insurance policy company.

Visa Fees:

Visa fee is N15,000 (60 Euro). Applicants under six years are exempted from visa fees.



Residence permit fee is N88,000 (350 Euro), for workers it is 100,000 (400 Euro), students N63,000 (250 Euro). Applicant under 18 years will pay N45,000 (180 Euro) for residence permit. The fee to transfer residence permit to new passport is N11,000 (47 Euro).

Legalization fee is N7,500 (30 Euro), Courier service for legalised documents to Finland is N2,600 (10.5 Euro). Passport fees to be paid in cash is N30,000 (120 Euro) and N41,000 (165) for temporary passport.



Bilateral relations:

In 1963, the Government of Finland opened the first Finnish Embassy in Sub-Saharan Africa in Lagos. One week after Nigeria gained its independence; on 7 October 1960 Finland recognised the country.



The diplomatic relations between Finland and Nigeria were established on 18 January, 1963. Soon after, it opened its embassy in the then Nigerian capital. The Embassy was situated on the tenth floor in the Western Union Building at Broad Street, Lagos Island. The Embassy had its offices on Broad Street until the 1980s.



On 26 January, 1981 the Embassy signed a land property lease with the State of Lagos. New office premises were constructed at number 13 Walter Carrington Crescent, Victoria Island. The office building was finalized in 1983. The Embassy functioned at these premises until it was moved to the new capital of Abuja on 1 March, 2004. The property in Lagos was sold.

In September 1963, Mr. Jaakko Lyytinen, the first Ambassador of Finland to Nigeria represented his credentials to Dr. Nnamdi Azikiwe, Governor-General of Nigeria. After the official ceremony, Mr. Lyytinen and Dr. Azikiwe started to discuss long-distance running and amateur boxing as Dr. Azikiwe had visited Finland during the Summer Olympic Games of 1952.