Finland Times

 

Ministry of foreign affairs. File Photo Lehtikuva.

The Ministry for Foreign Affairs on Wednesday announced that Finland will open 13 new Visa Application Centres in China.

 

The Finnish Ambassador to China Marja Rislakki, in a press release of the ministry, said the number of Chinese tourists in Finland is rising rapidly and that there is a need to support this trend.

 

“The number of Chinese tourists in Finland is rising rapidly. We want to support this trend in every way we can,” said Rislakki in the release.

 

Chinese tourists' overnight stays in Finland totalled 182,000 in 2015. Compared to the previous year, overnight stays were up by 41.2 per cent.

 

According to the ministry, the decision to grant visa will be made at the missions as before. It is in the interest of the clients that they do not need to travel to Beijing or Shanghai but they can visit their nearest Visa Application Centre to submit an application and have their fingerprints taken.

 

Visa Application Centres will be opened in April also in Shenyang, Wuhan, Changsha, Kunming, Jinan, Nanjing, Chengdu and Fuzhou. The Visa Application Centres operate in larger units shared by other Schengen countries.