Australians visiting Finland (e.g. as tourists) for less than 90 days are covered by a Reciprocal Health Care Agreement (RHCA) between Australia and Finland.

We strongly recommend Australian tourists in Finland to take out private travel health insurance since the RHCA does not cover all medical costs.

Under the Reciprocal Health Care Agreement, Australians visiting Finland for less than 90 days have the right to immediate necessary medical care. This includes:

• Emergency medical care
• Care for an illness or injury that can’t wait till you get home

What is covered:

• Medical care form health centres
• Nursing care from health centres
• Out-patient care from hospitals (you can go straight there or with a note from a door)
• Urgent dental care form some centres
• Prescription medicines
• Some travel costs to get medical care, a Kela office can tell you which ones
• What may not be covered
• All non-emergency medical and dental care
• Daily accommodation fees to stay in hospital
• Fees for specialist care or out-patient care

Ask staff at the hospital or doctor to treat you under the Reciprocal Health Care Agreement with Australia and identify yourself with your Australian passport and Medicare card. Expired Medicare cards are not accepted.

If you are in Finland on a temporary stay, as an Australian you are entitled to receive necessary medical treatment within the Finnish public health care system . You will pay the same client fees as Finnish residents when you present a valid Australian passport. You are entitled to use the services of Finland’s private health care and can then apply for reimbursement from Kela for the costs of treatment. 

For more information please visit Kela: https://www.kela.fi/web/en/centre-for-international-affair

If you end up staying for more than 90 days, Kela confirms that when it comes to COVID-19, all patients in Finland do not pay any fees no matter where they come from or which visa/residence permit they have.

• Please find more information about coronavirus in Finland:

https://www.hus.fi/en/patients/Pages/Coronavirus-(COVID-19).aspx

https://thl.fi/en/web/infectious-diseases/what-s-new/coronavirus-covid-19-latest-updates

If your residence permit is about to expire but you still qualify for the permit, you can apply for an extended permit. Please make sure to apply for the extension before your permit expires. Most applications can be submitted using the online service Enter Finland at enterfinland.fi.

For more detailed instructions on how to apply, please see migri.fi/en/residence-permit-on-other-grounds. You can apply for this permit only with a paper form (OLE_MUU). The application is subject to a fee: EUR 520 for an adult, EUR 270 for a child. For more detailed instructions on how to submit the application, see the part ‘ You are in Finland and applying for a residence permit or an extended permit’ on migri.fi page.

You must have sufficient financial resources during your entire stay in Finland and during the validity of your residence permit. Read more about the income requirement. Attach documentation of your means of support to your application.

Your application should include a document explaining why you cannot return to your home country or country of permanent residence. Financial reasons, such as expensive flights, are not considered grounds for granting a residence permit. A short-term temporary residence permit can be granted only if leaving Finland is not actually possible or if it, for example, poses a serious health threat.

Read more about applying for a permit. 

If you’re living in Finland as a permanent resident, have a place of domicile and your details are registered by the Digital and Population Data Services Agency, you receive are entitled to receive all necessary medical treatment in the public healthcare system.

Alternatively if you are a permanent resident in Finland but do not have a place of domicile you should check your right to medical treatment with Kela: https://www.kela.fi/web/en/centre-for-international-affairs.