Her Majesty the Queen has appointed Mr Jorma Ollila, Chairman of Nokia Group and Shell, an Honorary Commander of the Civil Division of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire (CBE) to mark his achievements as one of Europe's leading businessmen and his services to Finnish-British education links. Read more...

1. When applying for your visa to the UK please allow at least three working days for your visa application to be processed. You may not receive a decision about your visa on the day that you apply.

 

2. With immediate effect all visa applications must include a blue, registered post, pre-paid, self-addressed envelope (Kirjattu kirje) to allow us to return your passport to you when a decision has been made about your application.   

Visa applicants who arrive at the Embassy without a prior online appointment will not be accepted.  See How to apply to make an online visa application. All visa applicants must have the following documents when they come to apply for their visa: a valid passport, one passport photograph, the appropriate visa fee in cash, a completed application form and all supporting documents. Visa applications cannot be processed without these documents. Visa applicants arriving at the Embassy without these documents will not be admitted to the Visa Section.

 

Do you travel regularly for business purposes to the UK? Go to How to apply for further information.       

 

Other visitors to other sections of the Embassy should also make an appointment at least 24 hours in advance. To do this please call +358 (0)9 2286 5100.  Please bring your passport and/or ID card with you when you come.

 

Security:

 

All visitors must go through an identity and security check. You will have to leave all mobile phones and other electronic equipment at the gatehouse. Because of limited storage space, please avoid bringing in large bags or prams. You will need to go through a metal detector and may have to be inspected closer with a hand-held detector.

 

The British Embassy in Helsinki has launched a telephone-based information service and Web site to assist applicants seeking a Visa for the United Kingdom.

 

Applicants can speak with a skilled Visa information service agent by calling 358-9-4259-8614 Monday through Friday between the hours of 0800 and 1700. Each call costs the equivalent of $14 US dollars, payable by a credit or debit card with the Visa or Master Card logo using a secure, automated system. Visa Information Service agents are also able to e-mail applicants all related documents, including checklists, leaflets and official forms. In addition, applicants can visit www.visainfoservices.com, a free Web site that provides both general and country-specific Visa information.

 

Visa Information Services are offered by WorldBridge Service, a division of Computer Sciences Corporation (NYSE: CSC), a leading global information technology (IT) services company. CSC is working with UKvisas to provide these services. 

 

UKvisas manages more than 150 Visa-issuing offices around the world in UK embassies, high commissions and consulates, with entry clearance statistics indicating processing of more than 2.5 million Visa applications in 2005-2006.  

On 14-17 April 2008 Advantage West Midlands held 4 seminars in Norway, Denmark, Sweden and Finland. They were all fully attended with a total of 400 delegates interested to hear about the offer to set up in the West Midlands Region at low risk and cost.

More: Bridge to Growth Seminar in the Nordics
  

The Foreign and Commonwealth Office is to launch a massively upgraded web presence. For Lucian Hudson, the FCO's director of communication, the new offering is part and parcel of delivering a more global network of services. Read more:

"The Way of the Future"

A 3-year-old British child named Madeleine McCann, from Leicester, has been missing from a holiday resort in the Algarve, Portugal, since 3 May 2007. For further details and a Madeleine poster (pdf), click here.

 

The UK Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) has launched a new blogging platform, a new YouTube video channel and Flickr photo account. Read more...