The approaching holiday season is once again congesting the permit services of the Interior Finland Police. The time to renew a passport or ID card can even go until August, which is why most people grab the door handle and wait in line.
The free business hours in big cities for renewing a passport or ID card in the territory of the Inner Finland Police Department go to August at the worst. The situation is worst in Tampere and Jyväskylä, but congestion is also present in smaller cities.
For example, online shopping in Jämsä offered time for July on Tuesday, in Kangasa for August. In many places, free times were not available at all.
In Tampere, there were exceptionally long queues for passports in front of the police station already in January this year.
The resources go to the service on site
A considerable part of passport or identity card renewals deal with the police by waiting in line due to the traffic. According to Koskela, waiting is expected at practically all permit service points of the Interior Finland Police.
– It complicates the situation for us, because we have to reserve the service for customers who are waiting in line, and we don’t get to open business hours as hoped. Of course, we always try to open more appointments, because it’s easier for us too when we know when customers are coming, says Koskela.
The permit manager says that additional labor has been hired for the permit services for the approaching holiday season. Temporary employment relationships have also been extended to ease the situation.
For the customer, the advice is familiar.
– The document should be checked already at the planning stage of the trip. You can also travel within Europe with an identity card. More times are updated online, so it’s worth checking again the next day or looking for a time in a nearby municipality if you can’t find a suitable one right away, says Koskela.
Last year was exceptional for licensing services
In March, the police of Inner Finland issued almost 20,000 new identity cards or passports in the entire region. The number is increasing, but last year’s exceptional numbers will hardly be surpassed this year, Koskela estimates.
The demand for passports and identity cards increased in Finland last year to peak numbers as a result of, among other things, the pandemic and the war in Ukraine.
According to Koskela, the delivery times for identity cards and passports have remained as promised. The normal delivery time for passports and identity cards is 5-8 business days.