Finland is moving to digital passports in world-first, but how will it actually work?

Travelling with all your documents in order can be quite the juggling act, but Finland aims to lighten your load by turning your passport into a digital one. Even though many countries are planning to bring digital passports, Finland has become the first country in the world to bring the plan into action.

But, have you ever wondered how will it actually work? 

What

Finland recently stepped up the travel game by becoming the first country to introduce digital passports, revolutionising international travel. Since the digital passport right now is in its pilot phase, the facility is available only for those jetting off from Helsinki to the UK.

Started on August 28, the digital passport is the collaboration between Finnair (the flag carrier of Finland), the Finnish police, and Finavia (the airport operator).

Right now, the trial is being overseen by the Finnish Border Guard, and it is set to run until February 2024, when Helsinki airport's border control will take over.

READ MORE: Schengen visa is soon going digital to ease Europe travel on your Indian passport

What is a digital passport? 

To put it simply, a digital passport is a digital version of your physical passport.

It's a mobile app that allows travellers to securely save and exhibit their passport details on their electronic devices instead of lugging around a physical passport in hard copy.

How will the digital passport work?

• To use the digital passport, Finnish travellers must initially download the FIN DTC Pilot digital travel document app from the Google Play Store or Apple App Store. To use the app, a phone screen locking method such as a PIN number, fingerprint, or face ID must be activated before installation.
• Following this, travellers are required to complete a registration process with the police at the Vantaa Main Police Station's license services. Vantaa is the municipality where the Helsinki airport is situated.
• This registration involves scheduling an appointment and presenting a valid physical passport, which will serve as the foundation for their digital counterpart. During this registration, individuals will provide their consent and have a facial photograph taken for facial recognition purposes.
• Once the registration is complete, travellers gain access to the Digital Travel Companion (DTC) or the digital passport, when flying directly from Helsinki airport to the United Kingdom and returning on Finnair flights until the trial's conclusion in February 2024.
• Before embarking on each trip, travellers must transmit their data via the app to the Finnish Border Guard 36 to 4 hours prior to departure. 

Other countries are on the way 

• Numerous nations have either initiated or are in the process of developing comparable endeavours. In line with Finland's move, Poland, South Korea, the United States, and the United Kingdom are all engaged in crafting digital passport initiatives.
• In 2021, Ukraine granted digital passports the same legal standing as their physical counterparts.
• Singapore too, in February 2021, came up with HealthCerts, a digital health passport designed to securely store and present Covid-19 test outcomes and vaccination records for travellers.
• Furthermore, countries like China, Estonia, and Israel have introduced their own digital vaccine passport systems. But for travel purposes, Finland has become the first one to do so. 

READ MORE: Singapore's Changi Airport to introduce passport-free travel in 2024