[ Finland, Åland Islands ]
According to a regulation from 1862 all Finns needed a passport to travel abroad. Passports were issued by county government boards (in Finnish lääninhallitus, in Swedish länsstyrelse), borough administrators in towns (in Finnish maistraatti, in Swedish magistrat), sheriff of the Åland Islands, sheriff of Lapland and the Finnish passport bureau in St. Petersburg. The oldest passport list is from 1810 and the lists are complete since 1893. All passports since 1960 are issued by the local police.
The content of the passport list varies and in 1900 they were standardized and the same format was used by the entire country. The most accurate lists include the name of the person who received the passport, occupation, civil status, religion, date of birth, home district, date of passport issue, period of validity, destination and price of the passport.
In the passport lists usually only the country of destination is mentioned, not the exact place. It was possible to go to America with a passport issued for Sweden and many, particularly men of age for military service, traveled illegally without any passport at all.
Searchable database (with 128,000 records). The passport records has been transferred to computer by the Institute of Migration.
The list below show who issued passports in certain areas, which records are in the searchable database, which records can be found and which records are missing (note that all lists are complete since 1893) :
Passport Authority |
In the Database |
Existing |
Missing |
| Uusimaa provincial government | - | 1865-92 |
- |
| Turku and Pori provincial government | 1889-1892, 1899-1903 | 1865-92 |
- |
| Häme provincial government | 1903-1904 | 1865-82, 1886-92 |
1883-85 |
| Viipuri provincial government | 1906-1909 (to America) | 1865-85 |
1886-92 |
| Mikkeli provincial government | 1914-1915 | 1883-92 |
1865-82 |
| Kuopio provincial government | 1890-1899 (to Russia); 1900-1915 (to overseas countries) | 1865-92 |
- |
| Vaasa provincial government | 1896-1902 | 1865-92 |
- |
| Oulu provincial government | 1897-1904, 1910-1912 | 1865-92 |
- |
| Hanko city administration | 1900-1903 | 1877-78, 1880-92 |
1865-76, 1879 |
| Mariehamn city administration | - | 1882-92 |
1865-81 |
| Rauma city administration | - | 1865-77, 1879 |
1878, 1880-92 |
| Uusikaupunki city administration | - | 1865-81, 1888-92 |
1882-87 |
| Pori city administration | - | 1885-87, 1890-92 |
1865-84, 1888-89 |
| Kristiinankaupunki city administration | 1890-1891 | 1865-70, 1880-92 |
1871-79 |
| Kaskinen city administration | - | 1874-92 |
1865-73 |
| Kokkola city administration | 1899-1902 | 1874-92 |
1865-73 |
| Pietarsaari city administration | - | 1865-92 |
- |
| Uusikaarlepyy city administration | - | 1871-74, 1878-92 |
1875-77 |
| Jyväskylä city administration | - | 1868, 1876, 1879-92 |
1865-67, 1869-75, 1877-78 |
| Raahe city administration | - | 1865-92 |
- |
| Kokkola bailiff (nimismies, länsmannen) | - | 1885-92 |
- |
| Sheriff (kruununvouti, kronofogden) of the Åland Islands | [see below] | 1865-92 |
- |
Sheriff's Passport List 1863-1916
Borough Administrator's Passport List 1882-1903