30

questions minimum

80 %

pass mark

50–65 €

exam alone

indefinite

validity

Who needs the passport, and who does not

The Alcohol Act requires a representative of the licence holder — the responsible manager, or another person named for the task — to be present whenever the premises are open to customers. That person must be at least 18, and their competence is shown by the anniskelupassi or by a certificate of a qualification covering the same content. The condition is tied to opening hours, not to serving hours.

The Act does not require it of every waiter. This is the most persistent misconception in the trade, and it circulates on discussion forums as settled fact. In practice the requirement lands on whoever can end up responsible for a shift: in a small place that is almost any member of staff, in a large one only some of them.

An employer may still demand it of anyone, and many do. Restaurant job adverts normally list it as an advantage rather than a hard requirement — «anniskelupassi katsotaan eduksi» is the stock phrasing. Staffing agencies and seasonal venues ask most insistently, because the same worker is sent to many sites and has to fit any shift. An employer is under no obligation to pay for the passport, and where one does, it may ask you to commit to a fixed period in return.

What the exam covers

The exam is built on the serving guidance of Lupa- ja valvontavirasto, and the content is limited to four topics named in the decree. Nothing else is asked, so there is no need to learn the whole Alcohol Act by heart.

One restriction is unusual and temporary. The authority recommends that the exam not ask about marketing until the serving guidance is reissued to match the amendment that took effect on 3 July 2026. The guidance still dates from 2024 and no update has appeared, so marketing is not being examined at present.

How the exam runs — each institution writes its own

The decree sets only a floor: at least 30 questions, and 80 per cent of the maximum score to pass. Neither the question type nor the time allowed is laid down anywhere, and there is no shared question bank. So the exam looks different depending on where you sit it.

The practical conclusion is to learn the substance rather than the question format. Multiple choice and a true-or-false statement measure the same thing, and both catch out anyone who has memorised the numbers without remembering what they attach to. That is why the practice exam puts an explanation and a source after every answer — it is the only way a rule sticks together with its context.

The exam can also be taken in Russian

The choice of language here is wider than most people expect. According to Lupa- ja valvontavirasto, exams are held not only in Finnish and Swedish but also in English, Chinese, Italian, Turkish, Russian, Vietnamese and Arabic. No single place offers them all — the range depends on the institution.

The Russian-language exam is run in Helsinki by Perho PRO. It costs 55 euros, a retake 40, and is taken in a computer room: 32 questions, 26 of which must be right, within a maximum of one hour. The same institution also runs the exam in Italian.

What the passport costs

The passport is issued not by the authority but by an educational institution, and the institution sets the price. The exam alone usually costs 50–65 euros. Adding training on the same day brings the total to roughly 85–155 euros. A remotely invigilated exam costs more than one taken on site, because invigilation ties up one person for the whole sitting.

For students in the restaurant field the exam is free or clearly cheaper at many institutions. So if you are studying for a qualification in the field, ask there first — and check at the same time whether knowledge of the Alcohol Act is already part of your qualification. If it is, no separate passport is needed at all: the qualification certificate proves the competence.

Six things people most often get wrong

• ·Assuming the passport is required of every waiter. The Act requires it of the licence holder representative who is present.
• ·Assuming the hygiene passport’s three-month grace period applies here too. It does not: the responsible person must be qualified from the first day.
• ·Mixing up the age limits. In serving the limit is 18 for all alcohol, spirits included. The 20-year limit applies to retail sale only.
• ·Assuming a drink may be carried off the terrace. A served drink may neither be carried outside the serving area nor consumed there — and the sanction lands on the licence holder, not the customer.
• ·Assuming the Act bans serving on credit. The old Act did; the one in force does not — credit sales are a self-monitoring matter.
• ·Assuming there is a warning step in the sanctions ladder. There is none. The rungs are a remark, a sanction fee, revocation for a fixed period and finally permanent revocation.

The certificate, keeping it and how long it lasts

The anniskelupassi is not a plastic card, though it is often spoken of as one. Lupa- ja valvontavirasto gives institutions the certificate templates, and what you receive is a paper or electronic certificate. Delivery varies: some send it by email within a few days, some within two weeks, some by post.

The detail that matters most is this: the authority keeps no register of anniskelupassi certificates issued. If yours is lost, the only place a copy can be had is the institution that ran the exam. So download the file straight away — some institutions send a link that stops working after a month.