A prisoner has the right to accept visitors at times reserved for visits and, for a special reason, at other times as well. A visit to a prisoner has to be supervised if necessary. The discussion can be listened to if it is necessary to prevent abuse.

The identity of a person coming to visit a prisoner can be checked if necessary. If the visitor is unable to prove his or her identity, the visit can be arranged under specially supervised conditions or it can be denied.

A visit arranged under specially supervised conditions means that there is a plastic or class wall or other technical barriers between the visitor and the prisoner. A visit under special supervision can also be arranged so that a prison officer is present at the visit the whole time.

If there is a justifiable reason to suspect abuse, a body search of the person coming to visit the prisoner can be set as a condition to the visit. A body search means a search of what the visitor has in his or her clothes or otherwise on his or her person. If the visitor refuses to submit to a body search, the visit can be arranged under specially supervised conditions or, if necessary, it can be denied.

If a visitor has been found to have transported or attempted to transport to the prison narcotics or other illicit articles, the prison director can issue a prohibition to visit for at most six months. A prohibition to visit can be renewed if necessary. However, a prohibition to visit cannot be issued to a close relative or the attorney or legal counsel operating as the counsel of a prisoner or if the visit can be arranged without endangering prison order under specially supervised conditions.

In addition to normal visits, a prisoner has a possibility to an unsupervised family visit. The right to a family visit is decided by the prison director.

As the name indicates, a family visit can only be allowed with the prisoner’s family members. People considered family members include besides parents and siblings usually also a spouse with whom the prisoner has lived in a stable relationship and in the same household already before imprisonment. Hence, marriage is not an absolute precondition. In the case of a married long-term prisoner, who cannot be granted a prison leave, effort is made to grant a family visit. Nevertheless, the security aspects of family visits have to be fulfilled always.

A family visit can lasts from two to six hours. Prisons have separate home-like decorated family visit rooms where it is possible to make some coffee or a small snack. There are also toys for the children, a bed and washing facilities in the rooms.