Information about stricter requirements for issuing residence permits

As of 1 September 2024, amendments to the Aliens Act will introduce stricter requirements for issuing residence permits. This bulletin contains information about situations in which we will not necessarily issue a residence permit.

The aim of the legislative amendments is to prevent evasion of provisions on entry into the country more effectively and to ensure that attention is paid to reprehensible or dishonest conduct and situations of abuse more resolutely when the issuing of a residence permit is being considered. The aim is also to enhance the obligatory nature and reliability of identity verification and to prevent situations of abuse.

The stricter requirements of the Aliens Act will also be applied to those applicants who have submitted a residence permit application before the entry into force of the amendments on 1 September 2024 but have not yet received a decision.

New grounds for issuing a negative residence permit decision

As of 1 September 2024, you can receive a negative residence permit decision in the following situations:

1. You have applied for a first residence permit in Finland

According to the Aliens Act, an application for a first residence permit must usually be submitted outside Finland. Once the legislative amendments have entered into force, we will apply a stricter approach to applications for a first residence permit that have been submitted in Finland.

• You can get a negative residence permit decision if you apply for a first residence permit in Finland.
• There are certain situations where you can apply for a first residence permit in Finland, for example if
  • you are a family member of a Finnish citizen
  • you apply for a residence permit for a child born in Finland
  • you apply for a residence permit for studies or you are a family member of a student
  • you apply for a residence permit for a researcher or you are a family member of a researcher
• Each application will be examined individually. When making a decision on your residence permit application, all facts and circumstances affecting your situation will be taken into account. On that basis, we will assess whether it is unreasonable to reject your residence permit application and whether there are obstacles to issuing a residence permit with regard to general obedience to the law, managed migration or internal security.
• As before, the following can be applied for only in Finland: an extended permit, a permanent residence permit, registration of an EU citizen, international protection, temporary protection, a residence permit for a victim of human trafficking, a residence permit due to misconduct of the employer and a residence permit on a discretionary basis on humanitarian grounds.

2. You have applied for a residence permit without having a passport issued by your country of nationality

• When you apply for a residence permit, you must usually have a valid passport issued by your country of nationality. If you, for instance, have a refugee travel document or an alien’s passport issued by Finland or some other country, you will not necessarily be able to get a residence permit in Finland.
• For more information, see our customer bulletin: Stricter identification requirements for residence permit applicants

3. You have applied for a residence permit in Finland within five years of receiving assistance for voluntary return granted by Finland

• You may not necessarily get a residence permit if you have left Finland less than five years ago and received assistance for the purpose of settling in your home country or some other country.
  • If you, however, have been granted assistance for voluntary return before 1 September 2024, you cannot get a negative residence permit decision due to assistance for voluntary return. 

Your own actions will be given more weight when your application is being examined

The following situations, for example, can result in a negative residence permit decision:

• You have given the authorities false information about your identity or nationality or the true purpose of your stay in Finland, for example.
• You have presented forged documents.
• You have resided in Finland illegally. 
• You have knowingly worked in Finland illegally, that is without having the right to work. 
• You have submitted a manifestly unfounded application so that you would not have to leave the country.
• You have tried to mislead the authorities in some other way.

You can get a negative decision if you apply for a new permit after your previous permit has expired

Apply for an extended permit or a permanent residence permit before your current residence permit expires. You can get a negative decision if you apply for an extended permit or a permanent residence permit after your previous permit has expired. 

• If you have sent your application in the online service Enter Finland before the expiry of your previous permit, you have applied for a new permit in time.

We will update instructions on our website with regard to the legislative amendments as soon as possible. If a web page contains information that will be updated, this is mentioned at the top of the page.

More information

Press release by the Ministry of the Interior: Legislative amendments preventing evasion of entry rules to come into effect starting 1 September (intermin.fi)

Updated on 3 October 2024: The wording regarding passports issued by country of nationality has been revised in the Finnish version and in the translations.