Finland will start issuing residence permit stickers with photo. The photo applied to the sticker must be of high quality. The new procedure will be introduced gradually. All residence permits issued following an application lodged after 30 November 2006 will have a photo.
Anyone applying for a residence permit, or their representative, must provide a photo for the photo sticker conforming to the Passport photo guidelines issued by the police in June 2005. A photo must be submitted with the application as of 1 October 2006.
Introducing the photo sticker will increase general security, as it will be easier to ascertain the identity of the permit holder. It will also be more difficult to forge a residence permit with photo. Photo stickers have already been introduced on visas.
Own residence permit sticker to children
Moreover, under-aged children will also be provided with a residence permit sticker with photo even if they have no passport or other travel document of their own. Therefore, a separate residence permit application must be filled in and submitted for each under-aged child as of 1 December 2006. This will make it less easy to transport children illegally across borders and will thus help prevent trafficking in human beings.
A uniform format for residence permits for third country nationals will be laid down by a Council Regulation. This format includes space for a photo. Instead of specifying a photo sticker, the EU policy is to introduce a residence permit card with photo within a few years. The exact date has not yet been set. There are also plans in the European Union to add other biometric identifiers, such as fingerprints, to visas and residence permits.
Introduction of the residence permit sticker with photo was prepared by a working group appointed by the Ministry of the Interior. The Ministry required the matter to be processed with urgency for security reasons and because the Finnish Immigration Service already has the technical resources required.
The Passport photo guidelines are available on the police website at www.poliisi.fi (English version) > Licences > Passport > Photo guidelines
the Ministry of the Interior, the Ministry for Foreign Affairs, the Ministry of Labour and the Finnish Immigration Service
Helsinki, 25 September 2006
