Family members can apply for a residence permit only after you have received the decision on your asylum application
If you have arrived in Finland as an asylum seeker, members of your family may apply for a residence permit on the basis of family ties only after you have been granted a residence permit in Finland.
You should be prepared to wait for a long time for the decision on your application and on your family members’ applications.
The processing times of asylum applications are expected to become temporarily longer due to the high number of applicants. Before the present high number of applicants, processing took approximately six months.
According to Finnish law, family members’ residence permit applications must be processed within nine months. It is difficult to give a precise estimate of the processing times of individual applications that are based on family ties. Factors that influence the processing time include, among other issues, whether further information needs to be requested for the application, or whether the applicant or sponsor needs to be interviewed.
Residence permit applications are submitted to a Finnish embassy or consulate abroad
Family members must apply for a residence permit abroad at a Finnish embassy or consulate. If the applicants need to be interviewed, these interviews will take place in a Finnish embassy or consulate abroad.
At some embassies, applicants may have to wait a very long time for an interview.
Residence permits are usually granted only to members of the core family
As a rule, if the requirements are met, a residence permit can only be granted to members of the core family of the person residing in Finland:
- in the case of adults, the spouse and children under the age of 18
- in the case of a child, the persons who have custody of the child, and his or her siblings under the age of 18
Other relatives can be granted a residence permit for residence in Finland only in exceptional cases.
Further information on the terms and conditions of residence permits is available on our website: Family member of a recipient of international protection
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