The delivery of certain residence permit cards has been delayed. The stickers that were previously affixed to the travel document were replaced by biometric residence permit cards at the beginning of 2012. The new technical system and procedures that were introduced at the same time are not yet working perfectly.
We are nevertheless able to deliver most cards to the appropriate service point – either the Finnish embassy abroad or the police in Finland – about one week after the date of the positive decision, as originally planned.
We apologize for the delay and are doing our best to restore the situation to normal as soon as possible.
Average delivery time of about one week
The average delivery time given by the private company that manufactures the cards is one week. The Finnish Immigration Service is unable to influence this delivery time. We follow the card manufacturer’s technical operations and the progress of orders closely, and act immediately if any mistakes occur. Repeated enquiries will not speed up the handling process.
Please note that you should not buy flight tickets or make other travel arrangements until you have received your residence permit card.
Longest delivery times for Russia, Ukraine, China and Israel
For the time being we must send residence permit cards for Russia, Ukraine, Guangzhou (China) and Israel by the courier service of the Ministry for Foreign Affairs. Card deliveries to the Finnish embassies in these countries will take longer, but generally no more than three weeks from the date of the positive decision.
