Impact of offences if you are applying for a permanent residence permit
If you have committed an offence, you may have to wait a specific period of time before you can apply for a permanent residence permit. The decision will be negative if you apply for a permanent residence permit before the waiting period has ended.
If you are suspected of an offence, we will assess whether you can be granted a permanent residence permit despite the suspected offence. Among other things, the type and seriousness of your suspected offence, when the offence was committed and your ties to Finland will be taken into account when we make the decision.
Our decision is always based on an overall assessment. For example, if you have a history of serious offences, it is possible that you cannot get a permanent residence permit even if your waiting period has ended.
Read below about the impact of different types of sentences and suspected offences on obtaining a permanent permit.
If you have applied for a permanent residence permit before 8 January 2026:
You may get a permanent residence permit at the earliest when more than 3 years have passed since you served your sentence.
If you have applied for a permanent residence permit on or after 8 Janurary 2026:
Unconditional imprisonment interrupts a period of continuous residence. The calculation of the period of residence will start from the beginning at the earliest when the sentence of unconditional imprisonment has been fully served.
If you are applying for a permanent residence permit on the application path ‘Higher education degree completed in Finland’, you may get a permanent residence permit at the earliest when more than 4 years have passed since you served your sentence.
You may get a permanent residence permit at the earliest when more than 2 years have passed since you served your sentence;
the sentence has often been served when the probationary period has ended;
the sentence need not be final.
You may get a permanent residence permit if the offence was committed more than 2 years before the date of decision on your application.
You may get a permanent residence permit if the offence was committed more than 2 years before the date of decision on your application;
there is an obstacle to issuing a permanent residence permit even if you have been sentenced to unit fines, for example, instead of imprisonment.
It may not be possible for you to get a permanent residence permit;
when making the decision, we will take into account the nature and seriousness of the suspected crime, when the crime was committed and your ties to Finland, among other things.
