The summer holiday season is fast approaching. If you have an alien’s passport or a refugee travel document, check its validity in time. If you are planning to travel abroad, check with the authorities in your destination country to find out how long your passport must be valid after the beginning of your journey.
If your travel document is about to expire in the coming months, apply for a new document now to avoid possible backlogs during the peak season.
A holiday trip is not considered a reason to expedite your application, so you should not book travel tickets before you have your new travel document.
Apply for a passport at a police service point
To apply for a new alien’s passport or refugee travel document, visit a service point of your local police. Remember that you often need to book an appointment at a police service point. Some of the service points are very busy and may not have available appointments for a long time. Therefore, it is important that you book your appointment well in advance.
Take your old passport and a passport photo with you. You must pay the processing fee when you submit your application. If you have a residence permit sticker in your travel document, you must apply for a residence permit card from the police. In 2012, Finland replaced residence permit stickers with residence permit cards.
Since 2012, a person who is issued with a residence permit will receive a residence permit card. For that reason, a person travelling with a refugee travel document or an alien’s passport must nowadays have a travel document and a residence permit card.
If you already have a valid alien’s passport or a refugee travel document, the police usually issues the decision on your application. The Finnish Immigration Service issues the first alien’s passport or refugee travel document.
