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The deadline for identification at Finnish missions as well as service points has been extended until 30 April 2021

Publication date 29.9.2020 12.18

The Finnish Immigration Service has extended your deadline for identification at a service point of the Finnish Immigration Service or a Finnish mission (embassy or consulate).

Normally an applicant applying for a residence permit, registration of right of residence or for citizenship is required to visit a Finnish mission (embassy or consulate) or one of the service points of the Finnish Immigration service in Finland within three months from submitting the application in the online service Enter Finland. The deadline for identification has now been extended until 30 April 2021.

The aim is to make the situation easier for applicants who have a pending application in the Enter Finland online service, but whose identification visit is delayed due to the coronavirus pandemic.

Identification is mandatory before your application can be processed by the Finnish Immigration Service. Identification means that you must visit a Finnish mission or a service point, where you will be fingerprinted and your identity and necessary documents verified.

Lack of available appointments

At the moment, there is a shortage of available appointment times at the service points of the Finnish Immigration Service in our online appointment system. We apologise for the backlog. We are constantly trying to find solutions to ease the situation. We recommend that you follow the situation in our online appointment system.

According to the Finnish Ministry for Foreign Affairs, reception activities relating to residence permit applications have been gradually resumed in the Finnish missions as of 16 June 2020. Follow the website finlandabroad.fi of the Finnish Ministry for Foreign Affairs to see the up-to-date situation at your mission. For more information, see our customer bulletin: Reception of residence permit applications in Finnish missions resuming gradually.

Extended residence permit applications:

You can only apply for an extended residence permit if you are in Finland. You cannot apply for an extended residence permit outside Finland. Start using strong identification in the Enter Finland online service. With strong identification, 

  • you do not necessarily need to visit a service point.
  • Enter Finland will tell you if you need to book an appointment to verify your identity at a service point or not.  

Read more about strong identification at migri.fi/en/identification. We recommend that you use strong identification.

Further information

Stay up to date on news about the effects of the coronavirus epidemic: migri.fi/en/coronavirus.

Customer bulletin