Year 2025 of Finnish Immigration Service: Cost-efficiency, implementation of Government Programme and tense operating environment of immigration emphasised

For the Finnish Immigration Service, the year 2025 was characterised by changes in immigration policy in Europe and in OECD reference countries, conflicts in Europe’s neighbouring regions, challenges faced by the Finnish economy, and the implementation of numerous legislative amendments. In this operating environment, the importance of cost-efficiency as well as proactive and strategic management was further emphasised. The agency continued to focus on ensuring the security of the residence permit system and preventing misuse, streamlining the processing of applications and improving the cost-efficiency of operations.

As in previous years, the operating environment of the Finnish Immigration Service remained unstable in 2025.

“The continuation of Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine and the general deterioration of the security environment were widely reflected in our operations. Several legislative amendments were implemented under the Government Programme, and they had significant combined effects on Finland’s immigration system and increased the agency's workload, extended the processing times of applications and increased the share of negative decisions. At the same time, savings in central government finances required us to increase the efficiency of our operations,” says Director General Ilkka Haahtela of the Finnish Immigration Service.

The agency updated its organisational strategy to reflect these changes in the operating environment and the constraints imposed by public finances. As key priorities for the 2025–2027 strategy period, the agency identified further improvement of cost-efficiency, predictability and effectiveness.

Despite its difficult operating environment and budgetary situation, the agency was able to make progress towards its key performance targets.

“We enhanced the prevention and control of misuse of the permit system, while at the same time reaching processing times that were among the fastest in Europe, for example, for specialist permits. In addition, we also succeeded in clearing the previously accumulated backlog of citizenship and asylum applications. The credibility of the immigration system was also strengthened by piloting a return centre for the first time. For a long time, a European-level problem with the system has been that people do not always leave the country even if they do not meet the legal requirements for being granted the right of residence,” says Director of Information Services Johannes Hirvelä.

Year 2026 will focus on the European Pact on Migration and Asylum and savings in central government finances

This year, the operations of the Finnish Immigration Service will focus on the reforms required by the European Union's Pact on Migration and Asylum, which will be begin to be applied in June. The Pact will strengthen the security of the Union’s external borders and control of entry, and comprehensively reform the procedures for the processing of applications for international protection and the reception of asylum seekers.

In addition, the savings in central government finances are reflected in the agency's operations in many ways, such as in a decrease in the number of personnel and reduced office premises.

“The savings required to be made in our operating expenses are among the largest in the public sector. As a result, we have reduced our personnel, which leads to a decline in the level of service for some of our services. For example, the number of personnel at our service points has decreased by about a quarter. In the next few years, we will have to find more ways of making significant savings and continue to make our operations more efficient, as our workload has increased considerably due to the tightening of and changes in immigration policy and the deteriorating security environment,” says Hirvelä.

Media enquiries

• Johannes Hirvelä, Director of Information Services, tel.  0295 433 037 (Finnish Immigration Service’s phone number for media representatives), email: firstname.lastname@migri.fi
• Finnish Immigration Service’s report on operations for 2025 (in Finnish)
• Finnish Immigration Service's operations and finances