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Accommodation

If you apply for temporary protection or asylum: You can live in a reception centre or in private accommodation.

Reception centre

If you need accommodation, you will be accommodated at a reception centre that has room.
The reception centre will provide you with the reception services you need.

Families are accommodated in an apartment or a room of their own. Others are offered communal accommodation where women and men live in separate rooms or apartments.

There are many reception centres of different types and sizes in different parts of Finland. You will be accommodated at a reception centre that has room. Read more on the page Living in a reception centre

Private accommodation

If you choose not to stay at a reception centre, you can arrange your accommodation yourself and stay with your friends or relatives, for example. However, you will still be registered at a reception centre that will provide you with the reception services you need. 

If you choose to live somewhere else than in a reception centre, you must be able to pay for your accommodation yourself. Living in private accommodation cannot be financially supported by reception centres. 

If your situation changes and you need accommodation, you will be arranged a place at a reception centre that has room.

Read more on the page Living in private accommodation

Notify your reception centre of a new address without delay

Report your address to the reception centre where you are registered as a client. Notify the reception centre if your address changes. 

This is important in order to make sure that you maintain your right to reception services.

  • Provide the following information: first and last name, date of birth, Finnish Immigration Service customer number, and your new address. Also make sure to include your own contact details (telephone number and email address).
  • You can contact your reception centre by telephone, or visit in person. Notifications may also be sent by post. The contact details of reception centres are available on our website at migri.fi/en/reception-centers.

The correct address and telephone number are important so that:

  • we can send you our decisions on your applications and your residence permit card.
  • your reception centre can reach you and you maintain your right to reception services.

If you move from one reception centre to another, the Finnish Immigration Service is informed automatically. Therefore, you don’t need to notify us separately of your new reception centre's address.

If you don't know which reception centre is yours, you can send your notification of a new address to the Finnish Immigration Service. Notifications should be sent by encrypted email to the following address: migri@migri.fi. You can send an encrypted message by using the securemail.migri.fi service.

Read more about notifying us of a new address (pdf).

Address details of unaccompanied children particularly important

Unaccompanied children are typically provided accommodation in a group home. Children may also stay in private accommodation with relatives, for example.

If you are living in private accommodation with a child and you move to a new address, notify the child’s group home or reception centre of the change.

  • You should provide the following information about the child: first and last name, date of birth, Finnish Immigration Service customer number, and the address of the child’s new accommodation. Also include your own contact details (first and last name, telephone number and email address).
  • You can contact the group home or reception centre by telephone, or visit in person. Notifications may also be sent by post. The contact details of reception centres are available on our website at migri.fi/en/reception-centers.

Making sure that the address details of unaccompanied children are up to date is also important so that the necessary services can be organised for them.

If you do not apply for temporary protection or asylum: 

You yourself are responsible for arranging accommodation and the services you need in Finland.

When you have a municipality of residence

If you get a municipality of residence, you will no longer be a client of the reception system. Instead, you will become a resident of the municipality where you live and a client of a wellbeing services county. A wellbeing services county arranges public healthcare, social welfare and rescue services to all residents in the region it serves.

You are free to choose the municipality where you want to live. If you already have your own accommodation in Finland, getting a municipality of residence does not necessarily cause any changes in your housing and residence. In contrast, if you have been living in a reception centre or in accommodation arranged for you by the reception centre, you will now need to arrange and pay for your accommodation yourself. If your income is low, you can apply for housing allowance from Kela, the Social Insurance Institution of Finland. For more information, see the website Housing allowance (kela.fi).

Your reception centre will help you until you are able to move. The reception centre can, for instance, give you guidance on finding an apartment to rent.

Read more