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Admissibility procedure

When you lodge your application for international protection, the Finnish Immigration Service will first assess whether your application contains grounds for continuing the examination of your application. 

If no such grounds have been presented, the Finnish Immigration Service may reject your application as inadmissible, meaning that the merits of your application will not be examined.

The merits of your application for international protection will not be examined in Finland in the following cases: 

  • You have arrived from a safe country where you have been granted asylum or subsidiary protection or otherwise sufficient protection, and you may be returned to this country (first country of asylum).
    • In the case of unaccompanied children, a third country may be considered to be a first country of asylum only if it is not contrary to the child’s best interests and if there is assurance that the authorities of the country will take charge of the child and the child will immediately be given effective protection.
  • You have arrived from a safe country in which it is possible for you to request and receive protection, if the requirements are met, and to which you have sufficient ties and to which you may be returned (safe third country).
    • In the case of unaccompanied children, a third country may be considered to be a safe third country only if this is not contrary to the child’s best interests and if there is assurance that the authorities of the country will take charge of the child and the child will immediately be given effective protection.
  • An international criminal court or tribunal has provided safe relocation for you, meaning the possibility to relocate to an EU Member State or a third country.
  • You have made your application only after 7 working days from the date on which you received a return decision issued in accordance with the Return Directive.
  • You have been granted international protection in another EU Member State.
  • You have made a subsequent application that does not contain any new relevant elements on the basis of which: 
    • the Finnish Immigration Service could consider you to be in need of international protection or 
    • a different assessment regarding an earlier decision to rule your application inadmissible should be made.

In addition to the reasons listed above, your application for international protection will not be examined in Finland if another EU Member State is responsible for examining your application.

An application for international protection made by an EU citizen will usually not be examined in substance. If the Finnish Immigration Service decides to examine an asylum application made by an EU citizen, the Finnish Immigration Service must immediately inform the Ministry of the Interior in Finland, and the Ministry will inform the Council of the European Union.

Admissibility interview

When the Finnish Immigration Service investigates the admissibility of your application, the agency conducts a preliminary examination on the basis of written submissions or a written statement. If a decision on the inadmissibility of your application cannot be made on the basis of written submissions, you may be invited to an admissibility interview.

In the admissibility interview, the Finnish Immigration Service investigates the factors based on which it decides whether or not your application will be examined on the merits in Finland.

If the Finnish Immigration Service decides to examine your application, an asylum interview will be held with you. In the asylum interview, you will be asked to tell the reasons why you apply for international protection in Finland. The asylum interview may also be arranged at the same time as the admissibility interview.

Read more about the admissibility procedure in the leaflet What you need to know about applying for international protection.