The withdrawal agreement between the United Kingdom and the EU entered into force on 1 February 2020. Family members of British citizens should have applied for a right of residence under the withdrawal agreement by the closing date of the application period, 30 September 2021, or within three (3) months of arriving in Finland.
You can apply for a right of residence under the withdrawal agreement even after the closing date of the application period, if your family member, who is a British citizen, has been granted a right of residence under the withdrawal agreement in Finland. Your family tie was formed before 1 January 2021.
Also, children born and adopted later than that have the right to apply for a right of residence under the withdrawal agreement after 30 September 2021.
If you were studying in Finland prior to the closing date of the application period, you can apply for a right of residence under the withdrawal agreement after 30 September, if you have reasonable grounds to submit your application late.
If you are a family member of a Finnish citizen, use the Application Finder to find out which application form you should use.
Make certain that you meet the following criteria:
You were a family member of a British citizen before the transition period ended on 31/12/2020.
- spouse or cohabiting partner
- Persons living continuously in a marriage-like relationship within the same household regardless of their gender are comparable to a married couple if
- they have lived together for at least two years or
- they have a child in joint custody or
- other weighty reason.
- Persons living continuously in a marriage-like relationship within the same household regardless of their gender are comparable to a married couple if
- a child who is under the age of 21 or dependentThe child must be under 21 years of age, or a direct descendant who is dependent of a British citizen or their husband/wife, i.e. a child or a grandchild.
- dependent parents
- A dependant of a British citizen or their husband/wife who is their direct ascendant, i.e. a mother, father or grandparent etc.
- custodian, if the British citizen is underaged
- other relative
- Other relative is comparable to a family member of a British citizen irrespective of citizenship, if
- in his/her country of origin, the other relative is a dependant of such British citizen who has a primary right of residence in Finland or lives in the same household. Other relative of the spouse of a British citizen is usuallynot comparable to a family member of a British citizen.
- a serious health condition requires that the British citizen in questions takes care of them personally.
- the other relative has resided in Finland and applied for a residence card for a family member of an EU citizen, registration of right of residence or right of residence by virtue of the withdrawal agreement, or a visa by the time the transition period ends, i.e. 31/12/2020.
- Other relative is comparable to a family member of a British citizen irrespective of citizenship, if
- meets the criteria for residence as laid down in the withdrawal agreement
- lives in Finland or
- has lived in Finland prior to 31/12/2020.
You can review the criteria for right of residence of each application type on the following pages:
Here is how your application will be processed
Fill in the form either electronically on Enter Finland or by using a paper form. A separate application form must be filed for each applicant.
You must submit the application yourself. Your employer or family member cannot apply for a right of residence by virtue of the withdrawal agreement on your behalf. You can, however, submit an application on behalf of your underaged child.
After you have submitted the application, book an appointment at a service point of the Finnish Immigration Service. If you are living outside Finland, book an appointment at a Finnish mission or an application centre of an external service provider. You will find instructions online for your appointment at the mission or an application centre of an external service provider on finlandabroad.fi.
Depending on the method of your application, you can pay for your application on the Enter Finland service, the service point of the government agency, mission, or an application centre of an external service provider.
- If you submitted your application on Enter Finland, you must make an appointment to prove your identity and present the original copies of the documents you have attached in your application.
- If you have submitted a paper copy of your application, you should prove your identity. Bring with you your application and the original copies of the appendices needed for your application.
- All applicants must be present when the application is submitted. If the applicant is an underaged child, their custodian must be present when the application is submitted. If the other custodian of the child for whom a right of permanent residence is applied cannot be present when the application is submitted, you must provide his/her written consent for the child to move to Finland as an attachment to the application.
- You shall provide your fingerprints when you visit the Finnish Immigration Service, the Finnish mission or the application centre of an external service provider. All applicants over the age of six applying for a residence permit must provide their fingerprints during application submission.
- A photograph of the applicant, which complies with the passport photo guidelines of the police, must be attached to the application. The photograph can be black-and-white or colour. The photograph must not be older than six (6) months. For detailed instructions, see the website of the Police force www.poliisi.fi/passikuva.
If you have applied for the right of residence electronically on the Enter Finland service, you can print out a certificate of the pending status of the application.
If you are applying for a right of residence using a paper form, you will be provided with a certificate of having submitted the application for right of residence immediately after you have submitted the application concerned.
The Finnish Immigration Service will contact you during the processing of your application, if necessary. Make sure that your contact information is up to date.
If you have submitted an electronic application, you can supplement it on Enter Finland, if necessary. If you have submitted your application on paper, you can supplement your application by post or via an encrypted email connection if necessary. Postal address of the Finnish Immigration Service and instructions for sending an encrypted e-mail are available at migri.fi/en/contact-information. Use a cover letter for additional information.
You can cancel your application at any time while your application is pending. The processing fee is typically not refunded. More information available on migri.fi/en/cancelling-an-application.
You will receive the decision by post or on Enter Finland.
If you have submitted an electronic application, you will receive a notification by email or text message when the decision has been made.
You will be granted a residence permit card to prove your right of residence by virtue of the withdrawal agreement. If you are granted a right of residence or right of permanent residence under the withdrawal agreement, your permit will be valid as of 1 January 2021. This means that you will receive your residence permit card only after 31 December 2020, even if the decision on your application has been made already earlier. If you are in Finland, the card will be mailed to you.
Even when you are granted the right of permanent residence pursuant to the withdrawal agreement, the maximum period of validity of your residence permit card is five (5) years. Biometric identifiers recorded on the residence permit card chip will include a facial image and two fingerprints. To guarantee the data security of the card chip, the residence permit card must be replaced every five (5) years.
If you are dissatisfied with the decision, you have a right to lodge an appeal with an Administrative Court. Instructions on lodging a complaint are attached to the decision.
A fee is charged for most rulings of the Administrative Court. Information on legal fees is provided by the Administrative Court.
This is what you should do:
1
Read the migri.fi website carefully.
- Please read the information on the website on applying for a right of residence under the withdrawal agreement, as well as the detailed instructions for handling matters at a service point of the Finnish Immigration Service.
Read the migri.fi website carefully.
- Please read the information on the website on applying for a right of residence under the withdrawal agreement, as well as the detailed instructions for handling matters at a service point of the Finnish Immigration Service.
2
Make sure that you meet the requirements for a right of residence under the withdrawal agreement.
Make sure that you meet the requirements for a right of residence under the withdrawal agreement.
3
Make sure you have all the attachments needed for the application and that they are up to date.
- If any attachments are missing, it will delay the processing of your application.
- The attachments you need are listed on this page and on the application form.
- If necessary, have the attachments translated and legalised.
Make sure you have all the attachments needed for the application and that they are up to date.
- If any attachments are missing, it will delay the processing of your application.
- The attachments you need are listed on this page and on the application form.
- If necessary, have the attachments translated and legalised.
4
Fill in the application carefully.
- Fill in the application in our online service Enter Finland. If you are unable to fill in the application online, use a paper application.
- If the Finnish Immigration Service needs to ask you to supplement your application, this will delay the processing of your application.
- Give the reasons why you did not submit your application within the given time limit in the field ‘Additional information’. Attach to your application also any documents on why you have reasonable grounds for late application. Such a document can be a doctor’s certificate, for example.
Fill in the application carefully.
- Fill in the application in our online service Enter Finland. If you are unable to fill in the application online, use a paper application.
- If the Finnish Immigration Service needs to ask you to supplement your application, this will delay the processing of your application.
- Give the reasons why you did not submit your application within the given time limit in the field ‘Additional information’. Attach to your application also any documents on why you have reasonable grounds for late application. Such a document can be a doctor’s certificate, for example.
5
Book an appointment at a service point of the Finnish Immigration Service, a Finnish mission or an application centre of an external service provider.
- Book an appointment at a service point of the Finnish Immigration Service online at migri.vihta.com. Select EU registration as the service category and Brexit as the service. You will find instructions on how to book an appointment on the page migri.fi/en/how-to-book-an-appointment.
- If you have applied for a right of residence under the withdrawal agreement online in the e-service Enter Finland, you must visit a service point to prove your identity.
- If you are using a paper form to apply for a right of residence under the withdrawal agreement, you must submit the application in person and pay the processing fee at one of our service points.
- If you are visiting a Finnish mission of an application centre of an external service provider, please read instructions and book an appointment on the website finlandabroad.fi.
- Bring with you all the attachments.
- All applicants must be present when submitting the application. If the applicant is an underage child, the child’s parent or guardian must be present when submitting the application. If the other parent or guardian of the child is not present when the application is submitted, you must submit the other parent’s or guardian’s written consent for the child to move to Finland. The written consent may be free-form.
- All applicants over the age of six have to give their fingerprints when visiting a service point of the Finnish Immigration Service, a Finnish mission or an application centre of an external service provider.
Book an appointment at a service point of the Finnish Immigration Service, a Finnish mission or an application centre of an external service provider.
- Book an appointment at a service point of the Finnish Immigration Service online at migri.vihta.com. Select EU registration as the service category and Brexit as the service. You will find instructions on how to book an appointment on the page migri.fi/en/how-to-book-an-appointment.
- If you have applied for a right of residence under the withdrawal agreement online in the e-service Enter Finland, you must visit a service point to prove your identity.
- If you are using a paper form to apply for a right of residence under the withdrawal agreement, you must submit the application in person and pay the processing fee at one of our service points.
- If you are visiting a Finnish mission of an application centre of an external service provider, please read instructions and book an appointment on the website finlandabroad.fi.
- Bring with you all the attachments.
- All applicants must be present when submitting the application. If the applicant is an underage child, the child’s parent or guardian must be present when submitting the application. If the other parent or guardian of the child is not present when the application is submitted, you must submit the other parent’s or guardian’s written consent for the child to move to Finland. The written consent may be free-form.
- All applicants over the age of six have to give their fingerprints when visiting a service point of the Finnish Immigration Service, a Finnish mission or an application centre of an external service provider.
6
We will inform you when we have made a decision on your matter.
- You do not need to contact the Finnish Immigration Service while your application is being processed.
- If we need further information, we will contact you.
We will inform you when we have made a decision on your matter.
- You do not need to contact the Finnish Immigration Service while your application is being processed.
- If we need further information, we will contact you.
Attachments
The original attachments must be presented when submitting the application accompanied by a translation into Finnish, Swedish or English by an authorised translator, unless the clarifications were originally written in one of these three languages.
Nevertheless, a translation is not required of an official certificate issued by an authority in an EU country if it is a certificate of birth, marriage, registered partnership or death, and you attach a multilingual standard form provided by the authority in questions to the document.
Have the attachments legally authenticated, if necessary.
Give the reasons why you did not submit your application within the given time limit in the field ‘Additional information’.
- Attach to your application also any documents on why you have reasonable grounds for late application.
- Such a document can be a doctor’s certificate, for example.
- Mandatory attachments for a family member of a British citizen
- Copy of passport (original document must be presented)
- A photograph that complies with the Police passport photo guidelines or an individual photo ID provided by a photo studio
- Document proving the family tie
- Spouse/cohabiting partner/child
- Registration certificate of the British citizen or a certificate of permanent right of residence
- Copy of the British passport or identity card of the family member
- Information on cohabiting, such as a tenancy agreement showing that you have lived together with a partner for at least two years
- Document on family ties (the document must be legalized if it was issued in a country other than another Nordic country or EU member state), for example a marriage certificate, birth certificate or other similar type of document that indicates family ties.
- For spouses and registered partnerships, a document that indicates that the family tie or registered partnership existed before the end of the transition period, i.e. 31 December 2020.
- Dependant parents and children over the age of 21
- Registration certificate of the British citizen or a certificate of permanent right of residence
- Copy of the British passport or identity card of the family member
- Copy of passport or identity card (original document must be presented)
- A photograph that complies with the Police passport photo guidelines or an individual photo ID provided by a photo studio
- Proof of dependency For example, information on financial dependence
- Documents on family ties (the documents must be legally authenticated if they were issued by a country other than a Nordic country or an EU member state)
- Possible further information on family ties
- Other relative
- Registration certificate of the British citizen or a certificate of permanent right of residence
- Copy of the British passport or identity card of the family member
- Copy of passport or identity card (original document must be presented)
- A photograph that complies with the Police passport photo guidelines or an individual photo ID provided by a photo studio
- Proof of dependency For example, information on financial dependence
- Documents on family ties (the documents must be legally authenticated if they were issued by a country other than a Nordic country or an EU member state)
- Possible further information on family ties
- Spouse/cohabiting partner/child