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Registering an EU citizen's right of residence

Application for right of permanent residence for British citizens

The withdrawal agreement between the UK and the EU came into force on 1 February 2020. The period of applications for a right of residence under the withdrawal agreement has ended on 30 September 2021.

If you have not been residing legally in Finland for a period of five years by 30 September 2021, you can continue to accumulate your period of residence in Finland and be granted a right of permanent residence later. You need to have a right of residence under the withdrawal agreement to be able to apply for a right of permanent residence after 30 September 2021.

You can apply for a right of permanent residence after 30 September 2021 if you have reasonable grounds to submit your application late and you have been living in Finland based on the right granted to you by EU citizenship before the end of the transition period on 1 January 2021.

If you do not have reasonable grounds to apply for a Brexit permit late, you must apply for an extended permit. Extended permit is a fixed-term residence permit, which is often granted on the same grounds as your first permit or right of residence.

You can use this form if you are a British citizen applying for the right of permanent residence by virtue of the withdrawal agreement, either for yourself or for your child, if the child is a British citizen. To qualify, you have resided in Finland legally and continuously for five (5) years, but do not have a certificate of your permanent right of residence as an EU citizen.

  • Electronic application fee

    52 €

  • Paper application fee

    52 €

If you are applying for the right of permanent residence and you have been granted a certificate of your permanent right of residence as an EU citizen, please use a separate form for this purpose. 

If your permanent right of residence as an EU citizen was registered in Finland and you meet the criteria for right of permanent residence listed below but you are temporarily living outside Finland, you can apply for the right of permanent residence by virtue of the withdrawal agreement while outside Finland. In this case, submit your application to a Finnish mission or an application centre of an external service provider.

Make certain that you meet the following criteria:

Here is how your application will be processed

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.

2

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

You must indicate the grounds of your residence in Finland for a period of five (5) years. It is possible that the grounds for residence may have varied during the five-year period. You must present additional information of all the grounds valid during your residence so that they cover a five-year period. You must also provide a clarification of the possible period of unemployment or disability. 

Temporary absences do not impact the continuity of the residence if they do not exceed six months in total in one year, and neither does a longer absence for the completion of military service or one period of absence of no more than twelve months for an important reason, e.g. pregnancy and childbirth, serious illness, studies or vocational training, or being transferred for work to another EU country or third country.

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 the necessary documents on why you have reasonable grounds for late application. 
  • Such a document can be a doctor’s certificate, for example.
     
  • Employee
    • Copy of passport or identity card (original document must be presented)
    • A passport photo of the child, complying with the photo guidelines issued by the police, or a photograph retrieval code you received from a photo shop
      • The passport photo must be no more than 6 months old
    • You can also attach the following attachments to the application, e.g.:
      • Employer’s certificate of employment contract
      • Tax decisions
      • Payslips 
      • Bank statements
      • Information about pension, if you have retired. This may be a decision on pension, for example
  • Self-employed
    • Copy of passport or identity card (original document must be presented)
    • A passport photo of the child, complying with the photo guidelines issued by the police, or a photograph retrieval code you received from a photo shop
      • The passport photo must be no more than 6 months old
    • You can also attach the following attachments to the application, e.g.:
      • Information on self-employment
      • Trade Register extract of the business
      • Completed financial statements of the company 
      • Individual tax decisions 
      • Customer contracts and invoices of assignments undertaken for the company
      • Certificate of valid YEL insurance (entrepreneur’s pension insurance)
      • Bank statements
      • Medical certificate of incapacity to work, if you have had work-related disability for the past five years
      • Information about pension, if you have retired
  • Unemployed
    • If your employment contract has ended or you are no longer self-employed, or if you have become incapable for work, attach more information of the circumstances to the application. 
      • Information by the employer on the grounds for ending the employment contract
      • A certificate by the Employment and Economic Development Office on the job search if you have been unemployed
      • Information on the reasons why self-employment has ended, if you were previously self-employed
      • Information on vocational training
      • Medical certificate of incapacity to work 
  • Student
    • Copy of passport or identity card (original document must be presented)
    • A passport photo of the child, complying with the photo guidelines issued by the police, or a photograph retrieval code you received from a photo shop
      • The passport photo must be no more than 6 months old
    • You can also attach the following attachments to the application, e.g.:
      • Certificate of attendance from your educational institution
      • Extract from the study register
      • Degree or qualification certificate if you have completed your studies
      • Assurance of sufficient financial resources for the applicant and family members
  • Person with sufficient financial resources
    • Copy of passport or identity card (original document must be presented)
    • A passport photo of the child, complying with the photo guidelines issued by the police, or a photograph retrieval code you received from a photo shop
      • The passport photo must be no more than 6 months old
    • Information on sufficient financial resources for you and your family members
      • Information on sufficient financial resources can mean, for example:
        • Information on regular income, such as pension, rental income or sponsor income
        • Information on property
        • Bank statements
        • Other documentation on property
  • Spouse/cohabiting partner/child
    • Copy of passport or identity card (original document must be presented)
    • A passport photo of the child, complying with the photo guidelines issued by the police, or a photograph retrieval code you received from a photo shop
      • The passport photo must be no more than 6 months old
    • Information on cohabiting, such as a tenancy agreement showing that you have lived together with a partner for at least two years 
    • Documents on family ties (documents must be legally authenticated if they were issued in a country other than a Nordic country or an EU member state), e.g. a marriage certificate, birth certificate or other similar type of document indicating 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
    • Copy of passport or identity card (original document must be presented)
    • A passport photo of the child, complying with the photo guidelines issued by the police, or a photograph retrieval code you received from a photo shop
      • The passport photo must be no more than 6 months old
    • Certificate of dependency
    • 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)
  • Other relative
    • Copy of passport or identity card (original document must be presented)
    • A passport photo of the child, complying with the photo guidelines issued by the police, or a photograph retrieval code you received from a photo shop
      • The passport photo must be no more than 6 months old
    • Certificate of dependency, care
    • 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)

Application for right of permanent residence for British citizen, Brexit_2

Submit an electronic application
Fill in a paper application