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Are you in Finland and have sent your application to the Finnish Immigration Service by post or via email? You will receive an invitation to an appointment for identity verification at a service point

Publication date 25.5.2020 14.19
Press release

The Finnish Immigration Service will send you, by letter, an invitation to an appointment for identity verification, if you have sent your application for a residence permit or travel document by post or via email.

In the invitation letter, we inform you of the date and time of the appointment for identity verification, the service point and the documents you must bring with you to the service point. Your service point is the Finnish Immigration Service’s service point closest to where you live.

Do this if you have sent your application by post or via email:

  • Wait for an invitation to identification. 
  • If you are unable to arrive at the service point for verification on the date and time of your appointment, report this immediately to the email address or telephone number in the invitation. We will provide you with instructions on what to do. If you do not cancel your identification appointment at the latest one day before identification, your application will not be processed and you may receive a negative decision. 

We have received applications for residence permits and travel documents by post and via email during the coronavirus pandemic since 20 March 2020. You can still send your paper-format application by post or via email if you are unable to use the Enter Finland online service. For instructions on how to send the application, please visit our website. However, we recommending submitting the application in Enter Finland, because using this service makes the process faster.

If you use the Enter Finland service - book an appointment in our booking system 

You will not receive a separate invitation to an appointment for identity verification if you have applied for a residence permit in the Enter Finland online service. Book an appointment for identity verification in the booking system on the Finnish Immigration Service’s website, where you can find all slots available for booking. Instructions for booking an appointment are available on our website. If there are no slots available, please be patient and check back later.

At the moment, it is not possible to handle your matter with a waiting number at our service points. We try to increase the number of available slots for services during the summer. 

If you are applying for an extended permit and you have provided a strong identification in Enter Finland, in some cases you will not need to visit a service point. You can prove your identity in Enter Finland with online banking credentials, a citizen certificate or a mobile certificate. The service will inform you whether you need to visit a service point or whether an application submitted online is enough. If visiting a service point is necessary, book an appointment for yourself in our booking system. Read more about strong identification on our website.

Further information

Updates on our website: migri.fi/en/coronavirus. Keep checking the website for the latest information about the impacts of the coronavirus outbreak on our services, as well as answers to frequently asked questions. We will provide information about any changes without delay.

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