Asylum seekers and the Finnish Immigration Service
This page contains information for asylum seekers on where the Finnish Immigration Service arranges client appointments related to applications, who may attend the client appointments, and where you can send your questions, additional documents and notifications of any changes related to your application for international protection.
Contents of this page:
- Client appointments related to applications for international protection
- Enquiries about an application for international protection
- Contacting the Finnish Immigration Service
Client appointments related to applications for international protection
When you apply for international protection in Finland, you may meet an employee of the Finnish Immigration Service for example in the following situations:
- when you lodge your application
- at an interview
- at free legal counselling
- in cases where the decision is served on you in person at the Finnish Immigration Service.
Your meetings with the Finnish Immigration Service related to your application may be arranged in person or by video conference. When you receive an invitation to a client meeting, the invitation will always state where, when and in which format the meeting is arranged.
Office locations of Finnish Immigration Service
The Finnish Immigration Service arranges asylum interviews and client meetings related to the lodging of applications for international protection usually in 4 different office locations in Finland: in Helsinki, Raisio, Lappeenranta and Oulu.
The personnel at your reception centre will give you advice on how you can travel to the Finnish Immigration Service office location.
Before you enter the customer facilities of the Finnish Immigration Service, you may be required to undergo a security check.
Show your reception centre client card to the security guard.
Accessibility
Please inform the personnel of your reception centre in advance if you have special needs regarding your client appointment. The reception centre will contact the Finnish Immigration Service about them before the appointment. The special needs may be related to a physical or sensory disability, for example. Inform the reception centre also if you need a support person. We do our best to meet your accessibility needs when we arrange client appointments.
The address of the interview facilities in Helsinki is Ratapihantie 11. Entrance is from the upper-level door by the junction of the Kellosilta street and the Veturimiehenkatu street.
There are no separate parking spaces for customers. If you hold a parking card for people with reduced mobility, you can drive and park in front of the entrance.
The pick-up and drop-off area is in front of the entrance.
- Drive north along the Ratapihantie street.
- Turn right to the Rautatieläisenkatu street.
- Take the first turn right to the Veturimiehenkatu street.
- Take the first turn right to the Kellosilta street.
- The entrance to the Finnish Immigration Service’s interview facilities is on your right side.
The entrance is not clearly distinguishable. The sign marking the entrance is not easily visible from the traffic route. There is a canopy above the entrance.
There is no electronic door-opening mechanism. There is a low threshold in the doorway. There is space for turning in front of the entrance.
The interview rooms are on the same floor as the entrance. When you enter the building, the security guards will guide you to a waiting area.
The signs inside are clear and distinguishable.
There is seating available in the waiting area. There is sufficient room for moving with a wheelchair in the corridors. An employee of the Finnish Immigration Service will escort you from the waiting area to the interview room and back to the waiting area.
The interview rooms are of different sizes. There is not enough space for turning with a wheelchair in all rooms. If you have told of your wheelchair use in advance, we will book a large interview room for you.
There are two toilets in the waiting area but they are not accessible. There is an accessible, large toilet in a corridor behind a locked door. You can ask the staff to open it for you.
Guide dogs and service dogs are allowed indoors.
There is no sound beacon or induction loop.
Interview facilities in Raisio
The address of the interview facilities in Raisio is Nallinkatu 8.
Parking spaces for customers are available free of charge for 2 hours. Remember to use a parking disc. In addition, there are accessible parking spaces for two cars. They are located over 10 metres from the entrance.
The pick-up and drop-off area is in front of the entrance.
The route to the entrance is marked with signs, has lighting and is wide enough for a wheelchair. There is a canopy above the entrance.
There is a ramp for wheelchair users in front of the entrance. The security guard will open the door for you.
The waiting lobby for customers is at street level on the same floor as the entrance. When you enter the building, the security guard will guide you to a waiting lobby for customers.
There are signs indoors.
There is enough space to move with a wheelchair.
Seating is available in the waiting lobby.
The interview rooms are on the 2nd and 3rd floor. All floors can be accessed with a lift. The lift door opens automatically. The lift is spacious and there is room for turning with a wheelchair or a baby stroller/pushchair. The lift buttons are 90–130 centimetres from the floor and have raised numbers. The button for the exit floor is green and embossed. The alarm button is raised but does not have a collar. The lift does not give audio instructions.
An employee of the Finnish Immigration Service will come and escort you from the waiting lobby to the interview room. During breaks, the employee of the Finnish Immigration Service and the security guards can help you with using the lift.
There is an accessible, large toilet in the lobby on the 3rd floor.
Guide dogs and service dogs are allowed indoors.
There is no sound beacon or induction loop.
Interview facilities in Lappeenranta
There are two routes to the interview facilities:
- the main entrance of the Virastotalo office building at Pormestarinkatu 1
- an accessible entrance at the address Villimiehenkatu 2.
There is no free parking reserved for customers. There are public parking spaces along the Pormestarinkatu street. Parking there is subject to a fee. There are no accessible parking spaces.
The pick-up and drop-off area is in front of the Villimiehenkatu entrance at the address Villimiehenkatu 2.
The main entrance of the Virastotalo office building is distinguishable and has lighting. The route to the Villimiehenkatu entrance is not very distinguishable and has poor lightning. Both entrances are wide enough for a wheelchair. There is a canopy above both entrances.
Both entrances have a ramp for wheelchair users. The front doors have an electronic opening mechanism. You can open the front doors by pushing a button. There are buttons both on the outside and on the inside. There is space for turning with a wheelchair in front of both entrances.
The main entrance of the Virastotalo office building, the interview rooms and the customer lobby are on the P floor. The Villimiehenkatu entrance in on the K floor.
There is a lift in the building. The lift door opens automatically. The lift gives audio instructions, meaning that the lift will announce when it reaches a floor. There is not enough room in the lift for turning with a wheelchair or a baby stroller/pushchair.
The entrance to the Finnish Immigration Service facilities is inside the office building on the P floor. The door has a doorbell. Ring the doorbell and wait for the security guard to open the door for you. The door has an automatic opening mechanism. There is a low threshold in the doorway.
The security guard will guide you to a customer lobby. There is seating available in the customer lobby. There is sufficient room for moving with a wheelchair in the corridors.
There are not many signs indoors. An employee of the Finnish Immigration Service will come and escort you from the customer lobby to the interview room.
There is an accessible toilet in the common areas of the Virastotalo office building on the P floor.
Guide dogs and service dogs are allowed indoors.
There is no sound beacon or induction loop.
There are two routes to the interview facilities:
- The main route is at the address Albertinkatu 4 B.
- Another route is via the inner courtyard entrance of the Oikeustalo Court House at the address Sepänkatu 3 A. This entrance is intended for customers who need an accessible parking space.
Neither entrance is entirely accessible.
The pick-up and drop-off area is in front of the entrance at Sepänkatu 3 A. Cars may stop for pick-up and drop-off at the address Albertinkatu 4 B as well.
There are private parking spaces, where parking is subject to a fee, in the inner courtyard of the building, as well as accessible parking spaces that can be used free of charge. The accessible parking spaces are located less than 10 metres from the inner courtyard entrance of the Finnish Immigration Service. The Finnish Immigration Service does not have separate parking spaces reserved for its customers.
The route from the Sepänkatu entrance has insufficient signs. The main entrance on the Albertinkatu street is distinguishable and has sufficient signs.
Both entrances have lightning and are wide enough for a wheelchair. There is a canopy above both entrances. There is space for turning with a wheelchair in front of both entrances.
The inner courtyard entrance at Sepänkatu 3 A has a door buzzer. Press the buzzer, and a security guard will come and open the door for you. The buzzer is too high for a wheelchair user to reach. There is a high threshold in the doorway. There is no ramp for wheelchair users. The security guards can provide assistance at the entrance.
At the Albertinkatu entrance, there is no electronic door-opening mechanism. At the Albertinkatu entrance, there is a low threshold in the doorway but it is easy to cross with a wheelchair.
The route from the Albertinkatu entrance to the facilities of the Finnish Immigration Service is marked clearly with signs. If you enter from the Sepänkatu side, a security guard will escort you to the Finnish Immigration Service’s premises.
The customer premises of the Finnish Immigration Service are on the 2nd floor. Both entrances are on the P floor.
There is a lift in the building. The lift door opens automatically. The lift does not give audio instructions. There is not enough room in the lift for turning with a wheelchair or a baby stroller/pushchair.
The entrance to the Finnish Immigration Service's facilities is inside the building on the 2nd floor. The door has a doorbell. Ring the doorbell and wait for the security guard to open the door for you. The security guard will guide you to a customer lobby. There is a low threshold in the doorway.
Seating is available in the customer lobby. There is sufficient room for moving with a wheelchair in the corridors.
An employee of the Finnish Immigration Service will come and escort you from the customer lobby to the interview room.
There is an accessible, large toilet in the customer lobby on the 2nd floor.
Guide dogs and service dogs are allowed indoors.
There is no sound beacon or induction loop.
Meetings by video conference
The Finnish Immigration Service may arrange the meeting concerning the lodging of your application and other meetings by video conference. In remote meetings by video conference:
- an employee of the Finnish Immigration Service is present at an office of the Finnish Immigration Service and you join the video conference from your reception centre or the detention unit, or
- you attend the meeting at an office of the Finnish Immigration Service and an employee of the Finnish Immigration Service joins the video conference from another office location of the Finnish Immigration Service.
The content of the meeting is the same, and you will receive an invitation in the same way, regardless of whether the meeting is held in person at the Finnish Immigration Service or by video conference.
Tell the employee of the Finnish Immigration Service immediately if you have technical issues with the video connection during the meeting. The technical issues may be, for example, trouble with the sound or video stream.
If your interview is a remote interview, we will send you a copy of the interview report by post afterwards. You can keep the copy.
Persons who may attend a meeting
The following persons may attend your meeting with the Finnish Immigration Service in addition to the Finnish Immigration Service employee:
Interpreter
The Finnish Immigration Service will usually book an interpreter for your client appointments.
When your meeting begins, the employee of the Finnish Immigration Service will ask if you understand the interpreter. If you do not understand the interpreter, please say so immediately. You can also tell us in the middle of the meeting if you do not understand the interpreter or if the interpreter does not understand you. It is important that you tell us immediately if you and the interpreter cannot understand each other.
We will book an interpreter who speaks the language that you have stated as your mother tongue or another language that you understand or can reasonably be expected to understand.
Counsel
If you have a counsel, the counsel decides whether it is necessary for him or her to attend a meeting. If you wish to have a counsel present at a meeting, you must find a counsel before the meeting. Read more about counsels.
Support person
Inform the Finnish Immigration Service in advance if you need a support person to accompany you in a meeting.
If you wish to bring a support person with you, you must find the support person yourself. You or the support person must ask the Finnish Immigration Service in writing in advance whether the support person is allowed to attend your interview. Otherwise, the Finnish Immigration Service employee who holds the meeting will decide at the beginning of the meeting whether the support person is allowed to be present. The support person is not a counsel and does not take part in the investigation of your case. A family member cannot be your support person, unless there is a well-founded reason.
Ask if your support person can attend a meeting by contacting the Finnish Immigration Service as follows:
- As soon as you receive an interview invitation, send an encrypted email (from the website securemail.migri.fi) to the Finnish Immigration Service to the address migri@migri.fi.
- Explain in your email why you need a support person to attend the meeting. The Finnish Immigration Service decides whether the support person is allowed to attend.
Please note that in general, only the persons who must attend the meeting are allowed to be present because the waiting areas at the offices are limited in size.
Representative
If you are an unaccompanied child, your representative or temporary representative will always attend the meetings concerning your application.
Reception centre social worker
If you are an unaccompanied child, you can ask the social worker of your reception centre to attend the meeting with you. The social worker decides whether it is necessary for him or her to attend the meeting.
- Go to securemail.migri.fi.
- If you wish to change the language of the service, open the drop-down menu in the upper-right corner of the page and select the language you want.
- Write your e-mail address in the field ‘From’. Click ‘Continue’.
- Register as a service user by clicking ‘Register’. If you have already registered using your e-mail address, order a new link to your e-mail.
- You will be e-mailed a personal link that you can use to send a message. The link is active for 30 days.
- Go to your e-mail and open your personal link that you can use to send your message.
- Write your message and attach documents if you need to. State migri(at)migri.fi as the recipient of the email. You can also choose to receive a read receipt when we have read your message.
- If your message is about an application, include the applicant’s name and possible customer number or diary number in the message. If you are asking for general instructions, you do not need to include customer details in your message.
- Click ‘Send’. You will receive a notification ‘Message sent successfully’ when your email has been successfully sent.
- If you chose the option to receive a read receipt when you were sending your message, you will receive an automatic read receipt to your email when we have opened and read your message.
Post
If you choose to send your documents by post, send your letter to the following address: Finnish Immigration Service, PL 10, 00086 Helsinki.
Service points of Finnish Immigration Service
You can bring your documents to a service point of the Finnish Immigration Service. You do not need an appointment or a waiting number for bringing documents to a service point. Put your documents in an envelope and leave the envelope in the letter box which is in the service point lobby. Write your customer number on the envelope. Check the contact information and opening hours of service points on the page Service points.