Change of status to right of permanent residence for family members of British citizens

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

Despite the expiry of the actual application period, you can apply for a status change to the right of permanent residence under the withdrawal agreement even after 30 September 2021 if:

you have reasonable grounds to submit your application late and
you have resided in Finland based on European Union law before the end of the transition period (31 December 2020).

You must meet the following requirements if you wish to change your status from holder of a permanent residence card for a family member to having the right of permanent residence under the withdrawal agreement:

You are not a British citizen yourself.
You are a family member of a British citizen.
You have been issued with a permanent residence card for a family member of an EU citizen.

If you are temporarily staying outside Finland, you can submit the application free of charge abroad in this case. You can submit your application at a Finnish mission (embassy or consulate) abroad or at an application centre of an external service provider abroad. See the finlandabroad.fi website for contact details of the Finnish missions and of the application centres of external service providers abroad.

Make sure you meet the following requirements:

Make sure you have all the necessary attachments

Attach to your application the following mandatory documents:

Copy of your passport.
- Bring with you the original passport when you go and prove your identity.
A passport photo that complies with the passport photo instructions of the Finnish police, or the photograph retrieval code you received from a photo shop.
- The passport photo must be no more than 6 months old.
- Passport photo instructions of the Finnish police (poliisi.fi)

Use the ‘Additional information’ field of the application form to explain all the reasons and circumstances due to which you did not submit the application within the required time frame.

Attach documents to your application as proof of why you have reasonable grounds for a late application.
Such a document may be, for instance, a doctor’s certificate.

Here is how your application will be processed

Complete the application form

Fill in the form online in the Enter Finland online service or use a paper form. A separate application form must be filed for each applicant.

You must submit the application yourself. Your employer or family member, for example, cannot apply for the right of permanent residence under the withdrawal agreement on your behalf. You can, however, submit an application on behalf of your underaged child.

Book an appointment for proving your identity

After you have submitted your online application or completed a paper application form, book an appointment for visiting a service point of the Finnish Immigration Service.

Use the appointment system of the Finnish Immigration Service.
Select ‘EU registration / Brexit’ as category and ‘Brexit appointments’ as service.

If you are temporarily staying outside Finland, book an appointment to visit a Finnish mission abroad or an application centre of an external service provider abroad.

For instructions on how and where to book the appointment for a Finnish mission or an application centre abroad, see the website of the Ministry for Foreign Affairs (finlandabroad.fi).

Payments

Pay the processing fee. Depending on your application method, you can pay the fee online on Enter Finland, at a service point of the Finnish Immigration Service in Finland, at a Finnish mission abroad, or at the application centre of an external service provider abroad.

Visit a service point

If you have submitted an online application, bring with you to the service point the original documents that you attached to your online application.
If you have completed a paper application, bring with you the form that you have filled in and the attachments that are required for the application. Bring the original documents.
All applicants must be present at the service point to prove their identity. If the applicant is a minor, the child’s parent or guardian must be present at the service point. If a child who applies for a right of residence has two parents or guardians and one of them cannot be present at the service point, attach to the application a written consent given by the other parent or guardian for the child to move to Finland.
Your fingerprints will be taken when you prove your identity. All applicants who are at least 6 years of age must provide their fingerprints when they prove their identity.
Each application must contain a passport photo of the applicant. The passport photo must comply with the passport photo instructions of the Finnish police. The photograph can be black-and-white or in colour. The photo must not be older than 6 months. See the passport photograph instructions on the website of the Finnish police (poliisi.fi).

If you have applied for the right of residence online, you can print out a certificate of the pending status of the application.

When you submit a paper application, you will be given a certificate of having submitted an application for the right of residence immediately after you have submitted the application.

The Finnish Immigration Service will contact you during the processing of your application, if necessary. Please make sure that your contact information is up to date.

If you have submitted an online application, log in to your Enter Finland account to supplement your application.

If you have submitted a paper application, you can supplement it by post or by sending us encrypted email. See the page Contact information for the postal address of the Finnish Immigration Service and for instructions on how to send encrypted email to the Finnish Immigration Service. Fill in a covering note form (pdf) and attach it to the additional documents that you send.

You may cancel your application at any time while your application is pending. The processing fee is typically not refunded. Read more on the page Cancelling an application.

You will receive the decision by post or into your Enter Finland account.

If you have submitted an online application, you will receive an email and a text message when the decision is ready.

You will receive a residence permit card for proving your right of residence under the withdrawal agreement.

Residence permit cards are valid for up to 5 years at a time. Biometric identifiers, including a facial image and two fingerprints, will be recorded on the residence permit card chip. To ensure the data security of the chip, the card must be renewed every 5 years.

If you are dissatisfied with the decision, your right to lodge an appeal with an Administrative Court is guaranteed by Finnish legislation. Instructions on lodging a complaint will be 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.

If your application was rejected but you now meet the criteria for a right of permanent residence by virtue of the withdrawal agreement, you can reapply for right of permanent residence by submitting a new application.