Denial of admittance or stay, deportation, entry ban
You must leave Finland when your residence permit expires if you do not have any other legal basis for residing in Finland thereafter. If you have applied for a residence permit but receive a negative decision, you must leave Finland. When the decision on your residence permit application is negative, you will usually receive a decision on removal from the country, too. The decision on removal from the country may be either a decision on denial of admittance or stay or a deportation decision.
These links will take you directly to the different sections of the page:
- Denial of admittance or stay and deportation
- Time limit for voluntary return
- Obligation to cooperate
- Entry ban
See the instructions, if you are an asylum seeker or an applicant for temporary protection.
Denial of admittance or stay and deportation
You will usually receive a decision on denial of admittance or stay if the decision on your application for a first residence permit is negative. You may also be denied admittance or stay if, for example, you are suspected of having committed a crime, if you have committed a crime, or if you are residing in Finland without the required permit.
You will receive a deportation decision if you are not granted an extended permit after you have already held a residence permit in Finland, or if your valid residence permit is withdrawn. You may also receive a deportation decision if your residence permit has expired and you have not applied for a new residence permit in time, or have left Finland. You may also be deported if you have committed crimes in Finland.
If you receive a deportation decision, your residence permit and residence permit card will expire when the deportation decision is issued. This means that you can no longer reside in Finland under the right of residence provided by the permit or use your residence permit card for travel.
If you object to being denied admittance or stay or being deported because your human rights or safety would be endangered in your home country or country of permanent residence, you can lodge an application for international protection with the police or the border control authorities. Read more about the asylum process.
Each application is always examined individually
When we make a decision on denial of admittance or stay or on deportation, all facts and circumstances affecting your situation will be taken into account. When making the decision, the protection of family life and child’s best interests are taken into account.
Time limit for voluntary return
The decision on denial of admittance or stay or on deportation will usually set a time limit within which you may leave Finland voluntarily. The time limit for voluntary return, that is, the time limit set for leaving Finland voluntarily, may be 7–30 days. If you do not comply with the time limit for voluntary return, an entry ban may be imposed on you.
In some situations, no time can be reserved for voluntary return. Instead, the police will remove you from the country.
No time limit for voluntary return is set, for example, if:
- your entry to Finland is refused or your admittance or stay is denied immediately after crossing the border
- your admittance or stay is denied or you are deported on the basis that you have committed crimes in Finland
- you are considered to present a danger to public order or security or to national security, or
- your residence permit application has been rejected as manifestly unfounded or fraudulent.
If you have applied for asylum and wish to return to your home country voluntarily, you may be granted assistance for voluntary return. Read more about assistance for voluntary return.
Time limit for voluntary return if you are denied admittance or stay
The time limit set for leaving Finland voluntarily may be 7–30 days. The time limit is counted from the day when you have been served with the decision on denial of admittance or stay. If you appeal against the decision on denial of admittance or stay to an administrative court and the court prohibits the enforcement of the Finnish Immigration Service’s decision, the time limit will be counted from the administrative court's decision regarding the decision on denial of admittance or stay.
The police or Finnish Border Guard will remove you from the country if no time limit for voluntary return was given or if you do not leave Finland voluntarily.
Time limit for voluntary return if you are deported
The time limit set for your voluntary return is counted from the day the deportation decision is enforceable.
The deportation decision is usually enforceable 30 days after you have been served with the decision. The enforceability of the deportation decision may be delayed if you appeal the deportation decision and file an application for prohibition of enforcement with an administrative court.
You may stay in Finland until the administrative court has decided your application for prohibition of enforcement. If it is approved, you may continue residing in Finland until the administrative court has decided your appeal. If the administrative court does not approve your application, you must leave Finland at the latest when the time limit for voluntary return has expired.
Read about the effect of deportation on the right to work.
If you have applied for an extended permit for seasonal work, the time limit for voluntary return begins when you are served with the decision made by the Finnish Immigration Service.
If you do not leave Finland voluntarily within the time limit set for your voluntary return, the police or the Finnish Border Guard will remove you from the country and impose an entry ban on you.
Extending the time limit for voluntary return
You can apply for an extension of the time limit set for voluntary return if you have received a decision on removal from the country in which you have been ordered to leave Finland within a certain time. You must submit this application before the end of the time limit set for voluntary return in the decision on removal from the country.
Extending the time limit for voluntary return is always an exception. The time limit may be extended for acceptable special reasons.
Fill in the form ‘Application for extension of time limit for voluntary return’ in Finnish, Swedish or English. Remember to date and sign the form. The application is subject to a fee. Pay the processing fee in advance. If you do not pay the fee, your application will not be processed. Instructions for paying the processing fee are included in the application form.
Obligation to cooperate
When a decision on denial of admittance or stay or on deportation has been issued for you, you have an obligation to cooperate with the authorities after being served with the decision. The obligation to cooperate means that you must:
- report all information that is required to verify your identity
- report the countries through which you travelled to Finland
- be contactable throughout the removal procedure
- request a valid travel document from the authorities of your home country and
- contribute to ensuring that the authorities of your home country can identify you so that they can grant you a travel document.
If you do not comply with the obligation to cooperate, an entry ban or some other sanction may be imposed on you.
Entry ban
An entry ban is usually issued to prohibit entry into the entire European Union and Schengen area. If you are subject to such an entry ban, you are not allowed to enter Finland or other Schengen or EU countries during the time the entry ban is valid. An entry ban may be imposed for a fixed term or until further notice.
An entry ban may be withdrawn on the basis of a change in circumstances or for important personal reasons. Read the instructions on filling in the form, on processing fees and on attachments.
Imposing an entry ban is possible in the following four situations:
An entry ban into the Schengen area and the EU Member States may be imposed on you in connection with a decision on refusal of entry, on denial of admittance or stay or on deportation. An entry ban will always be imposed in the following situations:
- When your residence permit application is rejected because you have evaded immigration regulations, for example by entering a sham marriage.
- When you are considered to present a danger to public order or security, for example because you have committed crimes.
- When your application for international protection is rejected in an accelerated procedure or is considered inadmissible.
In addition, an entry ban may be imposed on a foreign national in other situations at the discretion of the competent authority.
An entry ban into the Schengen area and the EU Member States may be imposed on you if the decision on your residence permit application is negative or if your residence permit is withdrawn. Read more about the withdrawal of a residence permit.
An entry ban may be imposed on you even if you do not reside in Finland in cases where you receive a negative decision on your residence permit application or your residence permit is withdrawn because:
- you have, through your behaviour, shown that you present a danger to public order, public security, national security or the safety of other people
- you have acted in a fraudulent or criminal manner
- the grounds on which you applied for a residence permit do not match with your actual purpose of entry into the country
- you presented false or forged documents when you applied for a residence permit
- you misled or attempted to mislead the authorities when they investigated whether you meet the requirements for entry into and residence in the country, or
- when you applied for a residence permit, you knowingly gave false information on your identity or gave other false information that affected the outcome of the decision, or concealed information that might have prevented getting a residence permit.
An entry ban may be imposed on you with a separate decision if you reside in Finland and have previously received a decision on denial of admittance or stay or on deportation but grounds for imposing an entry ban have emerged thereafter.
In addition, an entry ban may be imposed on you with a separate decision if you have not complied with the time limit for voluntary return set for you in a previous decision on denial of admittance or stay or in a deportation decision.
An entry ban may be imposed on you with a separate decision if
- you do not reside in Finland anymore and are suspected of a crime, have committed a crime, or are considered a danger to national security, and you have avoided becoming subject to an entry ban by leaving Finland before a decision on your removal from the country was made.
- you have left or been removed from Finland and the grounds for imposing an entry ban have emerged after you have left or been removed from the country, or
- you have acted fraudulently when you applied for a residence permit.
The police may impose an entry ban on a third-country national residing outside Finland if there are serious reasons to consider that the person would pose a serious threat to public order, public security or national security. An entry ban may be imposed as a national entry ban or to cover the Schengen area.