Skip to Content

Family

The family member of a foreigner who has been granted temporary protection can apply for a residence permit in Finland. Family members may also be eligible for temporary protection themselves. 

Schooling, early childhood education and hobbies

In Finland, all children aged 6 to 17 have the right to schooling. Your reception centre can help you with enrolling your child in school. Schooling is free of charge.

If you have a child under six years of age, you can apply to the municipality for a place in early childhood education. The municipality is responsible for providing early childhood education for your child if you work or study full-time.

There are a number of organisations and other actors offering children recreational activities. To learn more, ask the staff of your reception centre. Information on children's hobbies is also often available at libraries and schools.

When you have a municipality of residence

If you get a municipality of residence, you will no longer be a client of the reception system. Instead, you will become a resident of the municipality where you live and a client of a wellbeing services county. A wellbeing services county arranges public healthcare, social welfare and rescue services to all residents in the region it serves.

When you and your child have a municipality of residence, your child is required to attend a Finnish school. In that case, attending school is compulsory and the school must be part of the Finnish education system.

When you have a municipality of residence, a child who is not yet required to go to school is entitled to a place in early childhood education. This is the case even when one or both of the child’s parents are at home and not working or studying.

For information on how getting a municipality of residence will affect childcare, school and studies see the website of the Finnish National Agency for Education.

Read more

If you give birth to a child in Finland after having applied for or been granted temporary protection

If you have applied for temporary protection in Finland and have a child while your application for temporary protection is being processed or after receiving a decision on your application, you should immediately notify the Finnish Immigration Service of the birth of the child. An employee at your reception centre can assist you with the notification.

It is important that you notify the Finnish Immigration Service of the birth of the child, so that an application for temporary protection for your child can be lodged and your child can be registered as a client of the reception centre. The Finnish Immigration Service will not be informed of the birth of your child in any other way.

If you live at a reception centre

1. Fill in the notification of the birth of a child together with a reception centre employee, such as a nurse or a social worker.
2. The reception centre employee will send the notification and a copy of the child’s birth certificate to the Finnish Immigration Service. 

  • Keep the original birth certificate.

If you live in private accommodation

Even when you live in private accommodation, you can notify the Finnish Immigration Service of the birth of the child through your reception centre. 

  • You can visit the reception centre or contact them by phone. You will find the contact information of your reception centre on our website at migri.fi/reception-centers. 

If you wish, you can notify the Finnish Immigration Service of the birth of your child by yourself. Follow these instructions:

1. Fill in the form Notification to the Finnish Immigration Service of the birth of a child (pdf).

2. Send the form and a copy of the child’s birth certificate (a photo or a scan copy) to the Finnish Immigration Service as an encrypted email message to the address migri@migri.fi. You can send encrypted email using the service securemail.migri.fi.

  • Keep the original birth certificate.

Read more