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Frequently asked questions about the situation in Afghanistan

On this page, we have put together answers to frequently asked questions about the situation in Afghanistan. The page will be updated as the situation develops.

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1. I have applied for family reunification for my family members who live in Afghanistan, and they have visited the Embassy of Finland in Tehran to prove their identities. When will they get the decisions? Can I request expedited processing?

Unfortunately, there is a backlog of applications for family reunification. We process applications as urgent if they are submitted by unaccompanied minors or by family members of unaccompanied minors (sponsors) who already live in Finland with a residence permit. You do not need to separately request us to speed up the processing of the application. Other applications are processed in the order they arrive. We will contact you if we need any additional information for your application.

We are not necessarily able to decide a customer’s application before his or her visa to Iran expires. Expiry of visa is not considered to be sufficient grounds to request expedited processing.

2. Why does it seem to take so long to process applications for family reunification from Afghan citizens? 

As an applicant, you are most likely to get a decision on your application within the expected processing time if you fill in your application carefully and make sure it has all the required attachments. You should not compare your processing time to the processing time of other applicants, because the processing time varies depending on the amount of investigation needed for each application. The processing time may be longer if:

  • we need to ask you to send additional information
  • you do not have legalised documents
  • closer inspection is required to establish your identity 
  • your application is incomplete
  • we need to invite you to an interview
  • you have requested that we make an exception to the requirements that you should meet in order to get the permit.

For more information, see the page What affects the processing time of your application?

3. I am a Finnish citizen or hold a residence permit in Finland. I am currently in Afghanistan. How can I get to Finland?

The Ministry for Foreign Affairs of Finland is responsible for providing possible assistance to Finnish citizens and foreign nationals residing permanently in Finland while they are abroad.

Read more on the website of the Ministry for Foreign Affairs (finlandabroad.fi).

4. How can I help a family member get to Finland?

The situation in Afghanistan is difficult, and we understand that many are worried about their family members. Unfortunately, as a public authority we are not currently able to take exceptional measures to deviate from statutory permit processes. Therefore, the following continue to apply:

  • Persons wishing to move to Finland need a residence permit in Finland. Applications for a first residence permit must be submitted to a Finnish mission before arrival in Finland. Applicants for a residence permit must visit a Finnish mission to prove their identity. At the moment, it is extremely difficult for those in Afghanistan to reach the nearest Finnish mission. For more information about residence permit applications, see the page First residence permit. 
  • Please address questions related to visas to the Ministry for Foreign Affairs. Visas are entry permits for short and temporary visits that last no longer than 90 days. Decisions related to visas are made by the Ministry for Foreign Affairs. For more information on applying for a visa, on periods of validity and on visa fees, see the website of the Ministry for Foreign Affairs (um.fi).
  • Applications for asylum can only be submitted in Finland. For more information on applying for asylum, see the page Asylum in Finland.

5. Can the Finnish Immigration Service help my family member to visit a Finnish mission?

No, the Finnish Immigration Service is not able to assist. The Finnish missions are the responsibility of the Ministry for Foreign Affairs. For more information on the Finnish missions, see the website of the Ministry for Foreign Affairs (finlandabroad.fi).

6. Can the Finnish Immigration Service help my family member to get a visa or a residence permit to Iran?

No, it is the Iranian authorities who are responsible for visas and residence permits to Iran.

7. Is family reunification possible for family members currently in Afghanistan?

Yes. The Finnish Immigration Service makes decisions regarding family reunification on a continuous basis as it receives all of the necessary information related to applications.

Unfortunately, the current security situation in Afghanistan has made it more difficult to visit Finnish missions abroad. For more information on the operations of Finnish missions, see the website of the Ministry for Foreign Affairs (finlandabroad.fi).

8. Where can I prove my identity for my residence permit application? Who can I contact about proving my identity? 

When applying for your first residence permit, you must prove your identity at a Finnish mission abroad or at a service point of the Finnish Immigration Service in Finland. If you are not in Finland, you must apply for your first residence permit or prove your identity in a country in which you reside legally.

The Finnish missions are the responsibility of the Ministry for Foreign Affairs. For more information on the Finnish missions, see the website of the Ministry for Foreign Affairs (finlandabroad.fi).

9. How do I book an appointment at a Finnish mission?

The operations of Finnish missions are the responsibility of the Ministry for Foreign Affairs. For more information on the Finnish missions, see the website of the Ministry for Foreign Affairs (finlandabroad.fi).

10. I have applied for my first residence permit outside of Finland, and am unable to visit the embassy in New Delhi. Can I visit another Finnish mission?

The Finnish Immigration Service does not have influence over which Finnish mission you are required to visit. The choice of Finnish mission is determined by the Finnish Ministry for Foreign Affairs. For more information on which Finnish mission you should visit, see the website of the Ministry for Foreign Affairs (finlandabroad.fi). Select your country of departure on the start page. The country-specific pages will tell you which Finnish mission or VFS Global application centre you can visit to prove your identity.

11. Can I submit a residence permit application on behalf of a relative? Is it possible to submit a residence permit application by email? 

Residence permit applications must be submitted personally. Therefore, it is not possible to apply for a residence permit on behalf of a spouse, relative, or other person. 

It is unfortunately not possible to submit a residence permit application by email. Online applications can be submitted using Enter Finland, which is the online service of the Finnish Immigration Service.

12. I do not have a valid passport. Can I still submit a residence permit application?

You can submit a residence permit application without a passport. However, you can be granted a residence permit only if you are able to travel to Finland and stay in Finland legally. This means that you need a passport or some other travel document with which you can travel to Finland and which is valid for the entire duration of the residence permit. A travel document can be a passport, an alien's passport, or a refugee travel document, for example.

13. My Afghan passport has expired but has been extended with an extension sticker. How can I confirm if the Finnish authorities will accept it? 

The Finnish Ministry for Foreign Affairs is responsible for determining which travel documents are accepted by Finland. There are different types of extension stickers and stamps in passports issued by Afghanistan, but Finland only accepts some of them.

You can ask the Finnish Immigration Service if your passport extension is of a type that is accepted by Finland. Send a photo of the passport page containing your personal data and of the extension sticker to migri@migri.fi as encrypted email using the Securemail service of the Finnish Immigration Service (securemail.migri.fi). Please make sure that the photograph is clear and sharp and clearly shows the sticker. We will reply to you by encrypted email.

When you send us email, use the Securemail service of the Finnish Immigration Service (securemail.migri.fi). The Securemail service will encrypt your message. Messages sent via the service will reach us reliably. For instructions on how to use the Securemail service, see the page Contact information. 

14. My passport has expired but I can’t get a new Afghan passport. Can I apply for an alien’s passport?

An alien’s passport can be issued if you have been granted a residence permit in Finland on the basis of subsidiary protection and you either do not hold a valid travel document or decide to give up the passport of your home country.

If you do not have a residence permit on the basis of subsidiary protection but are for some reason unable to obtain the passport of your country of nationality, the Finnish Immigration Service may consider issuing you with an alien’s passport. In other words, you can apply for an alien’s passport but the decision of the Finnish Immigration Service may be either positive or negative. Each application for an alien’s passport will be considered individually.

When you apply for an alien’s passport, add to your application a written statement or document on why you are applying for an alien's passport. The statement or document can be:

  • A certificate issued by the authorities of your country of nationality on the fact that you cannot be granted a passport.
  • A free-form written statement containing the following information:
    • A description of how you have tried to obtain the passport of your country of nationality. You can attach, for instance, messages from the mission of your country of nationality as proof. 
    • An explanation of how and when you intend to obtain the passport of your country of nationality and which documents you will need for that.
    • Reasons why you should be granted an alien’s passport.

See the expected processing time and the processing fee on the page Alien’s passport.

15. I'm under 18 years old and I have come to Finland alone. My parent or guardian lives abroad and has applied for a residence permit in Finland on the basis of family ties. Does my parent or guardian need to meet the income requirement?

The person who has custody of you does not need to meet the income requirement if:

  • you have not yet turned 18, or
  • you have been granted asylum or refugee status as a quota refugee, and the parent’s or guardian’s residence permit application has been submitted within 3 months of the date when you were served the decision that you have been granted asylum or been admitted to Finland under the refugee quota.

For more information, see the page Income requirement for family members of a person who has been granted international protection.

16. I'm under 18 years old and I have come to Finland alone. My sister lives abroad and has applied for a residence permit in Finland on the basis of family ties. Does she need to meet the income requirement?

A sister or brother who resides abroad is not required to have sufficient financial resources if the following conditions are met:

Asylum seekers

17. I am in Afghanistan and want to apply for asylum in Finland. What should I do?

You can apply for asylum in Finland only by visiting the police or a border control authority in person in Finland. There is no application form that you can fill in to apply for asylum in advance.

You cannot apply for asylum, for example, by sending a letter or an email to the Finnish Immigration Service. It is also impossible to apply for asylum at a Finnish mission (embassy or consulate) located outside Finland.

For more information, see Asylum in Finland.

18. I am an Afghan asylum seeker. I have not received a decision on my application. What happens to my application now?

When processing your application, we assess whether you may be granted asylum, subsidiary protection status, or an other residence permit. We will make a positive decision on your asylum application if sufficient grounds for granting the permit exist. The Finnish Immigration Service always uses up-to-date country information when making decisions. 

At the moment, Finland is returning Afghans to Afghanistan only in very exceptional cases.

19. I am a woman from Afghanistan. I have applied for asylum in Finland. Can I be granted asylum solely based on my gender?

Yes, you can. In December 2022, the Finnish Immigration Service updated its guidelines regarding asylum applications from Afghans. All Afghan women and girls will be granted asylum.
This practice is in line with the guidelines issued by the European Union Agency for Asylum (EUAA) in May 2024. 

20. I’m an asylum seeker but not from Afghanistan. How does the situation in Afghanistan affect the processing time of my asylum application? 

The situation in Afghanistan does not affect the processing time of your asylum application. For more information about the processing times of asylum applications, see Waiting for the decision. 

21. I’m an asylum seeker from Afghanistan. Will new asylum seekers get their decision faster than those who have been waiting for a decision longer? 

We aim to issue decisions first for those asylum seekers who have been waiting the longest. For more information about processing times of asylum applications, see Waiting for the decision.

22. Is the police currently denying admittance or stay to those who have received a negative decision and sending them to Afghanistan?

At the moment, Finland is returning Afghans to Afghanistan only in exceptional cases.

23. I received a negative decision on my asylum application. I have been denied admittance or stay and will be sent to Afghanistan. What can I do now?

At the moment, Finland is returning Afghans to Afghanistan only in exceptional cases.

The decision you received tells you whether you can appeal against it. In most cases, it is possible to appeal against a decision on an asylum application. 

If appealing against the decision is possible in your case, the decision you receive is accompanied by appeal instructions. The instructions specify the Administrative Court to which you may appeal, the appeal period, the attachments needed, and the ways you may submit your appeal to the Administrative Court. You can appeal against a decision while the appeal period is ongoing. Once the appeal period expires and the decision becomes final, you can no longer appeal against it.

If you have received a final decision on your application, you may submit a subsequent application. If your previous decision can still be appealed, the decision is not final. Subsequent applications must be submitted as soon as there are grounds or need for applying again. Subsequent applications are submitted to the police or the border control authorities. 

24. I have lodged an appeal against the decision on my asylum application with the Administrative Court. I have not yet received a decision on my appeal. What happens now?

The Administrative Court makes a decision on your appeal. If you have any questions about the processing of your appeal, contact your legal counsel. Please direct your questions to the instance which is currently processing your appeal, such as an administrative court or the Supreme Administrative Court.

The administrative courts are aware of the Finnish Immigration Service’s new guidelines. If the updated guidelines will affect the decision, the administrative court will return your application to the Finnish Immigration Service for renewed consideration. If you have already received a final decision, you can apply for asylum again.

25. The Administrative Court approved my appeal against a negative decision on my asylum application and returned the matter to the Finnish Immigration Service for renewed consideration. Can I be granted a residence permit now, given the changes in the security situation in Afghanistan?

The Administrative Court may have amended the decision of the Finnish Immigration Service or ordered the Finnish Immigration Service to consider the matter again. 

If the Administrative Court has decided that the permit must be granted, the Finnish Immigration Service will issue you with the permit. The Finnish Immigration Service may also request leave to appeal in respect of the Administrative Court’s decision from the Supreme Administrative Court. 

If the Administrative Court has returned the matter for renewed consideration, the Finnish Immigration Service reviews your matter in order to determine whether sufficient grounds exist to grant you asylum, subsidiary protection status, or an other residence permit in Finland. You may be invited to a new asylum interview, if the Finnish Immigration Service needs further information to make a decision in your matter. The Finnish Immigration Service will always observe in its decisions the current country of origin information regarding the different regions of Afghanistan

26. In light of the current situation, is it possible that the processing of my asylum application will take longer than expected?

The Taliban’s rise to power in August 2021 and the changes in Afghanistan’s administrative circumstances and security situation had a considerable impact on the availability of country information, which affected the processing times of applications. However, the Finnish Immigration Service has now obtained a sufficient amount of current country information regarding the different parts of Afghanistan. If you have not yet receive a decision from the Finnish Immigration Service on your application, you will receive a decision in the next few months.

27. I have received a notification of the termination of my reception services. Will my reception services continue due to the situation in Afghanistan? 

Please contact your reception centre. Your reception centre can then contact the police department that issued the notification. The police department can cancel the notification. After that, your reception services will continue. Alternatively, the director of the reception centre can decide that you can be provided with reception services for a reasonable period for a special personal reason. At the moment, Finland is returning Afghans to Afghanistan only in exceptional cases. For the time being, assisted voluntary return to Afghanistan cannot be arranged.

28. I have received a notification of the termination of my reception services. Can I re-apply for asylum due to the situation in Afghanistan? 

Under law, you can submit a subsequent application if you have received a final decision on your previous application. If your previous decision can still be appealed, the decision is not final. You should submit a new asylum application immediately when there are grounds or need for applying again. If you wish to submit a new asylum application, contact the police or the border control authorities.  

29. I’m worried about my family and I want to return to Afghanistan. Can I apply for assisted voluntary return from Finland to return to Afghanistan? 

For the time being, assisted voluntary return to Afghanistan cannot be arranged. The International Organisation for Migration (IOM) has, for the time being, suspended the arrangements for voluntary return to Afghanistan.