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Identification and strong identification in Enter Finland

Identification means proving your identity. Using strong identification means that you prove your identity online with your online banking credentials, citizen certificate or mobile certificate. 

When you apply for a first residence permit, you must always visit a Finnish embassy or consulate abroad to prove your identity in person. Read more on the page Handling your matters at a Finnish mission. If you are in Finland and apply for your first permit, you must visit a service point of the Finnish Immigration Service to prove your identity.

You may avoid visiting a service point when you use Enter Finland to apply for an extended permit, a new residence permit card or a new residence card for family members of an EU citizen

A visit to a service point of the Finnish Immigration Service is not always required if you use online banking credentials or other form of strong identification in Enter Finland when you apply for

In addition to using strong identification, you need to

  • add to your application the photograph retrieval code for your digital passport photo 
  • pay the processing fee before you submit the application in Enter Finland
  • use the same Enter Finland account as you previously used to apply for a permit.

After you have sent your application, Enter Finland will tell you whether you need to visit a service point or not.

This is what you should do:

See our video on how to avoid visiting a service point.

The following are the most common reasons for having to visit a service point of the Finnish Immigration Service to prove your identity even when you have used strong electronic identification:

  • You have not added the retrieval code for your digital passport photo to your application before submitting the application.
  • You did not pay the processing fee for the application in Enter Finland before you submitted it.
  • You did not use the same Enter Finland account earlier when applying for a permit.
  • You created a new user account in Enter Finland for the application.
  • You are under 18 years of age.
  • More than five years have passed since the last time you were fingerprinted. 
  • Your residence permit has expired for over 60 days ago. 
  • You have not shown a passport issued by your home country to the Finnish Immigration Service or the police.
  • The entry ban imposed on you by Finland is still in force.
  • You are applying for a permanent residence permit.

Enter Finland will tell you whether you need to visit a service point or not

How to upgrade your Enter Finland account into an account that uses strong identification

You cannot avoid visiting a service point if you only log in to Enter Finland with your email and password.

Upgrade your account into an account with strong identification before you submit your application. If you submitted your application before updating your account, you will unfortunately have to visit a service point.

This is what you should do:

Factors to take into account when you apply for a new residence permit card or residence card in Enter Finland:

Also a child under 18 years of age can avoid visiting a service point if he or she applies for an extended permit at the same time with his or her parent