Asylum

Statistics on asylum seekers are available in our statistical service.

A person may be granted asylum in Finland if he or she has a well-founded fear of being persecuted in his or her home country or country of permanent residence for reasons of: 

• ethnic origin 
• religion 
• nationality 
• membership in a particular social group or 
• political opinion. 

Another requirement is that the asylum seeker cannot rely on the protection of the authorities of his or her home country or country of permanent residence because of this fear. The criteria for asylum are defined in detail in Finnish law (finlex.fi) and in the international treaties that Finland has ratified. 

Anyone can apply for asylum. 

A person who wants to apply for asylum in Finland must be physically in Finland. When an asylum seeker arrives in Finland, he or she must tell the border control authorities or the police upon arrival in Finland that he or she wants to apply for asylum.  

The border control authorities or the police register the person as an asylum seeker, record the applicant's personal details and take the applicant’s fingerprints, signature and photograph. These are called biometric identifiers. The authorities also make the necessary register checks. 

After registration, the asylum application is referred to the Finnish Immigration Service for processing.

Statistics on asylum decisions are available in our statistical service.

Either the Finnish Immigration Service or the police inform the applicant of the decision. The decision is served on the applicant in his or her native language or another language that the applicant has stated that he or she understands. In some cases, positive decisions may be served on the applicant by letter. 

The asylum seeker may appeal the decision to an administrative court. If the administrative court rejects the appeal, the asylum seeker may lodge a further appeal with the Supreme Administrative Court if the Supreme Administrative Court grants the asylum seeker leave to appeal. 

If no appeal against the decision has been lodged, the decision becomes final when the appeal period expires. 

The decision becomes final in the following situations, too: 

• When the asylum seeker has not applied for leave to appeal to the Supreme Administrative Court, which is required when appealing against a decision of an administrative court, and the appeal period expires. 
• When the Supreme Administrative Court decides not to grant the asylum seeker leave to appeal. 

When a person receives a negative asylum decision, the decision is usually accompanied by a decision on denial of admittance or stay. The person is usually given 30 days to leave Finland voluntarily or to apply for assisted voluntary return. The person has the right to lodge an appeal against the negative decision and the possible decision on removal from the country.  

The time limit for voluntary return is counted from the day the decision becomes final. If the person does not leave Finland within this time, the police will remove him or her from the country.

Information on termination of reception services. 

The Finnish Immigration Service monitors the quality of asylum decisions continuously. 

The legal certainty of decisions is ensured by analysing legal cases and by providing the decision-making officials with instructions and regular training.  

The Finnish Immigration Service performs continuous reviews of the legality and quality of asylum decisions and interviews, and any shortcomings identified in the review are addressed immediately. The Finnish Immigration Service also employs senior specialists whose duties include examining and inspecting the decision-making practice in their own specialised area of responsibility. 

In addition to internal quality control, the legality of decisions is monitored by the administrative courts and the Supreme Administrative Court.

The asylum interview is the most important stage in establishing the grounds for asylum. During the interview, asylum seekers can explain in their own words why they need international protection. 

The asylum interview is arranged on the premises of the Finnish Immigration Service as soon as possible after the asylum application has been submitted. Under certain conditions, the asylum interview may be conducted via video link, allowing the asylum seeker to participate in the interview at the reception centre. If possible, the asylum interview is held in the asylum seeker’s native language.

The asylum seeker, an interpreter and a Senior Administrative Officer from the Finnish Immigration Service participate in the asylum interview. The interview may also be attended by the asylum seeker’s legal counsel, a guardian or representative of a minor asylum seeker and, if necessary, also some other person at the discretion of the interviewer.

During the asylum interview, the asylum seeker can freely explain why he or she needs international protection. If necessary, the interviewer directs the asylum seeker to talk about issues that are relevant to the asylum case and asks clarifying questions.

The duration of an asylum interview depends completely on the case. For the first interview, the Finnish Immigration Service reserves as much time as it is anticipated to take. If the given time proves to be too short, the asylum interview is continued at a later date.

The Finnish Immigration Service arranges for an interpreter to be present at the asylum interview. The interpreters work for companies chosen by tender to provide the services.

The Finnish Immigration Service performs continuous reviews of the legality and quality of asylum decisions and asylum interviews, and any shortcomings identified in the review are addressed immediately.

All officials who conduct asylum interviews complete several training modules prepared by the European Union Agency for Asylum (EUAA). The basic training consists of training modules covering refugee status determination, interview techniques and evidence assessment. Especially in the training concerning the asylum interview, the contact teaching days include a lot of practice in interactional situations. Identifying a person in a vulnerable position is a core part of the interview training. 

Officials who interview vulnerable applicants complete additional interview training provided by the EUAA on interviewing asylum seekers who are in a particularly vulnerable position. The EUAA provides separate further training on topics such as interviewing minors, gender-based violence, sexual orientation, and trafficking in human beings. Officials who conduct interviews take part in these study modules after completing their basic training. In addition to EUAA training, all interviewing officials receive internal training.

Unaccompanied children under 18 years of age who have arrived in Finland to apply for asylum always have a representative present at the asylum interview. A legal counsel or a social worker from the reception centre may be also be present at the interview. When interviewing minors, the child’s age and maturity are taken into account and the language used in the interview is accommodated accordingly.

Asylum decisions are made by public officials of the Finnish Immigration Service. Negative asylum decisions are always made in a presentation procedure where the preparing officer presents a decision suggestion to a more senior colleague who then reviews the decision.

An asylum seeker’s age is primarily determined on the basis of documents and by interviewing the applicant. If an asylum seeker has no documents, the age is registered according to the applicant’s own statement. 

If there are reasonable grounds to suspect the reliability of the information an asylum seeker has given on his or her age, a medical age assessment may be carried out to establish the applicant’s age.

Medical age assessments may be performed at the request of the Finnish Immigration Service only when there are reasonable grounds for doubting the age of an asylum seeker who has presented himself or herself as a minor.  Reasonable grounds may be, for instance, appearance, linguistic expression, contradictory evidence or information received from another EU Member State. The need for an age assessment is always assessed individually. 

An age assessment can be performed only if the asylum seeker and his or her guardian or other legal representative have given their written consents to performing the assessment. An asylum seeker who refuses to take part in the assessment without an acceptable reason will be treated as an adult. However, refusal alone does not constitute grounds for rejecting an asylum application. 

The grounds for granting the asylum seeker international protection are always assessed individually.

Medical age assessments are carried out at the request of the Finnish Immigration Service by the Finnish Institute for Health and Welfare.  

The age assessment consists of an initial interview, measurement of the weight and height of the applicant, and of an X-ray examination of the teeth and wrist bones. On the basis of this data, two independent forensic dentists prepare a joint statement on the matter. 

An age assessment does not give the exact age of an asylum seeker. It gives the probabilities of him or her being a minor or an adult. In unclear situations, the results are interpreted in favour of the applicant. 

If an asylum seeker does not know his or her date of birth, the Finnish Immigration Service establishes an estimation of his or her age with precision of date, month and year of birth. The estimation is based on what the asylum seeker has been able to tell about his or her date of birth, the conclusions of the medical age assessment, and on any other proof presented in the matter.

Examining an asylum application in an accelerated procedure is possible only in certain specific situations. Read more about the accelerated procedure.

A preliminary investigation is made on every asylum application. If the preliminary investigation shows that there are no grounds for examining the application in substance, the application is dismissed. 

The processing times of asylum applications vary from case to case. The Finnish Immigration Service aims to process asylum applications within 6 months, unless there is a special reason why the processing is taking longer.

An asylum seeker waits for the asylum decision at a reception centre. Asylum seekers may also live in private accommodation that they have arranged for themselves or in the dormitory of an educational establishment, for example. 

An asylum application may be considered inadmissible in Finland in the following situations: 

• The applicant has arrived from such a safe country of asylum where he or she may be returned. 
• The applicant has arrived from such a safe third country where he or she may be returned. 
• The applicant can be sent to another State which, under the Dublin Regulation, is responsible for processing the asylum application. 
• The applicant has been granted international protection in another EU Member State, to which he or she may be sent. 
• The applicant has made a subsequent application which does not contain any new grounds to stay in the country that would influence the decision on the matter. 

A subsequent application is a new asylum application lodged by a foreign national after having received a final decision from the Finnish Immigration Service, an administrative court or the Supreme Administrative Court on an earlier application. Such applications are counted as subsequent applications if the applicant is still residing in Finland or has left the country only for a short time after receiving the decision.

Statistics on subsequent applications are available in our statistical service.

The number of subsequent applications is not limited by legislation. However, extending one's stay in Finland by making subsequent applications is not possible if the new application does not contain any new grounds for asylum. Lodging one or more subsequent applications does not prevent the enforcement of an earlier final decision on denial of admittance or stay.  

When an asylum seeker makes a subsequent application, the Finnish Immigration Service first conducts a preliminary investigation to find out whether the application contains new grounds for asylum or such new information that was not known when the previous decision was made. The purpose of the preliminary investigation is to establish whether the new application must be examined in more detail. 

If the asylum seeker has not presented any new grounds for asylum or an acceptable reason for not presenting the grounds earlier, the subsequent application is considered inadmissible. When the application is considered inadmissible, the applicant receives a decision on the application being considered inadmissible and possibly also a decision on removal from the country.