There is a backlog in the processing of applications on the basis of family ties. Currently, more than 15,000 applications are awaiting a decision. We apologise for any inconvenience. We are making every effort to ease the backlog. We have allocated more employees to the application criteria where there is a backlog.
If you have not yet received a decision on your application, you do not need to be concerned. We will contact you if we need more information for your application.
When processing applications, we always take into account the best interests of the child and the protection of family life. The average processing time for the applications of minor children is shorter than for adults.
Most applications are processed in less than three months
However, the backlog does not concern most applications on the basis of family ties. 65% of the applications on the basis of family ties submitted in 2024 have been resolved in less than three months. We also strive to process matters concerning minors as a matter of urgency.
More than 46,000 decisions were made in 2024, which is more than 6,000 more than in 2023.
In 2024, some 91% of the first permits and 97% of the extended permits received positive decisions.
Applications exceeding the statutory processing time
According to the law, the applications of students’ family members must be processed within a maximum of 90 days from the date the applicant has submitted a fully completed application. Other applications on the basis of family ties must be processed within a maximum of 9 months. At the moment, around 2,000 applications on the basis of family ties have been pending for more than 9 months and around 1,200 applications of students’ family members have been pending for more than 90 days. In the processing, we will prioritise applications whose statutory processing time has expired.
Reasons for the backlog
- The number of submitted applications is very high. Nearly 50,000 applications on the basis of family ties were submitted in 2024, which is almost 10,000 more than in 2023.
- In addition, the processing will be prolonged if the customer does not have a valid passport issued by their country of nationality.
The absence of a passport is currently the main reason for the delay in processing
You must have a valid passport issued by the country of nationality in order to be granted a residence permit. Renew your passport if it is about to expire. The expiry of your passport is not a valid reason for faster processing of a residence permit application.
If you do not have a valid passport issued by the country of nationality, you usually need to obtain one. We can only deviate from the passport requirement in rare situations and for a justified reason. The lack of a passport significantly slows down the processing of the application.
There is also a backlog in applications for which we have to request further clarification in particular. Check that you have filled in all the necessary information to the application form and submitted all the requested attachments, such as a report on sufficient financial resources if a condition for issuing the permit is having sufficient resources. Also remember to legalise the documents, before submitting your application. Not legalising all the required documents in the application slows down the processing of the application.
The processing of the application is often also delayed in situations where a family member already residing in Finland does not have a valid residence permit. In this case, the application cannot be resolved until the family member has been granted a residence permit.
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- You must have a valid passport issued by your country of nationality during the processing of the application. For more information, see Travel documents.
- We rarely process applications faster and only do this for very weighty reasons. For more information, see Request to expedite application.
- For more information about the factors affecting processing times, see Processing times.
