When do we start counting the expected processing time? When do we stop counting?

Applications submitted using the Enter Finland online service

The expected processing time is calculated starting from the date on which you visit a Finnish embassy or consulate abroad or a service point of the Finnish Immigration Service in Finland to prove your identity. During this visit, you prove your identity, provide your fingerprints, and, if necessary, present the original copies of the attachments required for your application.

If it is not necessary to visit a service point in your case, the processing time is calculated starting from when you submit your application in Enter Finland. For more information about the cases in which visiting a service point is not necessary, see th page Identification.
 

Applications submitted on paper

The expected processing time is calculated starting from the date on which you deliver the completed application form and the required attachments to a Finnish embassy or consulate abroad or a service point of the Finnish Immigration Service in Finland.

 

If your employer needs to add your terms of employment to the application 

The calculation of the processing time begins when your employer has supplemented your application by filling in your terms of employment. This applies even if you have already proven your identity at an earlier time. 

 

If you apply for asylum

The processing time is calculated from when you notify the police or the border control authorities in Finland that you want to apply for asylum.

If it has been necessary to determine the state responsible for processing your asylum application in Finland, the processing time is calculated from when the substantive examination of your asylum application has begun in Finland. 

If you have been transferred to Finland in the Dublin procedure, the processing time for your asylum application is calculated from when you have arrived in Finland and your asylum application has been registered in Finland.

More information about substantive examinations and the Dublin procedure.
 

If we need to ask you for further information or invite you to an interview, the calculation of the processing time of your application is put on hold. Sometimes it takes a long time before an interview takes place. The counting of the processing time continues after we have received the necessary information from you.

The counting of the processing time is also put on hold if you have not paid the processing fee. The counting continues when you have paid the fee.

The expected processing time ends when we make a decision on your application. The time we need to serve you the decision and deliver a residence permit card to you are not included in the expected processing time. It takes around two weeks to manufacture and post a residence permit card.