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Denial of admittance or stay

If you have applied for a residence permit on the basis of international protection or temporary protection and have not been granted a residence permit on any grounds, the Finnish Immigration Service will usually issue you with a negative decision accompanied by a decision on denial of admittance or stay.

At the same time, the Finnish Immigration Service usually gives you 30 days to leave Finland voluntarily. If you do not leave Finland within this time, the police will remove you from the country.

Usually, there will not be time reserved for voluntary return if the Finnish Immigration Service has applied the border procedure to your application. Read more about the border procedure.

When is denial of admittance or stay not enforced?

When someone is denied admittance or stay, the Finnish Immigration Service issues a decision on denial of admittance or stay, after which the police enforces it.

If you have appealed against the decision to an administrative court, the police cannot remove you from the country before the administrative court makes a decision. If you have applied for leave to appeal to the Supreme Administrative Court, the police can remove you from the country, unless the Supreme Administrative Court expressly orders that you may not be removed from the country.

The police can remove you from the country immediately after the decision on denial of admittance or stay has been served on you if:

  • you can be sent to another country that is responsible for examining your asylum application according to the Dublin Regulation;
  • you can be sent to another EU member state where you have received international protection;
  • you have cancelled your application and received a decision on its expiry; or
  • you have submitted a subsequent application which does not contain any new grounds that would influence our decision on your matter.

If you have submitted a subsequent application, it is possible that in some cases the police may remove you from the country before we make a decision on your subsequent application.

The police may remove you from the country on the eighth day after the negative decision has been served on you if:

  • you have arrived from a safe country of asylum; or
  • your application has been rejected in an accelerated procedure and has been found to be manifestly unfounded.

In all of these cases, you may request an administrative court to prohibit the enforcement of the decision on denial of admittance or stay. In that case, you must apply for a prohibition of enforcement within 7 days (including 5 working days) after the decision has been served on you.

The administrative court makes its decision on your prohibition application within 7 days (including 5 working days). The police cannot remove you from the country before the administrative court has processed your application for a prohibition of enforcement.

Decision on deportation

If you have already had a residence permit in Finland, but you are not granted asylum, a residence permit or an extended permit, the Finnish Immigration Service will usually issue you with a deportation decision.