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Residence permit card

If you are granted a residence permit, you will receive a residence permit card. The chip of the residence permit card contains biometric identifiers, for example a facial image and 2 fingerprints. To ensure data security, the card has to be renewed every 5 years.

The period of validity of your residence permit is printed on the residence permit card. If your permit expires, you cannot apply for an extension by applying for a new residence permit card. You need to apply for an extended permit instead.

If you have a permanent residence permit and your card is about to expire, you do not need to apply for a new permanent residence permit. You only need to apply for a new card. A permanent residence permit card must be renewed every 5 years.

Delivery of residence permit cards

If you submitted your application in Finland

Once a decision has been issued, the card will be sent to your nearest DB Schenker collection point within 2 weeks. You will receive a notification of arrival by email and text message, containing the DB Schenker consignment number, the address of the collection point and the last day when the card is still available for collection. If you do not have a phone number or an email address, the DB Schenker notification of arrival will be sent to you by post.

When collecting your card, bring with you:

  • the notice of arrival sent by DB Schenker indicating the item ID; and
  • your customer number, in other words your PIN code. You can find your customer number in the certificate of a pending application provided by the Finnish Immigration Service or your old residence permit card.
    • If you applied for a residence permit or a card in Enter Finland, you will find the certificate of a pending application in Enter Finland.
    • If you applied on paper, you can pick up a certificate of a pending application from a service point of the Finnish Immigration Service.

If you are picking up a card on behalf of another person, you will not need a power of attorney. Bring the notice of arrival sent by DB Schenker and the customer number of the person whose card you are picking up.

If you submitted your application outside Finland 

You will receive the card via the Finnish embassy. 

If you have not received your residence permit card within 6 weeks of the making of the decision, please email the Finnish Immigration Service at migri@migri.fi.

When applying for a residence permit via the fast track service,

you can choose whether you want to receive your residence permit card in Finland or abroad. 
You can receive the card in Finland, if you come from a visa-free country or apply for a D visa when submitting your fast-track application.

If you wish to receive your residence permit card in Finland, it will be delivered to your nearest DB Schenker collection point within 2 weeks after the decision has been made. The nearest collection point is determined on the basis of the address in Finland that you have given in your application. You will be notified of the arrival of the card by email and text message. The notice of arrival will include the consignment number, the address of the DB Schenker collection point, and the last date when the card is still available for collection.

If you wish to receive your residence permit card abroad and proved your identity 

  • at a VFS Global application centre, the card will be delivered to the nearest Finnish mission (embassy or consulate). 
  • at a Finnish mission (embassy or consulate), the card will be delivered to the mission that you visited to prove your identity.

If you apply for a D visa

You can enter Finland without a residence permit card as soon as you have been issued with a residence permit.

Your residence permit card will be delivered to your nearest DB Schenker collection point within 2 weeks after the decision has been made. The nearest collection point is determined on the basis of the address in Finland that you have given in your application. You will be notified of the arrival of the card by email and text message. The notice of arrival will include the consignment number, the address of the DB Schenker collection point, and the last date when the card is still available for collection.

Contents of a residence permit card

The period of validity of the residence permit is printed on the card. 

1. Permit type, or the grounds for issuing the permit:

  • A = continuous residence permit
  • B = temporary residence permit
  • P = permanent residence permit
  • P-EU or P-EY = a long-term resident’s EU residence permit issued to a third-country national.

2. The date before which the card must be renewed.

The field “HUOMAUTUKSIA/ANMÄRKNINGAR” (remarks) on the front side of the card: 

3. Finnish Immigration Service customer number.

4. Right to work: the section of the Aliens Act printed on the card reveals the extent of the card holder’s right to work. 

  • In a residence permit for an employed person (TTOL), the right to work and its extent is only printed on the back side of the card. In a residence permit for an employed person, the extent of the right to work is always case-specific, and the right to work can be described in enough detail on the back side of the card.

The field “HUOMAUTUKSIA/ANMÄRKNINGAR” (remarks) on the back side of the card:

5. Any relevant information concerning the permit can be entered in this field, such as additional details on the right to work. In a residence permit for an employed person (TTOL), the details on the right to work that is included in the permit are described in this field. These can be, for example, details on the employer and on the industries where the permit holder may work.

Contents of a residence permit card

The Finnish Immigration Service started issuing new residence permit cards in the end of September 2020. Your current card is valid until its expiry date. You do not need to replace your current card with a new one. If you have, for example, recently been granted a permanent residence permit, your residence permit card will be valid for the following 5 years. After this, your card can be replaced with a new card. If you want your card to be replaced earlier, you must pay the processing fee for renewal of a residence permit card.

1. The period of validity of the residence permit is printed on the card. If the residence permit is permanent, the card bears the words PYSYVÄ/PERMANENT.

2. Permit type, or the grounds for issuing the permit:

  • A = continuous residence permit
  • B = temporary residence permit
  • P = permanent residence permit
  • P-EU or P-EY = a long-term resident’s EU residence permit issued to a third-country national

3. The section of the Aliens Act printed on the card reveals the extent of the card holder’s right to work. TTOL means a residence permit for an employed person. This is followed by a list of industries where the permit holder may work.

4. Finnish Immigration Service customer number.

5. The date before which the card must be renewed.

The front of a residence permit card

The back of a residence permit card

Residence permit card on the basis of temporary protection for people fleeing Ukraine

All residence permit cards issued on the basis of temporary protection will remain valid until 4 March 2024, even if the date on the card has expired.

The legal provision on which the holder's right to work is based is printed on the residence permit card. Residence permit cards issued to beneficiaries of temporary protection can be distinguished from other cards by looking at the legal provision regarding the right to work. Residence permit card holders who have been granted temporary protection have either ‘UlkL 78 § 3 mom. 3 k.’ or ‘UlkL 81 a § 1 mom. 3 k.’ printed on their card. These provisions only apply to holders of a residence permit issued on the basis of temporary protection.

Brexit residence permit card

1. Permit type, or the grounds for issuing the permit:

  • SEU-sopimuksen 50 artikla = Right of residence under the withdrawal agreement
  • P SEU-sopimuksen 50 artikla = Right of permanent residence under the withdrawal agreement

2.The date before which the card must be renewed.

3. Finnish Immigration Service customer number.

The field “HUOMAUTUKSIA/ANMÄRKNINGAR” (remarks) on the back side of the card:

4. Any relevant information concerning the permit can be entered in this field, such as the extent of the card holder’s right to work and if the card holder is a frontier worker.

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