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Waiting for the decision

After your asylum interview, your application will be transferred to the processing queue and from there to one of our decision-makers.

You can see the expected processing time of your application in the Processing Time Checker.

Under law, decisions on asylum applications must be made within 6 months of the lodging of the application, unless there is a special reason why the processing takes longer. The processing time is calculated from when you notify the police or the border authorities in Finland that you want to apply for asylum.

You do not need to contact the Finnish Immigration Service if the expected processing time of 6 months has been exceeded. We will send you a notification stating:

  • that there is a delay in the processing of the application
  • the reasons for the delay 
  • a new estimate of when you will receive a decision. 

For more information on processing times, see the page Processing times. Answers to frequently asked questions about processing times can be found on the page Frequently asked questions: Processing times of asylum applications.

As the processing time depends on the personal situation of each applicant, someone who arrived in Finland at the same time as you may receive a decision before you do. This is normal. Please simply wait for your decision. The Finnish Immigration Service will contact you if something is missing from your application.

You may live in a reception centre or private accommodation while your application is being processed.

Read more in the section Daily life in a reception centre.

Watch a video about waiting for the decision on the YouTube channel of the Finnish Immigration Service. The videos are available in nine languages: Arabic, Dari, English, Persian, Somali, Sorani, Finnish, Turkish and Russian.

Enquiries about asylum applications 

Matters concerning an asylum seeker must be kept secret by law. We can only give information about them to you or your legal representative. The purpose of secrecy is to protect your privacy and safety. We cannot verify the identity of a person who has contacted us by email or over the phone. For this reason, we cannot reply to enquiries about asylum applications by email or by phone or disclose whether a person is a client at the Finnish Immigration Service. 

If necessary, you can send us an enquiry about the processing of your application by email: migri@migri.fi. Send your enquiry as an encrypted email message using the service securemail.migri.fi. In this case, we will reply to you personally by sending a letter to the address that you have given the Finnish Immigration Service.

It is not the duty of the reception centre personnel to make enquiries about the status of your application on your behalf. However, the personnel can give you advice on how to make an enquiry or how to get a counsel.

If you have a legal counsel

You can also ask your counsel to help you make the enquiry. Your counsel can use our online service Enter Finland for Counsels and Representatives to

  • follow the status of your application
  • send additional information regarding the application
  • request documents concerning your matter directly to his or her Enter Finland account
  • receive requests for additional information from the Finnish Immigration Service and respond to them directly from the online service.

Stay in Finland during the processing of your application

You can not leave Finland while your application is being processed. Your application will expire, meaning that it will no longer be processed if:

  • you can not be contacted for at least two months
  • the authorities find out that you have left Finland.

Being a client at the Finnish Immigration Service