What is international protection about?

Why does someone get to stay in Finland but someone else does not? We have compiled the most common questions about international protection here.

Who can apply for asylum or international protection in Finland?

According to law, anyone can apply for asylum but only within Finland. The right to apply for asylum is based on international agreements which obligate Finland and other EU countries to grant international protection to people who need it.

The idea is that a person can seek protection from another country if he or she is in a situation where he or she cannot get protection from his or her home country.

If an asylum seeker gets a positive decision, that is either asylum or subsidiary protection that means he or she has been granted a residence permit on the basis of international protection.

On what grounds are the decisions on who will be granted international protection made?

The decision making process is directed by the Aliens Act on which all the decisions are based. For example, the personal views of the person processing the application have no bearing when the decision is made.

Why is the asylum process so long?

The premise is always that the applicant has to return to his or her home country if he or she can get protection against violations of rights there. The idea behind international agreements is that each country takes care of its own citizens. If a country is not able to do this, a person can seek protection from another country.

The criteria for international protection are exact. Persons who have encountered persecution can be granted protection. Persecution is a precisely defined concept. The fact that the situation in general is difficult in a person’s home country is not enough for him or her to be granted international protection if the asylum seeker does not encounter personal persecution. This is what has been agreed on internationally.

The process is long because every applicant who has been accepted to the process will be heard at an asylum interview. During 2015, a great deal of asylum seekers came to Finland, and that is why the processing of the applications takes time.

Why are people returned to countries where Finnish citizens are advised not to travel?

The Ministry for Foreign Affairs produces travel information for Finnish citizens where the security situation in different countries is viewed from a Finnish citizen’s perspective.

The offset for the Ministry for Foreign Affairs’ travel information and the Finnish Immigration Service’s country guidelines is very different. The Ministry for Foreign Affairs views the matter from an ordinary Finnish holiday traveller’s perspective, when the Finnish Immigration Service views the matter from a local resident’s perspective. Visiting a country is not the same as returning to your home country where you know the culture, language and customs. If the applicant cannot return exactly to his or her place of residence, it might be possible for him or her to return to another area in his or her home country.

When examining the grounds for asylum, a person’s individual situation is taken into account. It is possible that an asylum seeker comes from a country which is a safe travel destination for tourists and he or she is granted international protection, for example, because of political persecution. On the other hand, an applicant can come from a place where an armed conflict is taking place but he or she is not granted international protection because the view is that he or she can flee to another region of his or her home country. However, the place is not a safe travel destination for tourists.

Why is a person, who speaks Finnish and behaves impeccably, refused entry?

You cannot stay in Finland without an appropriate permit. If an applicant is not granted a permit he or she has to leave to country.

When an applicant’s possibility to be granted international protection is investigated, we look into what kind of persecution he or she may possible encounter in his or her home country. The asylum process is closely guided by law based on which all the decisions are made.

The investigation is conducted to establish the situation in the country where the person has fled from, not the situation in Finland. A person’s individual characteristics or great desire to move to Finland does not affect the asylum decision.

Can an asylum seeker stay in Finland if he or she gets a job?

An asylum seeker can start working without a separate permit during the processing of his or her application three or six months after he or she has applied for asylum.

Applying for international protection is not meant to be a way to come and work in Finland. If the applicant is not granted international protection he or she can stay in Finland to work if he or she is granted a permit for this. The applicant has to apply separately for this permit.

An asylum seeker can at any stage of the process apply for a different residence permit, for example, on the basis of work or studies. The permits are subject to a charge and for the applicant to be granted these permits he or she must meet the requirements defined in the law.