Student: check the processing queue for students’ residence permit applications

We are prioritising the applications of students who have applied for their first residence permit in order to ensure that they are able to begin their studies in good time. Regrettably, the waiting times for customers who have applied for an extended permit are longer than usual.

If you have applied for your first residence permit for students,

you will receive a decision in good time before the start date of your studies. We will begin the processing of your application within a few weeks of the date on which you visited a service point or Finnish mission to prove your identity. 

If you have applied for an extended permit,

it takes more than two months from the date on which you visited a service point to prove your identity or used strong electronic identification in the Enter Finland service for the processing of your application to begin. We are currently experiencing a backlog of applications for extended residence permits for students. We apologise for the delay in the processing of applications.

When you submit your application for an extended permit for students before your previous residence permit expires,

• your residence in Finland is legal
• your right to work continues (if applicable) even if your previous permit expires before you receive a decision on the extended permit.

Checking the status of your application online

• Once you have submitted a permit application online, you can check its status in the Enter Finland service.
• You can also visit Migri.fi and ask our chatbot Kamu. Read more about asking Kamu for an update on the status of your application.
• We publish a weekly update on the processing queue of applications for a residence permit for studies. For all of the customer bulletins published by the Finnish Immigration Service, visit migri.fi/customer-bulletins.