Organization : Finnish Immigration Service
Type of Facility : Residence Permit Card
Country: Finland
Website : https://migri.fi/etusivu
Residence Permit Card :
Finland introduced biometric residence permit cards at the beginning of 2012. Biometric identifiers stored on the residence permit card chip include a facial image and two fingerprints.
Related : MIGRI Finnish Immigration Service Refugee Travel Document : www.statusin.org/8266.html
Residence permit:
** The period for which temporary residence is valid stated on the permit card. A permanent residence permit is labelled PYSYVÄ/PERMANENT.
** Residence permit types or grounds for permit
** A = continuous residence permit
** B = temporary residence permit
** P = permanent residence permit
** P-EU or P-EY = EU residence permit for third-country nationals with long-term EU desident status.
** The paragraph of Aliens Act explains what the right to work comprises. TTOL means residence permits for employed persons. The professional fields in which the holder of the card may work are listed.
** Finnish Immigration Service´s customer number.
** The card must be renewed before this date.
The residence permit card is not an official identity card.
Frequently Asked Questions:
1. Where can I give my fingerprints?:
Your fingerprints will be taken when you submit your residence permit application. Abroad this takes place at a Finnish embassy, and in Finland at your local police service point.
2. Who needs to give fingerprints?:
All persons over the age of 6 submitting an application for a residence permit must give their fingerprints while submitting the application. For instance long distances or economic reasons are not sufficient grounds for failing to give one’s fingerprints.
3. I have lost my residence permit card or my residence permit card has been stolen. What should I do?:
You must report the loss of your card if you lose it in Finland. If your card is stolen, you must report the theft to the police. To obtain a new card you must submit an application for a new residence permit card to your local police. You will need to give your fingerprints again.
If you lose your card while abroad, report the loss of your card, and if your card is stolen, report the theft to the authorities of the country you are visiting. You should contact the Finnish embassy, who is responsible for issuing any visa that may be required. You must then submit an application for a new card at a police service point in Finland.
Fill in the form OLE_KORTTI. Submit the application at a police service point in Finland.
4. The information on my residence permit card is incorrect. What should I do?:
Contact the authorities responsible for issuing the permit, i.e. either the Finnish Immigration Service or the police. If you are applying for a new card, for example because of changes to your personal information, you must give your fingerprints again at a police service point. If the mistake was made by the authorities, you will not need to give your fingerprints again.
5. I have a permanent residence permit sticker in my passport. My passport is about to expire. What should I do?:
You must apply for a new passport from the same authorities who issued your previous passport. Usually this means your own country’s embassy in Finland. If you have an alien’s passport or a refugee travel document issued by Finland, you must submit a re-application at a police service point.
The residence permit sticker will not be transferred to your new passport, instead you must apply for a residence permit card from the police. The residence permit card is proof of your right to reside in Finland.
Fill in the form OLE_KORTTI. Submit the application at a police service point in Finland.
6. I am going abroad on holiday. I have a residence permit sticker in my passport. Is it still valid now that Finland has adopted residence permit cards?:
You can travel abroad if you have a valid residence permit sticker in your passport. You can travel while your residence permit is valid but you must apply for a residence permit card before your residence permit or passport expires. An extension to the residence permit cannot be applied for while abroad; an application can only be submitted at a police service point in Finland. This is the reason why your residence permit must also be valid when you return to Finland.
7. If the decision on my residence permit or asylum application is positive, where and when can I pick up my residence permit card?:
A favourable decision on a residence permit or asylum application cannot be delivered immediately after it is made, because the manufacturing and posting of a residence permit card takes approximately two weeks. For the time being we must send residence permit cards for Russia, Kazakhstan, China and Israel by the courier service of the Ministry for Foreign Affairs. Card deliveries to the Finnish embassies in these countries will take longer, but generally no more than three weeks from the date of the positive decision.
The cards are manufactured by a private company, and the Finnish Immigration Service has no influence over how soon the cards can be delivered. Please note that phone calls to the Finnish Immigration Service do not speed up the manufacturing of your card:
You will get your residence permit card at the same time as you receive the positive decision:
** When the Finnish Immigration Service has made a decision on your application, you will receive the decision by post or from the police or an embassy. If you submitted your application in Finland, you will receive the decision from the police or by post as a registered letter. If you submitted your application to a Finnish embassy abroad, you will receive the decision from that embassy.
** You will need to verify your identity at the post office. A list of identity documents accepted by Posti can be found on Posti’s website.
** If you do not have an identity document accepted by Posti, you can give a written authorisation to a person who has an accepted identity document.
** More information on written authorisations can be found on Posti’s website, where you can also fill in an authorisation (in Finnish and in Swedish).
** Decisions on asylum applications will always be received from the police, regardless of the contents of the decision. It makes no difference whether you submitted the application to the police or to the border control authorities.
** If the police make the decision on your application (as is the case with extension applications, for example), you will receive the decision from the police.