Service point of the Finnish Immigration Service (Helsinki)

We advise you to submit your application for a permit well in advance, but not earlier than three months before your current permit expires. The easiest way to submit your application is to apply using our online service Enter Finland. After you have submitted your application online, you have three months to visit one of our service points to prove your identity. However, if you use a paper form, make sure that you have all the necessary attachments before booking an appointment for submitting your application at one of our service points.

If you have submitted your application in the online service Enter Finland and are visiting the service point to prove your identity, you should bring with you • your passport, • the originals of all attachments to your application and • a passport photo • your passport documents proving that you are residing in the country legally (your visa or residence permit, for example) If you are bringing documents with you that you have not attached to your application, you should first complete your application in Enter Finland. If you are applying with a paper form, you need to bring with you • the filled-in application, • your passport and a copy of the passport page containing personal data and of all passport pages with notes, • originals and paper copies of all attachments to the application and • your passport photo Bring these with you also if you are applying for a residence permit card.

Exceeding the time limit for the reason that the authorities have no available appointments will not affect the processing of your application. If the authorities have given you an appointment for proving your identity, you do not need to ask for extra time. Inform us of the appointment you have been given within 3 months from submitting the application on the page ‘Send additional information’ in the online service Enter Finland.

Check the appointment system again later for available appointment times. New appointment times become available every week. If your permit does not expire during the next two months, please be patient and wait for new appointments to become available. Most of the applications can also be submitted online in the e-service Enter Finland. Your application will become pending from the moment you send in the application via Enter Finland. After that, you need to visit a service point to prove your identity. If you cannot book an appointment, your permit is about to expire and you are not able to submit an application online, you can visit a service point and queue with a queue number. However, be prepared for the fact that you will most likely have to queue for a very long time and still not get to handle your matter during the same day. You can find instructions for sending additional documents to us on our website.

New appointments become available all the time.

If you submit your residence permit application too late, your right of residence will be interrupted. Your right to work will also be interrupted. The police may fine you for residing in Finland without a residence permit. Being unable to book an appointment is not considered a justifiable excuse. If you are unable to book an appointment using our appointment system, you can visit a service point without booking an appointment beforehand. Please be prepared to wait. Waiting numbers will no longer be handed out when all the available appointments for the day have run out for the desks that serve customers with waiting numbers. Apply for a permit well in advance. The easiest way to apply is to submit your application in the online service Enter Finland, as this means that you can submit your application at a time that suits you best. You need to visit a service point to prove your identity within three months after you have submitted your application online. Using the online service requires basic computer skills.

You cannot change your service point in the online service, but you can submit a free-form addition to your matter. If you wish to visit a different mission (embassy or consulate) than the mission where you have submitted your application, please contact the mission in question. If you are in Finland and have selected one of the service points of the Finnish Immigration Service, you can also choose to visit another service point of the Finnish Immigration Service. Please remember to tell the employee at the Finnish Immigration Service which service point you originally selected.

If you submit your application in Enter Finland, you can pay the processing fee with the most common credit cards or with your online banking credentials. At our service points, you can pay with cash, the most common debit cards or Visa, Visa Electron or MasterCard. You can find more information on the payment methods available on our website, migri.fi.