Changes to the fees of the Finnish Immigration Service and reception centres in 2025

The Ministry of the Interior has issued a new decree on the Finnish Immigration Service’s application processing fees. In addition, the decree on the fees charged for reception services will be amended.

The processing fees for several types of residence permit applications will be increased to correspond to the actual costs of processing. As a rule, the processing fees for electronic applications are lower than those of paper applications. The reason is that processing electronic applications is less costly for the Finnish Immigration Service. Applying for international protection is free of charge.

A fee will be introduced for the renewal of residence permit cards for beneficiaries of temporary protection. The processing fee will be EUR 20 for electronic applications and EUR 40 for paper applications. The first residence permit card will continue to be free of charge and valid for the entire duration of temporary protection, even if the date of expiration shown on the card is no longer valid. Renewing the card is not essential, as the public authorities can check the validity information from their information system. Nearly 70,000 new residence permit cards for beneficiaries of temporary protection have been applied for in 2023 and 2024. This has created a significant strain on the resources of the Finnish Immigration Service.

Going forward, it will be possible to apply for an extension to the deadline for voluntary return for a fee of EUR 100. No such fee has been charged in the past. It is estimated that less than 10 such applications have been submitted per year, but the number of applications is expected to grow. 

The decree will enter into force on 1 January 2025 and remain in force until 31 December 2025.

Fee for reception services to be increased for the first time since 2011

A reasonable fee may be charged for reception services from reception centre customers who have regular income or significant assets. The fee charged for reception services will now be increased from a maximum of EUR 9 to a maximum of EUR 12 per day. 

The fee has not been increased since 2011 in spite of significant growth in the costs of reception activities: the average daily price of reception centres has increased from EUR 9.60 in 2010 to EUR 20.17 in 2023. The aim is to gradually increase the fee to correspond to the actual costs of reception activities. This is aimed at achieving savings in order to improve the efficiency of reception activities in accordance with the Government Programme.

Increasing the fee may lead to more employed persons moving to private accommodation and promote the removal from the reception system of beneficiaries of temporary protection who have the opportunity to apply for a municipality of residence. This would reduce the overall costs of the reception system.

Charging the fee may not jeopardise a person's indispensable subsistence or the statutory maintenance obligation. Reception centres assess the situation on a person-specific or family-specific basis. The decisions are based on income and asset statements requested from the customers.

The decree will enter into force on 1 January 2025. The Ministry of the Interior has a project under way to reform the Reception Act. Among other things, the project will assess making the fee income-related and streamlining the process of collecting the fee. The decree on the fee will also be amended again in connection with the reform of the Act.

Inquiries:

Katja Kaukonen, Chief Specialist, tel. +358 295 488 675, [email protected] (application processing fees)
Tiina Järvinen, Senior Specialist, tel. +358 295 488 625, [email protected] (fees charged for reception services)