Search

17.12.2025 | Finland, together with Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Cyprus, the Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Germany, Greece, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Malta, the Netherlands, Poland and Sweden, has published a letter to the European Commission calling for new and innovative solutions to counter and prevent irregular migration to Europe.

20.11.2025 | On 16 July, the European Commission presented a proposal for a new Multiannual Financial Framework for 2028–2034. The proposal would significantly increase EU funding for home affairs. The Government informed Parliament of the proposal by submitting a Union communication on 20 November.

22.1.2026 | EU home affairs ministers will gather in Nicosia, Cyprus, on 22 January for an informal meeting of the Justice and Home Affairs Council. The home affairs ministers will discuss returns, reintegration and safeguarding the Schengen area. Finland will be represented at the meeting by Minister of the Interior Mari Rantanen. 

15.5.2025 | In March, the European Commission submitted a proposal for a new return regulation that aims to improve the effectiveness of the return of persons staying illegally in the EU and to prevent unauthorised movements within the Schengen area. The regulation would replace the current Return Directive. The Government informed Parliament of the Commission's proposal by submitting a Union communication on 15 May.

8.12.2025 | The EU home affairs ministers will gather in Brussels on 8 December for a meeting of the Justice and Home Affairs Council. The agenda includes returns of people staying illegally in the EU and implementation of the EU Pact on Migration and Asylum. Finland will be represented at the meeting by Minister of the Interior Mari Rantanen.

27.10.2025 | Minister of the Interior Mari Rantanen will meet Austria's Federal Minister for the Interior Gerhard Karner on 27 October. The ministers will travel together to Vaalimaa, Finland's eastern border, where they will receive a briefing on the situation at the eastern border, on the progress of the construction of the border fence, and on border arrangements.

24.6.2025 | Minister of the Interior Mari Rantanen met with Somalia's Minister of Internal Security Abdullahi Sheikh Ismail in Helsinki on 23 June. The meeting was a continuation of Minister Rantanen’s visit to Mogadishu earlier this year. Its purpose was to further strengthen relations between Finland and Somalia in the field of internal security and to agree on the next steps in cooperation on return issues.

18.4.2024 | The Government proposes legislative amendments to prevent the evasion of provisions on entry more effectively than at present. The amendments would prohibit asylum applicants from switching to a work-based or education-based application procedure in order to apply for a residence permit. The amendments would also tighten the identity verification procedure. The Government submitted the proposal to Parliament on 18 April. The proposed acts would enter into force on 1 July 2024.

13.6.2025 | The home affairs ministers from all the EU Member States are meeting for the Justice and Home Affairs Council of 13 June in Luxembourg. The agenda includes the continuation of temporary protection for refugees from Ukraine, the EU Internal Security Strategy as well as the return of persons staying illegally in the EU. Finland will be represented at the meeting by Minister of the Interior Mari Rantanen.

30.6.2023 | On 30 June, on the second day of the meeting, the European Council continued the discussion on migration, which it had started on the previous day.

30.1.2025 | EU home affairs ministers will gather in Warsaw in Poland on 30 January for an informal meeting of the Justice and Home Affairs Council. They will discuss current challenges and threats to EU internal security as well as migration management, among other topics. State Secretary Antti Salminen will represent Finland at the meeting in place of Minister of the Interior Mari Rantanen, who is unable to attend for reasons of illness.

21.5.2024 | Unofficial translation Government proposal to Parliament for an Act on Temporary Measures to Combat Instrumentalised Migration MAIN CONTENTS OF PROPOSAL The Government proposes that an act on temporary measures to combat instrumentalised migration...

4.7.2024 | New legislative amendments will prevent the evasion of provisions on entry more effectively than before. In its session on 4 July, the Government proposed that the President of the Republic approve the amendments to the Aliens Act and the Researchers and Students Act. The President of the Republic is scheduled to approve the amendments on 5 July, and they will enter into force on 1 September 2024.

21.8.2023 | Prime Minister Petteri Orpo’s speech at the Annual Meeting of Finnish Heads of Mission 2023 in Helsinki. Check against delivery.

9.6.2022 | EU home affairs ministers will gather in Luxembourg on 10 June for a meeting of the Justice and Home Affairs Council. The topics on the agenda will include the reception of people fleeing Ukraine, the EU’s migration and asylum reform, and the development of Schengen. In addition, the meeting will aim to reach a general approach on the proposal of the European Commission for a Directive on informat...

3.10.2024 | The Government proposes that the provisions of the Aliens Act on detention be tightened and the provisions on entry bans be reformed. In addition, the Act would provide for the possibility of withdrawing a residence permit from an alien staying outside Finland and imposing an entry ban for security reasons. The Government submitted a proposal on the amendments to Parliament on 3 October.

16.6.2022 | Cooperation and exchange of information between the authorities are keys to preventing the exploitation of foreign workers. A working group proposes national coordination measures and the establishment of regional multi-authority working groups to enhance cooperation between the authorities. 

23.2.2021 | The research project ordered by the Government surveys what types of complementary pathways for legal migration are available in different countries for use by people residing abroad who are in need of international protection. The focus is on work- and study-based pathways. This international comparison can help to support the consideration of the need of complimentary pathways in Finland as well as the international community’s efforts to find new solutions.

24.5.2021 | On 24 May, the Ministry of the Interior set up a project to carry out a study on a legislative amendment that would enable the granting of a temporary residence permit and an alien’s passport for a limited period to asylum seekers who have received a negative decision but who have found work. The purpose of the amendment would be to allow a person to travel to obtain a travel document from the authorities of their own country.

3.12.2020 | On Friday 4 December, Minister of the Interior Maria Ohisalo will chair the ministerial meeting of the Nordic cooperation group on migration and asylum (NSHF). The meeting will be held via remote connections.