Finland will accelerate deportations of foreign criminals in 2019

There is very little time left for the beginning of 2019. A year that will bring several important changes in immigration matters. Specifically, next year will come into force a series of legal reforms that affect the timing for carrying out certain deportations, the fees payable to access to residence permits and the incentives for voluntary return services.

These changes are detailed in a press release recently published by the Finnish Ministry of the Interior. The most striking of them all announces a faster execution of the deportation decisions in cases where the person has committed an aggravated offence.

According to the release, from next year on “certain deportation decisions related to public order and security can be enforced 30 days from the service of the decision unless the administrative court has prohibited their enforcement”. The deportation procedure is used for removal from the country in cases when the individual has or has had a residence permit in Finland or when an EU citizen is registered in Finland”.

The Interior Ministry explains that this amendment is based on prime minister Sipilä's Government programme, “which states that procedures will be reviewed to speed up removal from the country for those who have committed aggravated offences, recidivists and those who pose a danger to public security”.

The Finnish Government highlights that the change does not apply to refusal of entry of asylum seekers.

Residence permit application fees

Changes will be made also to the fees charged by the Finnish Immigration Service in 2019. In general, the fee for electronic applications for employees’ and entrepreneurs’ residence permits will decrease, while the fee for applications in paper format will increase.

The Ministry of the Interior maintains that these changes are intended to promote the use of electronic services.

Concretely, the prices of residence permit applications for employees and entrepreneurs will decrease by 50 euros to 400 euros when the process is carried out electronically. In contrast, the fee for paper applications will increase by 80 euros, to 600 euros.

More expensive also for Finnish citizenship

The Finnish Government also announces that “moderate changes will also be made to the application fees for permanent residence permits, residence permits for start-up entrepreneurs and permit extensions for adults. The processing fees for applications for Finnish citizenship are expected to change by 30–80 euros”.

The reason given for these increases is “to bring the fees better in line with the costs of processing the applications”.

In addition to these changes, the assistance paid for voluntary return will increase also starting from the beginning of next year.

You can access the press release of the Ministry of Interior that explains the changes in deportation process HERE

To read the official release that explains the changes in the residence permit fees, just click HERE