As a result of the UK’s withdrawal from the EU, UK citizens living in Finland will have to apply to exchange their previous registration based on the right of residence in the EU for the right of residence under the withdrawal agreement. But the application will not be free: the Interior Ministry said on Tuesday that the Finnish Immigration Service (Migri) will charge 48 euros to process it.
The Finnish Government explained that, according to the withdrawal agreement, a residence permit card must be issued to a UK citizen either free of charge or for a charge not exceeding that imposed on Finnish citizens for the issuing of similar documents. For example, an identity card can be considered a similar document. This year the processing fee for an identity card application is 48 euros.
Applications for the right of residence under the withdrawal agreement can be submitted to the Finnish Immigration Service from 1 October 2020 to 30 September 2021.
Those UK citizens who have a certificate demonstrating their permanent EU right of residence may exchange it for a permanent right of residence under the withdrawal agreement free of charge.
The processing fees for all applications submitted to the Finnish Immigration Service are determined annually by Decree of the Ministry of the Interior on Chargeable Services of the Finnish Immigration Service. The decree on chargeable services adopted for this year will now be amended with regard to the residence rights of UK citizens.
The amended decree will enter into force on 1 October 2020 and it will remain in force until 31 December 2020.
UK citizens moving to Finland after the transition period has ended (after 2020) must apply for a residence permit, similarly to other citizens arriving from non-EU countries.
The Ministry of the Interior will issue a new decree on chargeable services for 2021.
