Extended residence permit in Finland

What Migri actually decides

An extension is a fresh assessment of the ground for residence, not a rubber stamp on the last decision. Migri decides these questions.

• Does the ground for residence still exist? Employment still running, family life still shared, studies still progressing, business still trading.
• Was the application filed in Finland and in time? Migri states that an extended permit is applied for in Finland; an application filed abroad is processed as a first permit application, with the first-permit fee.
• Do the route's own conditions still hold: the salary floor for work, the income threshold for family ties, the funds and study progress for a student permit, the means of support for an entrepreneur.
• Have the circumstances changed in a way that changes the category — a new employer, a different occupational field, a separation, an end of studies, a move into self-employment?
• Were the terms reported for the previous permit actually honoured? Migri can look back at whether the salary and hours that were promised were paid and worked.
• Does the passport cover the period applied for?

The figures and dates that decide it

• Earliest filing: Migri asks applicants not to apply more than 3 months before the current permit expires, because it may not be able to assess whether the requirements are still met that far ahead.
• Latest filing: before the current permit expires. An online application counts as filed in time when it is submitted on the last day of validity of the previous permit, even if the identity appointment falls later.
• Migri processing fee for an extended permit: EUR 230 online and EUR 430 on paper. If you file abroad by mistake, the fee charged is the first-permit fee for that category, which is higher.
• Migri processing fee for a permanent residence permit, if that is the better application: EUR 380 online and EUR 600 on paper.
• Statutory maximum processing times, by ground: 2 months for work-based permits, 3 months for studies, 9 months for most family-ties applications, 2 months for a family member of an EU Blue Card holder and 3 months for a family member of a student or researcher.
• Fast Track does not apply. Migri's 14-day service is for first permits only, and not for an applicant already in Finland.

The evidence, and what is most often missing or wrong

• The application filed as a repeat of the last one, when the ground has quietly changed — a new employer, a new field, a marriage that has ended, studies that stopped.
• Payslips that do not match the terms of employment reported for the previous permit, which raises the question Migri is entitled to ask.
• An income calculation for a family-ties extension that uses last year's household, not this year's.
• A student extension with no evidence of study progress, only proof of enrolment.
• An entrepreneur extension with a business that has stopped trading, or where means of support now come from somewhere other than the business.
• An expired residence permit card presented as valid status while the extension is pending; the card and the right to stay are two different things.
• Travel booked for the period after the old card expires, without checking the re-entry position first.

The order of steps, and where each one happens

• 1. Identify the correct ground for the extension, and whether a different application — including a permanent permit — is now the stronger one.
• 2. File in Enter Finland, in Finland, before the current permit expires. Filing is what protects the position; the decision date does not.
• 3. Pay the fee in Enter Finland. Processing does not start on payment.
• 4. Prove your identity at a Migri service point. The appointment can fall after the old permit has expired and the application still counts as filed in time.
• 5. Where the extension is work-based, the employer completes the terms of employment in Enter Finland; the processing time starts from that submission.
• 6. Migri processes the application and may send a request for further information with a binding deadline.
• 7. Decision, and a new residence permit card. Only then do DVV, Vero and bank records need updating where the permit type or validity has changed.
• While the application is pending, Migri issues a certificate of a pending application. An employer who asks how you are lawfully working can be shown that certificate together with your residence permit card; it is the document that answers the question, and it is worth having before the question is asked.

How long it takes

There is no single extension processing time, because the statutory maximum follows the ground for residence: 2 months for work-based permits, 3 months for studies, 9 months for most family-ties applications. Migri publishes its own current estimates per category and states that where processing has not begun within the shorter published estimate, the longer estimate applies to that case.

The processing time is counted from the point identity has been proved, and for employer-dependent permits from the moment the employer submits the terms of employment. ENB does not promise a decision date.

• Makes a case slower: a changed ground that is only explained after the file is submitted, missing evidence of the continuing basis, a late employer submission or an unanswered request for further information.
• Makes a case slower and is often overlooked: filing very early, which can mean Migri cannot yet assess whether the conditions will still be met.
• If the statutory maximum for your category has clearly passed and the file is complete, an administrative complaint to the Parliamentary Ombudsman about the delay is the route that exists. It does not decide your application and it does not speed up a queue, but it is not nothing either.

What goes wrong

• The application is filed after the permit expired. Migri states that a late application may be refused and that there must be a valid reason for the delay, such as a serious illness that prevented filing; the length of any unlawful stay is also taken into account.
• The application is filed from abroad, and is then processed as a first application at the first-permit fee.
• The ground has ended but the application says it has not.
• The income or salary condition is no longer met, because hours were cut, the household grew or the business stopped earning.
• Studies have not progressed, and no explanation is offered.
• The right to work is lost because the filing was late, and the person keeps working anyway.

If the decision is negative

A refusal is appealable. The binding appeal period and the competent Administrative Court are stated in the appeal instructions attached to the decision. The period runs from service of the decision, not from the day you open the envelope or the Enter Finland message; under the Act on Judicial Procedure in Administrative Matters the general period is 30 days from service. Once it has passed it cannot be extended, and the decision becomes final.

The court fee is EUR 310 at an Administrative Court and EUR 610 at the Supreme Administrative Court for 2025-2027, and no fee is charged where the court changes the decision in the appellant's favour. The Supreme Administrative Court requires leave to appeal. Where an appeal succeeds the matter returns to Migri; the court does not grant the permit.

The right to stay and work while an appeal is pending depends on the decision. Where a refusal is accompanied by a removal decision, Migri states that the decision can become enforceable after the appeal period has expired, generally 30 days after service, unless a court orders otherwise. Where enforcement is a risk, an application to the Administrative Court for prohibition of enforcement is a separate step and is time-critical.

A new residence-permit application is not the same as an appeal, and since the 2025 amendments a person who has received a negative permit decision together with a removal decision cannot generally make their stay lawful simply by filing another application in Finland. See Migri Refusal and Appeal Support.

What ENB does, and what ENB does not do

• Does: identifies the correct extension ground and the filing window, and says when a permanent permit is the better application.
• Does: reviews whether changed circumstances require a different application, before anything is filed.
• Does: checks the continuing conditions against the route's own figures, including the salary, income or funds requirement.
• Does: flags the right-to-work and travel risks in writing before filing, so nothing turns on a guess.
• Does: structures the Enter Finland submission, plans the identity appointment and prepares responses to requests for further information.
• Does not: decide anything. ENB is not an authority, has no delegated power from Migri and promises no outcome or decision date.
• Does not: restore a right to work that a late filing has already interrupted.
• Does not: act as your representative before a court where qualified legal representation is required.

What it costs: two separate payments to two separate parties

ENB's fee is paid to ENB. Migri's processing fee is paid to Migri in Enter Finland and is not refunded if the application is refused.

• ENB residence permit extension service: EUR 350 excluding VAT, paid to ENB.
• ENB permanent residence permit service, if that is the stronger application: EUR 500 excluding VAT, paid to ENB.
• ENB appeal review after a Migri decision: EUR 1,000 excluding VAT, paid to ENB.
• Migri extended residence permit: EUR 230 online, EUR 430 on paper - paid to Migri.
• Migri permanent residence permit: EUR 380 online, EUR 600 on paper - paid to Migri.
• Administrative Court fee if the refusal is appealed: EUR 310, paid to the court, with no fee where the court changes the decision in the appellant's favour.
• All ENB fees exclude Finnish VAT, where the standard rate is 25.5%. Authority fees are set by the authority and should be re-checked on its own page before payment.

Travel while an extension is pending

If the previous permit card expires while the extension is being processed, international travel can create re-entry and document problems even though the application was filed in time. The position depends on your nationality, the visa rules that apply to you and the border authority's own assessment on the day. Check it against current Migri and border-authority instructions before booking, not after.