Residence permit, citizenship application fees to rise

The Finnish Immigration Service (Migri) will increase the fees for residence permit and citizenship applications effective from January.

The Ministry of the Interior has issued its annual decree on fees charged by the Migri, said the ministry in a press release on Tuesday.

The decree will enter into force on 1 January 2021. Some of the prices will be increased to better reflect the costs incurred by Migri in processing applications.

According to the new regime, the processing fee for paper applications for residence permits submitted by employees and entrepreneurs will be EUR 690 or 610, depending on whether the labour market test is applied. The previous fees were EUR 640 and 560 respectively.

The processing fees for residence permit applications submitted online, however, will remain unchanged.

The processing fees for citizenship applications will also increase. The processing fee for a citizenship application submitted in paper form will be EUR 590 (previously 520), while the fee for online citizenship applications will be EUR 460 (previously 420).

The processing fees for first residence permits and first residence permits for students will remain unchanged.

The processing fee for first a residence permit in the coming year will be EUR 520 for applications submitted in paper form and EUR 470 for online applications. The processing fee for a first residence permit for students will be EUR 450 for applications submitted in paper form and EUR 350 for online applications.

The processing fees are determined based on the costs incurred by the Finnish Immigration Service in processing the applications.

The processing fee is still lower than the costs incurred in the case of first residence permit applications (excluding employee and entrepreneur permits) and in the case of residence permit applications for minors and students.

Applying for international protection is free of charge.

Earlier, on December 18, the Ministry of the Interior issued a decree on fees charged by the police, which will increase the fees for passport and identity card.