20,427 Ukrainians granted asylum in Finland

A total of 23,781 applications for temporary protection have been submitted in Finland after the Russian invasion of Ukraine and 20,622 decisions have been made by 18 May, said the Finnish Immigration Service (Migri) in a press release on Friday.

Finland grants temporary protection to those who have fled Ukraine as a result of the Russian attack.

Applications are submitted to the police or the Border Guard. The Finnish Immigration Service is responsible for the related decision-making.

“Now, the decision-making process runs very quickly when the application contains all the necessary information for the decision and a photograph for the residence permit card. It could previously take weeks, while now we are talking about days,” said Director of Asylum Unit Antti Lehtinen.

Almost all decisions (20,427) are positive. A small number of applications have expired (195) after the applicant withdrew their application.

The number of applications for temporary protection received daily is lower than in the early stages of the war.

The police and border authorities currently register about 100–300 applications for temporary protection per day.

In mid-March, more than 1,200 applications were submitted per day.

Most of the applications for temporary protection have been submitted by Ukrainian citizens (23,482).

Automation speeds up the processing of applications for temporary protection

The introduction of partial automation has been a key means of speeding up the processing of applications for temporary protection.

The Finnish Immigration Service does not use automation in the processing of asylum applications, as decision-making always requires reviewing each case individually. Temporary protection is granted to a limited group and is not subject to individual consideration of the need for protection, as in the case of an asylum seeker.