Amendments to the provisions of the Aliens Act on residence permits issued on the basis of family reunification took effect on June 16, 2025. These changes concern the minimum age of spouses, the financial resources of a minor’s family member, the definition of when a child is considered a minor, and the period of residence required for family reunification.
The amendments to the Aliens Act apply to applications submitted on or after June 16, 2025. The new requirements laid down in the amended Act will do apply to applications that were submitted before the Act entered into force. Further, the new requirements do not apply to applications for extended permits submitted after the Act enters into force in which the applicant applies for a permit based on the same family ties on the basis of which the previous permit was granted.
The new conditions are based on the EU Family Reunification Directive, which defines the minimum conditions for the exercise of the right to family reunification by third-country nationals residing lawfully in the territory of the Member States. Finland has now introduced more extensively the optional additional conditions permitted by the directive.
Note that there is a processing backlog of more than 15,000 applications on the basis of family ties, and the processing times for applications on the basis of family ties has been extended.
New minimum age limit for family reunification
A spouse can now get a residence permit only if the applicant and their spouse are at least 21 years old.
The minimum age requirement must be met when the residence permit becomes valid. This requirement does not apply to a sponsor who is a Finnish citizen. However, the spouse of a Finnish citizen must be aged 21 or over. This means, for example, that a permit may be granted to the 21-year-old spouse of a 20-year-old Finnish citizen.
In addition, if the spouses have children in their joint custody, a residence permit application as the child’s parent or guardian can be submitted even though the parent is under 21 years of age.
New period of residence requirement when the sponsor is a beneficiary of international protection
With certain exceptions, sponsors who have been granted international protection and whose family members apply for a residence permit must have been living in Finland with a residence permit for at least two years when the family member’s application is submitted.
This requirement applies to applications submitted by so-called new family members of a person who has been granted refugee status, family members of a person who has been granted subsidiary protection, and other relatives of a person who has been granted refugee status or subsidiary protection.
If the sponsor has come to Finland as an asylum seeker and has been granted protection status, the calculation of the residence period begins from the date on which the first residence permit was issued to the sponsor. If the sponsor is a quota refugee or has been granted protection status in connection with a decision on a permit on the basis of family ties, the two-year residence period starts from the date on which the sponsor arrives in Finland after their permit has been issued.
The period of residence requirement does not apply to established family members of a person who has been granted refugee status or the family members or other relatives of a person receiving temporary protection.
An established (or ‘old’) family member of a sponsor who has been granted asylum means a family member with whom the sponsor had started living with as a family before the sponsor’s arrival in Finland. An old family member of a quota refugee means a family member with whom the sponsor had started living with as a family before the sponsor was admitted into Finland’s refugee quota.
If the sponsor has been granted refugee status in connection with a decision on a permit on the basis of family ties, persons with whom the sponsor had started living with as a family before refugee status was granted will be regarded as old family members.
Changes to the financial resource requirement for family members of a minor who has been granted international protection
From now on, the requirement for sufficient financial resources will not apply to a family member if the sponsor is an unaccompanied minor who is living in Finland as a refugee. If a minor sponsor has received temporary or subsidiary protection, their family members must have sufficient financial resources. This requirement for financial resources also applies to other relatives of a minor who has been granted international protection, with certain exceptions.
As a rule, the requirement for sufficient financial resources applies when a minor refugee lives in Finland with one of their parents or guardians. The requirement for sufficient financial resources does not apply to old family members if the residence permit application based on family ties was submitted within three months of the date on which the sponsor was informed of the decision to grant them refugee status.
Derogating from the requirement for sufficient financial resources continues to be possible in individual cases if there are exceptionally serious grounds or if the derogation is in the best interest of the child.
Changes to the definition of when a sponsor who has been granted international protection is considered a minor in applications based on family ties
The provision on defining when a child is considered a minor is now aligned with the ruling of the Court of Justice of the European Union. If the sponsor is an unaccompanied minor who has been granted subsidiary protection, granting a residence permit for a family member requires that the sponsor was a minor on the day when the family member’s residence permit application was submitted. The same requirement also applies to situations where the sponsor is a parent or guardian who has been granted this protection and the applicant is their child.
Following the legislative amendment, only unaccompanied minors who have been granted asylum and the children of a parent or guardian who has been granted asylum will have special status when defining if they should be considered minors. If a sponsor who has been granted asylum arrived in Finland as an unaccompanied minor, a residence permit may only be granted to their family member if the sponsor was a minor on the day when the sponsor submitted the asylum application on the basis of which the sponsor was granted asylum. Granting a residence permit to the child of a person who has been granted asylum requires that the child was a minor on the day when the sponsor submitted the application on the basis of which asylum was granted.
In both cases, the application for a residence permit on the basis of family ties must also in the future be submitted within three months of the day when the sponsor was informed of the decision to grant them asylum.
Erickson Insights & Analysis
Erickson Immigration Group will continue to monitor developments and share updates as more news is available. Please contact your employer or EIG attorney if you have questions about anything we’re reporting above or case-specific questions.