Effective October 19, 2023, the Finnish Immigration Service (Migri) has started using automated decision-making in the processing of residence permits for study. Negative decisions and decisions that require individual consideration are not issued automatically.
- Migri issues an automated decision if the application meets all the requirements for issuing the permit, including proof of identity in person and payment of the processing fee. The full list of requirements is here.
- Migri is first testing automated decision-making with residence permit applications submitted by degree students at universities and by all exchange students.
- Based on the results, automation will later be expanded to include other customer groups.
Automated processing is intended to standardize the processing of applications and to free up specialists’ time to work on cases which need individual consideration or further clarification. Migri aims at an average processing time of no more than one month for residence permits for employed persons and students.
Erickson Insights and 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.