Finland Increases Fees for Residence Permits in 2025 Finland has announced an increase in processing fees for various residence permits, starting January 1, 2025. The new prices apply to both online and paper applications, with electronic submissions remaining cheaper due to lower processing costs. The fee for an online application for a permanent residence permit has gone up from €220 to €240, while the paper application fee has increased from €270 to €350. If you submit your application before December 31, 2024, you will still pay the old fees. Finland has also put a pause on decision-making for certain residence permits from January 1 to January 8, 2025. This applies to permits for employed persons and seasonal work permits that last more than six months. Both first-time applications and extensions will be affected during this period. A new fee has been introduced for the renewal of residence permit cards for temporary protection beneficiaries. The fee will be €20 for online applications and €40 for paper applications. However, applying for international protection remains free of charge. The first residence permit card is also free and valid for the entire duration of temporary protection. Additionally, Finland has introduced a €100 fee for extending the deadline for voluntary return. This was previously free, but very few applications were submitted each year. The number of requests is expected to increase with this new change. For the first time since 2011, Finland is also raising the fee for reception services for immigrants with regular income or significant assets. The maximum daily fee will increase from €9 to €12. The cost of running reception centres has increased significantly, rising from €9.60 per day in 2010 to €20.17 per day in 2023. The government aims to gradually increase the fee to match actual costs and improve efficiency in the reception system. Despite these changes, the Finnish Immigration Service ensures that charging fees will not put anyone at financial risk. Each case will be assessed individually, based on income and assets. Finally, Finland has also raised the minimum income requirement for an employed person’s residence permit to €1,600 per month, effective January 1, 2025. These new rules will be in place until December 31, 2025.
