Permit processing time reduces by half
The development measures of the employment and economic development services (TE services), the Finnish Immigration Service and the Ministry of Economic Affairs and Employment reduced the processing time of residence permits for employed persons to an average of 41 days in February 2024 from the previous year’s figure of 77 days.
A faster processing time for favourable decisions is particularly significant. In February 2024, the average processing time was 23 days for first permits and 21 days for extended permits.
In February 2024, TE Offices made a favourable partial decision on first and extended permits in 12 days on average. The Finnish Immigration Service then took, on average, 9 days to make a favourable decision.
Not only have the processing times been significantly reduced, but the waiting lists of applications at TE Offices have also become markedly shorter. In early January 2024, the number of applications awaiting processing exceeded 1,100, but their number had dropped to 59 in February.
In recent years, the Finnish Immigration Service has heavily invested in developing partial automation in decision-making. Decision-making has also been significantly accelerated with the introduction of assistive automation in TE services in January 2024.