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The long road to becoming a Finn
Длинная дорога к финскому гражданству.
THE OFFICE of the Immigration Police in Malmi is a fairly depressing place. It’s an office where you walk in, take a number, and sit down to spend the rest of your day. Whereas the British Embassy will only process passport applications by appointment, the Immigration Police will not make appointments at all, meaning that applicants have little choice but to take a day off work to holiday in sunny Malmi.
IT’S expensive. Filing an application costs €400, regardless of whether or not the application is successful. Assuming the applicant then wants a passport, they can look forward to shelling out another €200 more for the passport itself.
AND it is slow. An application takes anywhere between 12 and 30 months to process, with suggestions that these times will lengthen as the numbers applying increase.
ALL of which may seem harmless enough, were the government not also trying to encourage new immigrants to move here. It does seem that Finland both needs and wants more tax paying citizens, and the growing lines at the Immigration Police station also suggests that there are people who wish to settle here permanently. But what message does it send to potential new citizens that they may have to pay €600 and wait more than two years before they can get a Finnish passport? ( Read more... )
Before being able to pay €600 and wait more than two years for citizenship, one must get a permanent resident status (P permit), which in turn requires at least 4 years of living on a continuous permit (A permit). And before obtaining a continuous permit you may have to live several years on a temporary permit (B permit)...
THE OFFICE of the Immigration Police in Malmi is a fairly depressing place. It’s an office where you walk in, take a number, and sit down to spend the rest of your day. Whereas the British Embassy will only process passport applications by appointment, the Immigration Police will not make appointments at all, meaning that applicants have little choice but to take a day off work to holiday in sunny Malmi.
IT’S expensive. Filing an application costs €400, regardless of whether or not the application is successful. Assuming the applicant then wants a passport, they can look forward to shelling out another €200 more for the passport itself.
AND it is slow. An application takes anywhere between 12 and 30 months to process, with suggestions that these times will lengthen as the numbers applying increase.
ALL of which may seem harmless enough, were the government not also trying to encourage new immigrants to move here. It does seem that Finland both needs and wants more tax paying citizens, and the growing lines at the Immigration Police station also suggests that there are people who wish to settle here permanently. But what message does it send to potential new citizens that they may have to pay €600 and wait more than two years before they can get a Finnish passport? ( Read more... )
Before being able to pay €600 and wait more than two years for citizenship, one must get a permanent resident status (P permit), which in turn requires at least 4 years of living on a continuous permit (A permit). And before obtaining a continuous permit you may have to live several years on a temporary permit (B permit)...