Legislative amendments improving efficiency of asylum system to enter into force on 1 June

The efficiency of examining asylum applications will be improved. At the same time, restrictions will be placed on the ability of beneficiaries of international protection to visit the countries from which they have fled. The enforcement of deportation decisions will also be streamlined. The Government submitted the new amendments to the Aliens Act for approval on 22 May. The President of the Republic is scheduled to approve the amendments on 23 May, and they will enter into force on 1 June.

The aim of the new amendments is to improve the efficiency and quality of the asylum system in line with the Government Programme. The amendments also seek to prevent abuses of the asylum system. In future, greater emphasis will be placed on the importance of the asylum interview in the processing of applications.

Changes to asylum examination and travel to countries of origin

As a rule, the transcript of the asylum interview will no longer be reviewed at the end of the interview. Instead, applicants for international protection may, after the interview, submit additions and corrections to the transcript for a period of two weeks. This period may be extended if the nature of the matter so requires.

The amendments clarify how travelling to the country of origin affects the decision to withdraw international protection status. In addition, the validity of travel documents issued by Finland will be restricted so that beneficiaries of international protection cannot use them to travel to their country of nationality or former country of permanent residence. Derogations from this rule can only be made if there are exceptionally serious grounds for doing so.

Faster enforcement of deportation decisions

The amendments will make the procedure for removing applicants for international protection from the country more efficient by changing the practices for enforcing deportation decisions to correspond to the enforcement of decisions on denial of admittance or stay. In practice, deportation decisions can be enforced more quickly than before.

If an alien has not yet had a residence permit and a decision is made to remove them from the country, they will be denied admittance or stay. If, on the other hand, an alien has or has had a residence permit and a decision is made to remove them from the country, this constitutes deportation. The new amendment will apply to cases where a person who has been ordered to be deported applies for international protection to delay being removed from the country.

The Government Programme requires that rejected asylum applicants return or be returned to their countries of origin as soon as possible. In addition, the Government Programme states that unfounded subsequent applications will be prevented. The Schengen evaluations concerning Finland have also called for more effective implementation of returns.

The Ministry of the Interior is currently working on a legislative project to assess whether the regulation on deportation and denial of admittance or stay can be more extensively harmonised.   The related government proposal is scheduled to be submitted to Parliament at the beginning of 2026 at the latest.

Inquiries: 
Eeva-Maija Leivo, Senior Specialist, tel. +358 295 488 316, [email protected]
Jutta Gras, Senior Ministerial Adviser, tel. +358 295 488 650, [email protected] (removal from the country)