About 800 Russians who have requested asylum in Finland have been waiting for over two years for a decision on their residence applications from the Migration Service (Migri). The overwhelming majority are young people with higher education (some holding multiple degrees) who have a long working life ahead of them. However, due to their uncertain status and lack of a Finnish ID, their chances of securing employment are nonexistent. Instead of fulfilling the government’s program to attract skilled workers and new taxpayers, Finland is shouldering the burden of providing social benefits.
In 2022, several hundred Russians arrived in Finland seeking political asylum. According to §98a of the Aliens Act, the maximum processing time for such applications is 21 months. This deadline passed for most applicants last summer. Some asylum seekers have yet to receive a decision from Migri, while others have not even been interviewed.
The most recent communication from Migri states that the decision period has been extended due to the large number of applications. While it is clear that Migri has a significant workload, how are these applications prioritized? Logically, they should be processed in the order they were received to comply with statutory deadlines.
By November 2023, Migri had been processing hundreds of Russian applications from 2022 for over a year. Many applicants had not yet been interviewed, and no decisions had been made. At this time, Juha Similä, a Migri employee, informed Yle journalists that cases of individuals who arrived on November 16, 2023, via the eastern border would be prioritized. These individuals were labeled by the Finnish state as “instruments of hybrid influence,” a designation that ultimately led to the closure of the eastern border. On what basis was this decision made? A review of public documents provided no answers to this question.
By August 2024, Migri had already processed hundreds of applications from third-country nationals who arrived via Finland’s eastern border at the end of 2023, a year later than the Russian asylum seekers. Of these, 370 applications were canceled, 50 were approved, and 120 were denied. On November 19, 2024, a new Yle article reported that 130 people had received positive decisions and an equal number had received negative ones. In other words, Migri continues to allocate limited resources to processing cases of individuals labeled national security threats—many of whom have since left Finland for other EU countries, likely never intending to stay. Meanwhile, Migri delays the consideration of Russian applicants from 2022 who have complied with all legal procedures, are learning Finnish, and are working toward integration into Finnish society.
This situation demonstrates an apparent violation of the principle of processing cases in sequence. There are grounds to suspect that delays may be linked to the Russian citizenship of the 2022 applicants. Migri has not issued any apologies or provided a direct explanation for the delays.
As a result, Migri has been accused of violating the Aliens Act. For over two years, young, educated individuals, grateful to Finland and eager to contribute, have been stuck in a limbo. They want to work, pay taxes, and live normal lives. Instead, they are forced to live in an uncertain status where they cannot even obtain a personal ID (henkilötunnus), essential for virtually all aspects of life, and they continue to rely on social welfare.
Since September 2024, their situation has worsened due to legislative changes. It is now impossible to switch from asylum applications to work or study permits without leaving Finland. This means that even if an asylum seeker secures a job or starts studying, they must return to their home country to apply for a residence permit—a step that is impossible for most, given the risks of returning to the Russian Federation. These individuals are trapped in a dead end.
We spoke to several asylum seekers with a variety of professions, including highly sought-after skills such as software development, design, art, and economics. Many are willing to retrain for even more in-demand roles, such as electricians and welders, and are already learning Finnish. However, living in prolonged uncertainty has taken a severe psychological toll, with many experiencing depressive symptoms.
Due to their vulnerable status, we have anonymized the asylum seekers’ identities.
- A., for instance, is a construction engineer by profession who now manages projects related to urban planning, architecture, and anti-war initiatives.
- V. is a graphic designer but is willing to take any job just to lead a normal life with legal status. He describes how difficult the past two years have been for him without a job, a proper bank card, a private room, or even the ability to cook a meal without waiting in line. Since September, the monthly allowance for job seekers has been reduced to €300.
A family couple, C. and D., are learning Finnish and aspire to attend college to train as an electrician and a hairdresser, respectively. They survive on €508 a month, the total allowance for the couple since September 2024.
A. explains that he complained about the missed deadlines to the office of the Non-Discrimination Ombudsman but received an evasive response: “We are sorry, but we can’t do anything.”
B. went so far as to appeal to the Administrative Court of Northern Finland, which refused to consider the case of missed deadlines, claiming it was outside its jurisdiction. In total, B. has appealed to 19 institutions in Finland and the EU but has yet to achieve any significant results.
Aleksanterinliitto ry, an advocacy group, reached out to both the Migration Service and the Ministry of the Interior for clarification. The Migration Service failed to respond for over a month. The Ministry of the Interior, however, replied, stating that the processing of applications from Russian citizens had been suspended until sufficient information about the situation could be obtained. Later, the EU decided to develop a unified strategy to assess the grounds for international protection for Russian citizens. However, in October 2023, this decision was canceled, and standard procedures for individual decisions were reinstated.
- Conclusion No. 1: Nothing was done for an entire year.
- Conclusion No. 2: The delays appear to be linked to the Russian citizenship of the applicants, despite official denials.
The Ministry of the Interior also stated that Migri has implemented measures to speed up the process and that all applications delayed due to the need for additional information would be resolved by the end of November 2024.
Unfortunately, this seems technically impossible. For an asylum decision to be made, applicants must attend a series of special interviews. Only after the final protocol is signed can a decision be issued. To date, some applicants have not been invited to a single interview in two years.
Is there no mechanism in Finland to compel the Migration Service to adhere to the legally mandated deadlines for processing cases and issuing decisions?
An appeal to the Chancellor of Justice clarified the situation slightly. The Chancellor referred the matter to the Parliamentary Ombudsman. When we contacted the Ombudsman’s office, we received no response for over a month. However, according to Article 21 of the Finnish Constitution:
“Everyone has the right to have his or her case duly and without undue delay examined by a court or other authority competent by law.”
For all asylum seekers we interviewed, Migri has postponed the decision deadline to November 30, 2024, as confirmed by the Ministry of the Interior. This extension brings the total waiting time to approximately 26–28 months, far exceeding the statutory limit of 21 months. None of the applicants is confident that the deadline will not be postponed yet again.
Aleksanterinliitto ry calls on the Migration Service to respect the legal deadlines and process cases in the order they were received. We urge all state and public institutions to address this issue and demand that Migri prioritize the applications of asylum seekers who have been waiting since 2022.
Granting asylum seekers with Russian citizenship the opportunity to live and work in the society they have chosen and wish to support is not just fair—it is also in Finland’s best interest.
*Aleksanterinliitto ry is a Finnish-Russian advocacy group founded in December 2023.