Changes to the fees, permits and licences issued by the police and the Finnish Immigration Service in 2018
The Ministry of the Interior has issued decrees on fees charged for services provided by the police and the Finnish Immigration Service. The amendment to the Firearms Act that entered into force at the beginning of December entails changes to the firearm licences issued by the local police. Moderate changes will also be made to some of the fees charged for the services provided by the Finnish Immigration Service in order to improve cost-effectiveness.
Due to the amendment to the Firearms Act that entered into force on 1 December 2017, local police departments will no longer issue certain firearm licences. For example, a new single firearm licence will replace the separate permit for possessing a firearm and the private manufacturing permit, both of which will be abolished.
The oversight fee that is charged from the holders of private security company licences will be changed. In future, the fee will be based on the number of people (guard/security steward/security officer) who work for the permit holder and hold the relevant identity card. At the same time, the location-specific oversight fee will be abolished. In future, it will be clearer how the fee is determined, the administrative workload will reduce and it will be easier to use e-services. The oversight fee will be reduced for most holders of the private security company licences.
One of the reasons for changing the oversight fee is the amendment to the legislation on the private security sector that entered into force on 1 January 2017. As a result of this amendment, not only guarding services but to some extent also security steward services and security system services became subject to licensing. This change will take place over a two-year transition period.
It is estimated that in 2018 the police will issue approximately 1,023,000 licences and permits.
Increases and reductions to be introduced in the licence fees charged by the Finnish Immigration Service, depending on the licence type
Earlier the police processed some of the residence permit applications, but on 1 January 2017, the Finnish Immigration Service took over this duty and now handles all permit applications for foreign nationals. The fees for processing these permit applications have now been re-evaluated as the Finnish Immigration Service has gathered more information on the actual costs of processing. For this reason, some of these fees will change. The fee for issuing an extended residence permit for an adult will rise from EUR 187 to EUR 200, and the fee for an extended permit for a minor or student will decrease from EUR 168 to EUR 150.
Extended residence permits form one of the biggest permit categories in the Finnish Immigration Service. A total of 23,448 extended permit applications were filed between January and September 2017.
The fee for a permanent residence permit will also be reduced so that the permit fee would be closer to the cost price, i.e. the cost incurred by the State in producing the performance as referred to in the Act on Criteria for Charges Payable to the State. The fee for a permanent residence permit for an adult will be reduced from EUR 187 to EUR 180, and for a minor, from EUR 168 to EUR 150. The extended permit issued on a discretionary basis on humanitarian grounds will become subject to a fee, in the same way as all the other extended permits.
The decrees will enter into force on 1 January 2018, and they will be published in the Statue Book of Finland in the near future.
Memorandum on the decrees on fees charged for services provided by the police (in Finnish)
Inquiries:
Mika Koponen, Ministerial Adviser, p. +358 295 488 389, [email protected] (decree on fees charged for services provided by the police)
Sanna Montin, Senior Specialist, p. +358 295 488 314, [email protected] (decree on fees charged for services provided by the Finnish Immigration Service)