New project aims to develop regulation on denial of admittance or stay and deportation

The Ministry of the Interior has set up a project to develop the regulation on removal from the country.

The project will examine what kinds of experiences those who are applying the Aliens Act have of the effectiveness of the regulation on removal from the country. Based on this background study, amendments to the Aliens Act will be prepared to promote more effective practices for removal from the country. 

The project will also assess whether the regulation on deportation and denial of admittance or stay can be harmonised or combined into a single procedure for removal from the country. 

Currently, an alien is denied admittance or stay if a decision is made to remove them from the country and they have not had a residence permit. If, on the other hand, an alien who is to be removed from the country has or has had a residence permit, they will be deported. In the Aliens Act, the main difference between denial of admittance or stay and deportation lies in the enforceability of decisions concerning them. As a rule, decisions on denial of admittance or stay can be enforced more quickly than decisions on deportation.

Entry ban could also be imposed on persons without residence permits

The project will also prepare a legislative amendment that would make it possible to impose an entry ban on aliens residing outside Finland who have no permit history in Finland, an EU Member State or the Schengen area, or whose residence permit is no longer valid. This would prevent, in advance, known terrorists or foreign fighters who have been sentenced abroad from entering Finland and the EU and Schengen area.

At the beginning of October, the Government submitted to Parliament a proposal according to which a residence permit could be withdrawn from an alien staying outside Finland and an entry ban could be imposed on the alien due to the person being a danger to public order and security or to national security.

The government proposal under preparation is scheduled to be submitted to Parliament at the beginning of 2026 at the latest.

More effective procedures for returns of rejected applicants

One of the Government’s objectives related to migration is that rejected applicants will return or will be returned to their countries of origin as soon as possible. The Government Programme includes several entries on legislative amendments that either directly or indirectly affect the effectiveness of return procedures. 

The amendments that have entered into force so far have encouraged rapid return by staggering the assistance for voluntary return, enabled applications considered unfounded to be processed at the border, and prevented the evasion of provisions on entry by imposing more stringent rules on issuing residence permits.

The Ministry of the Interior is also preparing legislative amendments to enable faster enforcement of deportation decisions in matters concerning international protection.

Inquiries:

Jutta Gras, Senior Ministerial Adviser, tel. +358 295 488 650, firstname.lastname@gov.fi