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22.1.2021 | On 22 January, the Government decided to tighten the restrictions on entry into Finland. The new restrictions will enter into force on 27 January and will remain in force until 25 February. The new restrictions aim to reduce cross-border traffic in order to prevent the spread of the new COVID-19 variants. The epidemiological situation in Finland differs considerably from that in other Schengen countries.

8.7.2021 | The Government has decided to continue internal border control until 25 July to ensure the introduction of health security measures at borders. After this short transitional period, internal border control and entry restrictions at internal borders will be lifted. Internal border traffic refers to traffic between Finland and other Schengen countries. Changes will be made to external border control as well.

29.5.2019 | The Finnish Government laid down two decrees today concerning civilian intelligence. The decrees will take effect on 1 June at the same time with the intelligence legislation.

11.1.2019 | Research agency Owal Group has been selected to carry out an independent survey concerning the asylum procedure. The Ministry of the Interior selected Owal Group following a tendering process that began in November 2018. The survey, which will examine the asylum procedure in its entirety, is set to be completed in summer 2019.

14.6.2018 | Based on a report made by the Finnish Immigration Service, decisions on asylum applications largely meet the criteria laid down in the law. Deficiencies in the quality of interpretation of asylum interviews and processing of asylum applications were, however, detected. It is likely that the number of deficiencies became bigger than normal following a sudden tenfold increase in asylum seekers in 2015 and a need to quickly increase the amount of human resources required for the process.

20.2.2019 | Permanent Secretary Ilkka Salmi and Finland's Roving Ambassador to Iraq Päivi Laine visited Iraq from 17 to 19 February. They had meetings with senior officials from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Ministry of Interior, Ministry of Displacement and Migration, and Ministry of Justice of Iraq. The topics of the meetings were the relations between Finland and Iraq, the security situation in Iraq, fight against terrorism, and migration from Iraq to Finland.

17.5.2018 | The Ministry of the Interior proposes that a new act on the processing of personal data by migration authorities be enacted. The new act would replace the old Act on the Register of Aliens adopted over 20 years ago. The relevant legislative proposal was sent out for comments on 17 May.

4.7.2019 | The new Fundraising Act that will enter into force next spring will make fundraising significantly easier. The Government submitted the new Fundraising Act for approval on 4 July. The President of the Republic is set to approve the Act on 5 July and it will enter into force on 1 March 2020.

15.11.2018 | The EU is examining new means to improve detection and removal of online content that incites to terrorist acts. The European Commission is proposing a new regulation to tackle dissemination of terrorist content online. The Commission’s proposal includes obligations on both internet service providers and Member States. On 15 November, the Finnish Government submitted a communication to Parliament on the Commission’s proposal for a regulation.

15.11.2018 | The enforcement of decisions on removal from the country will be speeded up. Certain removal decisions related to public order and security can be enforced after 30 days from the service of the decision, unless the administrative court has prohibited its enforcement. The removal procedure is applied to removal from the country when the person concerned has or has had a residence permit in Finland or the residence of an EU citizen has been registered.

5.12.2018 | In future, people found guilty of certain serious offences could lose their Finnish citizenship. Such offences would include treason, high treason and offences against the vital interests of Finland committed with terrorist intent. The Government submitted a proposal to amend the Nationality Act to Parliament on 5 December.

3.4.2019 | Permanent Secretary Ilkka Salmi and Alexander Gorovoy, First Deputy Minister of the Interior of the Russian Federation, met in Tampere on 2–3 April. This a was Deputy Minister Gorovoy’s first visit to Finland.

28.3.2019 | The Aliens Act will be amended, for example by specifying the criteria for the processing of subsequent applications. The Government submitted the amendments to the Act for approval on Thursday 28 March, and the President of the Republic will approve the Act on Friday. The Act is scheduled to enter into force on 1 June 2019.

11.6.2020 | On 11 June, the Government outlined its proposal that border control will continue partially at internal borders and external border traffic will continue to be restricted until 14 July 2020. The restrictions will continue to the extent that they are considered mandatory due to a serious threat posed by the epidemiological situation. The Government will take the decision on this matter in its plenary session on 12 June.

4.9.2019 | Minister of the Interior Maria Ohisalo and Minister of Justice Anna-Maja Henriksson will present themes for Finland’s Presidency of the Council of the European Union before the Committee on Civil Liberties, Justice and Home Affairs (LIBE) of the European Parliament in Brussels on 4 September.

20.2.2019 | On 20 February, the Finnish Government published measures to prevent and combat sexual offences in general and crimes committed by immigrants. The package of measures was prepared by the ministerial working group on internal security and administration of justice and the ministerial working group on migration, led by the Minister of the Interior Kai Mykkänen.

29.5.2019 | The Ministry of the Interior examined the needs to develop gambling legislation. The pilot study assessed, for example, whether gambling harms could be reduced by using technical blocking measures to restrict gambling offerings against the Lotteries Act.

25.5.2018 | The European Commission will carry out a Schengen evaluation in Finland between May and June 2018. The evaluation teams coordinated by the Commission will visit Finnish authorities and evaluate whether the Schengen acquis is being applied correctly in all of its areas.

28.6.2017 | The legislation on Finland’s preparedness to provide and receive international assistance will be specified within the mandate of the Ministry of the Interior. The President of the Republic approved the amendments on 28 June.

14.12.2018 | A new Migration Review has been published. The report provides a concise summary of Finland’s migration-related policies, key legal amendments and up-to-date statistics. It also includes an extensive media review.