Withdrawal of students’ residence permits in Finland

9 November 2025

Since September 2023, the Finnish Immigration Service (Migri) has started a process of checking residence permits of thousands of students to ensure that the students meet the requirements for residence permit. And based on the information from Migri, they will continue automated reviews on an annual basis.

Back in the day, the attitudes related to the progress of study were more relaxed in Finland. It seems, however, that this is not the case anymore. Nowadays Migri will periodically review each student’s case and deport students that do not meet the requirements for residence permit.

In most cases, the reason for deportation is related to the insufficient progresses of studies. In some cases that we have seen, this is quite unambiguous. However, there seems to be some cases where the students may have grounds to make an appeal to the Administrative Court. Mitigating circumstances may exist and Migri’s personnel may make human errors in judgement, and therefore, students should pay close attention to their individual cases.

We advise students to contact an immigration specialist at the very beginning of the process (Migri will request the student’s response to the possible withdrawal of residence permit at the beginning of the process). The student’s reply to Migri carries a lot of weight and, if professionally drafted, could save a lot of costs and hardship later for the student.

Whether you need a lawyer to draft or review your response to Migri or write an appeal to the Administrative Court, WDL’s immigration law specialists are here to support you.

Do not hesitate to contact us via email (contact@wdlal.com) or you can buy your first consultation by using WDL’s Online Store (https://wdlal.myshopify.com/). You can also contact us on WhatsApp & WeChat.