Finnish Immigration Service provides updates on end of reception services after 1 September 2026

Following the entry into application of the EU Pact on Migration and Asylum, the Finnish Information Service provided updates on the application of the recast 2024 Reception Conditions Directive. 

The following amendments will apply as of 1 September 2026 regarding the end of reception services:

1. after 3 months following the granting of a residence permit on basis of an application for international protection. The person is then entitled to apply for a municipality of residence.
2. for beneficiaries of temporary protection, 3 months after the moment when they acquired the right to apply for a municipality of residence.
3. for rejected asylum applicants who no longer have the right to stay in Finland, either when the rejection of the first application for international protection was not appealed and become binding or when the appeal was rejected, they can receive reception services for maximum 60 days. If the rejected applicant applied for assisted voluntary return, he or she may stay in Finland until the arrangements for return are made.
4. for subsequent applications – in principle, there is no right to accommodation or reception services after 1 September 2026. However, the person may be entitled to reception services for a maximum of 14 days from the date when the right of residence in Finland ends. Reception services may end immediately when the right to residence in Finland ends during the processing of a subsequent application.
5. for implicit or explicit withdrawal of an application, the right to receive reception services ends after a maximum of 60 days after the notification of the withdrawal decision by the Finnish Immigration Service.

Unaccompanied minors are entitled to receive reception services and to live in a reception center until they are leaving Finland or they start living in a municipality. 

The Finnish Immigration Service provides detailed information on the duration and end of reception services, on a negative decision to an application for international protection, on different procedures and subsequent applications as well as about withdrawing an application.