The Finnish Immigration Service (Migri) reopened its Rovaniemi service point on Monday after a week-long holiday shutdown that forced many seasonal workers to travel hundreds of kilometres south for biometrics appointments. The Lapland branch—critical for processing residence-permit extensions and EU registrations for ski-resort, hospitality and mining staff—closed on 29 December for staff leave and building maintenance. During the closure Migri diverted urgent cases to Oulu and encouraged online filing, but appointment slots for January quickly filled, leaving some third-country nationals facing permit-expiry anxieties.
To catch up, Migri will pilot extended Thursday opening hours (08:00-18:00) through the winter tourist season and has installed two self-service kiosks funded by an EU recovery grant that can scan passports and upload documents in under five minutes. Walk-in ticketing remains suspended; all customers must book via the Enter Finland portal. The agency expects to process an extra 350 applications per week, which it says should erase the current backlog—estimated at 1,200 cases—by mid-February.
If securing one of those coveted appointment slots or navigating the Enter Finland portal proves challenging, VisaHQ can help smooth the way. Its Finland team offers real-time slot monitoring, document pre-checks and courier options for applicants who cannot easily reach Rovaniemi, ensuring that packets meet Migri requirements on the first try. Learn more at https://www.visahq.com/finland/.
![Rovaniemi immigration office reopens, adds late-night hours to clear Lapland permit backlog]()
For mobility managers the reopening is timely. Roughly 3,000 non-EU nationals work each winter across Levi, Ylläs and other Lapland resorts, and delayed extensions can invalidate right-to-work status or void Schengen travel. Employers are advised to verify that staff have appointment confirmations and to budget for Migri’s higher fees that took effect on 1 January (electronic first-work permits now €750, up from €530).
Local chambers of commerce welcomed the move but cautioned that Lapland’s visa-processing capacity remains fragile. The region lacks any outsourced visa-application centres, meaning sudden sickness or severe weather can again shutter in-person services. Migri said it is assessing a mobile biometrics van—similar to those used in Norway—to serve remote towns next winter.
Applicants should arrive ten minutes before their slot, bring original employment contracts and proof of accommodation, and expect security screening on entry. Migri has deployed multilingual signage (Finnish, English, Russian) and a new queue-management display to improve flow. Processing times for complete electronic work-permit renewals remain at the 30-day service-level target, but paper-based submissions may still take up to 60 days.
To catch up, Migri will pilot extended Thursday opening hours (08:00-18:00) through the winter tourist season and has installed two self-service kiosks funded by an EU recovery grant that can scan passports and upload documents in under five minutes. Walk-in ticketing remains suspended; all customers must book via the Enter Finland portal. The agency expects to process an extra 350 applications per week, which it says should erase the current backlog—estimated at 1,200 cases—by mid-February.
If securing one of those coveted appointment slots or navigating the Enter Finland portal proves challenging, VisaHQ can help smooth the way. Its Finland team offers real-time slot monitoring, document pre-checks and courier options for applicants who cannot easily reach Rovaniemi, ensuring that packets meet Migri requirements on the first try. Learn more at https://www.visahq.com/finland/.
For mobility managers the reopening is timely. Roughly 3,000 non-EU nationals work each winter across Levi, Ylläs and other Lapland resorts, and delayed extensions can invalidate right-to-work status or void Schengen travel. Employers are advised to verify that staff have appointment confirmations and to budget for Migri’s higher fees that took effect on 1 January (electronic first-work permits now €750, up from €530).
Local chambers of commerce welcomed the move but cautioned that Lapland’s visa-processing capacity remains fragile. The region lacks any outsourced visa-application centres, meaning sudden sickness or severe weather can again shutter in-person services. Migri said it is assessing a mobile biometrics van—similar to those used in Norway—to serve remote towns next winter.
Applicants should arrive ten minutes before their slot, bring original employment contracts and proof of accommodation, and expect security screening on entry. Migri has deployed multilingual signage (Finnish, English, Russian) and a new queue-management display to improve flow. Processing times for complete electronic work-permit renewals remain at the 30-day service-level target, but paper-based submissions may still take up to 60 days.
