New government’s proposed changes to citizenship and residence permits

[NansDrivel]

How is everyone feeling about the new government’s proposed immigration/citizenship changes? Do you think they’ll impact those of us who are already here? Only people applying for the first time?

https://yle.fi/a/74-20037253?fbclid=IwA ... nqJscJi3_0

[FinlandGirl]

How is everyone feeling about the new government’s proposed immigration/citizenship changes? Do you think they’ll impact those of us who are already here? Only people applying for the first time?

The new rules will apply to everyone who applies for a new residence permit or citizenship after the changes are in force.

Cancelling a non-permanent residence permit when the grounds no longer exist is already possible and done under the current law.

There might be transitional rules for special cases, this will become clear when the actual changes to the law will be written and discussed in parliament.

[NansDrivel]

How is everyone feeling about the new government’s proposed immigration/citizenship changes? Do you think they’ll impact those of us who are already here? Only people applying for the first time?

The new rules will apply to everyone who applies for a new residence permit or citizenship after the changes are in force.

Cancelling a non-permanent residence permit when the grounds no longer exist is already possible and done under the current law.

There might be transitional rules for special cases, this will become clear when the actual changes to the law will be written and discussed in parliament.

OK. I am here on a remigration permit. My grandfather was a Finnish citizen and I had no income or work requirement for this type of “A” permit. I am retired, we bought our home and car here for cash, I have a nice pension, my husband’s pension starts in 4 years and we FULLY support ourselves with our healthy assets.

How will these changes impact us?

[FinlandGirl]

How is everyone feeling about the new government’s proposed immigration/citizenship changes? Do you think they’ll impact those of us who are already here? Only people applying for the first time?

The new rules will apply to everyone who applies for a new residence permit or citizenship after the changes are in force.

Cancelling a non-permanent residence permit when the grounds no longer exist is already possible and done under the current law.

There might be transitional rules for special cases, this will become clear when the actual changes to the law will be written and discussed in parliament.

OK. I am here on a remigration permit. My grandfather was a Finnish citizen and I had no income or work requirement for this type of “A” permit. I am retired, we bought our home and car here for cash, I have a nice pension, my husband’s pension starts in 4 years and we FULLY support ourselves with our healthy assets.

How will these changes impact us?

The longer times until you are eligible for a permanent residence permit or citizenship will apply to you, but to be fair citizenship after 4 years was always ridiculously short.

[NansDrivel]

The new rules will apply to everyone who applies for a new residence permit or citizenship after the changes are in force.

Cancelling a non-permanent residence permit when the grounds no longer exist is already possible and done under the current law.

There might be transitional rules for special cases, this will become clear when the actual changes to the law will be written and discussed in parliament.

OK. I am here on a remigration permit. My grandfather was a Finnish citizen and I had no income or work requirement for this type of “A” permit. I am retired, we bought our home and car here for cash, I have a nice pension, my husband’s pension starts in 4 years and we FULLY support ourselves with our healthy assets.

How will these changes impact us?

The longer times until you are eligible for a permanent residence permit or citizenship will apply to you, but to be fair citizenship after 4 years was always ridiculously short.

How do you know that it will apply to current residents and not new applicants? And really, I don’t care but I just want to know.

[FinlandGirl]

OK. I am here on a remigration permit. My grandfather was a Finnish citizen and I had no income or work requirement for this type of “A” permit. I am retired, we bought our home and car here for cash, I have a nice pension, my husband’s pension starts in 4 years and we FULLY support ourselves with our healthy assets.

How will these changes impact us?

The longer times until you are eligible for a permanent residence permit or citizenship will apply to you, but to be fair citizenship after 4 years was always ridiculously short.

How do you know that it will apply to current residents and not new applicants?

It would be pointless to make such changes if they would have no effect at all during the 4 year term of our new government.

And in general, new applications are handled by the law at the time of the application.
If you moved to Finland 50 years ago and apply for citizenship today, the citizenship rules from 50 years ago when you moved to Finland are irrelevant.

[browndude]

How is everyone feeling about the new government’s proposed immigration/citizenship changes? Do you think they’ll impact those of us who are already here? Only people applying for the first time?

https://yle.fi/a/74-20037253?fbclid=IwA ... nqJscJi3_0

Considering the current economic and security situation globally and in Finland, It was only a matter of time before the requirements became stricter. It did feel to me that the 4 year period of residence was relatively short for getting the citizenship compared to what the requirements are in many other nations. If one has already applied for citizenship/PR under the current law, it would be unusual to apply the new laws to pending applications one would think but who knows.

[valkosipuli]

The big challenge for immigrants will be this.
"Among other changes, a work-based residence permit would expire if an individual fails to find a new job after more than three months of unemployment."
The job market itself is very small, slow hiring in companies in general and locals are preferred over immigrants in lot of places.

[NansDrivel]

The longer times until you are eligible for a permanent residence permit or citizenship will apply to you, but to be fair citizenship after 4 years was always ridiculously short.

How do you know that it will apply to current residents and not new applicants?

It would be pointless to make such changes if they would have no effect at all during the 4 year term of our new government.

And in general, new applications are handled by the law at the time of the application.
If you moved to Finland 50 years ago and apply for citizenship today, the citizenship rules from 50 years ago when you moved to Finland are irrelevant.

I’m not talking about applying in 50 years. I’m talking about applying when I’m currently eligible in 3,5 years. Since that is the rule when I got my residence permit, it would be challenging to have it altered now. Of course I’ll have to comply if it all changes. It’s just upsetting when I’m working hard studying Finnish and I’m NOT a burden to the state.

[FinlandGirl]

And not necessarily immediately after the laws are passed, there might be a transition period for Migri workers to learn the new rules they'll be working with.

There is nothing that should take more than a one day training, and corner cases will be dealt with when they first come up.

So it seems that the main reason laws like that are being passed is to make sure certain nationalities don't get Finnish passports quickly. I remember seeing on the news last year that the main nationality getting Finnish citizenship recently was Iraqis, and that clearly pissed off some people.

That's fake news, no matter what time you look at it's always Russians who are by far the largest nationality getting Finnish citizenship:
https://tilastot.migri.fi/index.html#decisions/23331

I just wonder where the Ukrainians will fit in all that. Being anti-refugee towards Ukrainians is not politically correct at all but those changes will affect them a lot and I'm sure many of them would like to stay in Finland even when the war is over.

When the war is over they might already fulfil the 8 year requirement for citizenship...

The situation with Ukrainians is mostly an EU topic, e.g. Ukraine being granted EU membership immediately after the end of the war would make the topic moot.

[FinlandGirl]

I am here on a remigration permit. My grandfather was a Finnish citizen and I had no income or work requirement for this type of “A” permit. I am retired

I’m talking about applying when I’m currently eligible in 3,5 years. Since that is the rule when I got my residence permit, it would be challenging to have it altered now. Of course I’ll have to comply if it all changes. It’s just upsetting when I’m working hard studying Finnish

You should be more grateful that out of pure luck (and with no strong connection to Finland like speaking the language) you were granted a residence permit under the very generous rules of the remigration permit where one Finnish grandparent is sufficient to bypass all the rules that usually apply to everyone else.

and I’m NOT a burden to the state.

Whose taxes will pay the massive healthcare bill during the last years of your life?

[NansDrivel]

I am here on a remigration permit. My grandfather was a Finnish citizen and I had no income or work requirement for this type of “A” permit. I am retired

I’m talking about applying when I’m currently eligible in 3,5 years. Since that is the rule when I got my residence permit, it would be challenging to have it altered now. Of course I’ll have to comply if it all changes. It’s just upsetting when I’m working hard studying Finnish

You should be more grateful that out of pure luck (and with no strong connection to Finland like speaking the language) you were granted a residence permit under the very generous rules of the remigration permit where one Finnish grandparent is sufficient to bypass all the rules that usually apply to everyone else.

and I’m NOT a burden to the state.

Whose taxes will pay the massive healthcare bill during the last years of your life?

Who said I wasn’t grateful? I am extremely grateful - you have no idea how lucky I feel. And we already have the money to take care of ourselves when we need it. We have planned for that. So give me a break here. You seems to carry yourself as an expert here, but you’re rather quick to judge when you don’t have sufficient information to do so.

[FinlandGirl]

I am here on a remigration permit. My grandfather was a Finnish citizen and I had no income or work requirement for this type of “A” permit. I am retired

I’m talking about applying when I’m currently eligible in 3,5 years. Since that is the rule when I got my residence permit, it would be challenging to have it altered now. Of course I’ll have to comply if it all changes. It’s just upsetting when I’m working hard studying Finnish

You should be more grateful that out of pure luck (and with no strong connection to Finland like speaking the language) you were granted a residence permit under the very generous rules of the remigration permit where one Finnish grandparent is sufficient to bypass all the rules that usually apply to everyone else.

and I’m NOT a burden to the state.

Whose taxes will pay the massive healthcare bill during the last years of your life?

Who said I wasn’t grateful? I am extremely grateful - you have no idea how lucky I feel. And we already have the money to take care of ourselves when we need it. We have planned for that. So give me a break here. You seems to carry yourself as an expert here, but you’re rather quick to judge when you don’t have sufficient information to do so.

You made it sound as if you considered getting citizenship very fast would be something you would be entitled to.

[browndude]

I just wonder where the Ukrainians will fit in all that. Being anti-refugee towards Ukrainians is not politically correct at all but those changes will affect them a lot and I'm sure many of them would like to stay in Finland even when the war is over.

I think there were specific special provisions with regards to the Ukrainians. They will get special treatment I think. Even the Persut are eager to help the Ukrainians-enemy of my enemy (Russia) is my friend. These changes were on the cards for a long, long time. While most of the other parties did not have the will to do it, the Persut, openly right-wing as they are, have done exactly what they said they would do.

[NansDrivel]

You should be more grateful that out of pure luck (and with no strong connection to Finland like speaking the language) you were granted a residence permit under the very generous rules of the remigration permit where one Finnish grandparent is sufficient to bypass all the rules that usually apply to everyone else.



Whose taxes will pay the massive healthcare bill during the last years of your life?

Who said I wasn’t grateful? I am extremely grateful - you have no idea how lucky I feel. And we already have the money to take care of ourselves when we need it. We have planned for that. So give me a break here. You seems to carry yourself as an expert here, but you’re rather quick to judge when you don’t have sufficient information to do so.

You made it sound as if you considered getting citizenship very fast would be something you would be entitled to.

I never stated I was entitled to it, but like it or not, the criteria when I applied for residency was a 5-year path to citizenship. I’ve been studying Finnish intensively since I arrived to prepare for the language test. We planned for years to make this move, so if you can’t understand how these new rules would cause some sadness and anxiety, then perhaps having a little humanity would be appropriate.

You ASSUMED I felt entitled. I do not. I feel sad, disappointed, worried and anxious and so do many immigrants here. We are fortunate that we have the means to support ourselves after working and saving for many, many years to move here. We will of course accept whatever the new rules end up being, and nobody knows yet exactly how this will turn out. We are anxious to know what the new reality will be. If you don’t understand the anxiety around all these unknowns, then I will also make an assumption about you, which is that you aren’t a particularly compassionate person.