If PR residence is changed to 6 years, the EU PR becomes more appealing

[jperickson]

If the government program's proposed change of residency period for Permanent Residence from 4 years to 6 years gets enacted this year, doesn't that de facto just change the period to 5 years, as the EU Permanent Residence requires a residency period of only 5 years? That is of course assuming you meet all other requirements.

In addition, the EU Permanent Residency (as far as I can tell) is actually a better status to have as it includes all benefits of the Finnish PR and also generally allows you to move to another EU country and apply for residence there to work, study, or live on sufficient means.

Or am I missing something? I have not read about this as part of the debate on the proposed changes.

[betelgeuse]

If the government program's proposed change of residency period for Permanent Residence from 4 years to 6 years gets enacted this year, doesn't that de facto just change the period to 5 years, as the EU Permanent Residence requires a residency period of only 5 years? That is of course assuming you meet all other requirements.

In addition, the EU Permanent Residency (as far as I can tell) is actually a better status to have as it includes all benefits of the Finnish PR and also generally allows you to move to another EU country and apply for residence there to work, study, or live on sufficient means.

Or am I missing something? I have not read about this as part of the debate on the proposed changes.

Correct. De facto the national permit terms will not matter if they become worse than P-EU.

[FinlandGirl]

If the government program's proposed change of residency period for Permanent Residence from 4 years to 6 years gets enacted this year, doesn't that de facto just change the period to 5 years, as the EU Permanent Residence requires a residency period of only 5 years? That is of course assuming you meet all other requirements.

Certain conditions for granting P-EU can be set by the government.

As an example, current German requirements for P-EU include:
- spotless criminal record
- B1 language
- civics test
- secure income
- at least 60 months of pension payments

How many people would fulfil the German requirements for being granted P-EU after 5 years, but not the proposed new requirements for being granted Finnish PR already after 4 years?

[jperickson]

How many people would fulfil the German requirements for being granted P-EU after 5 years, but not the proposed new requirements for being granted Finnish PR already after 4 years?

AFAIK the government is planning to change the current process from 4 years to 6 years as well as add additional requirements (https://yle.fi/a/74-20037253). Do you mean to say that the odds that someone who couldn't meet the requirements at 5 years could then meet them at 6 years is low? If so, I generally agree and in that case this doesn't render the 6 year permit "useless" overall.

However I'm wondering from the prospective of someone who does meet whatever requirements are set (hypothetically) before their 5th year, does the 5 year EU permit effectively render the 6 year local permit useless to that person? Or is there some detail that would still make the 6 year local permit still appealing to that person.

[FinlandGirl]

How many people would fulfil the German requirements for being granted P-EU after 5 years, but not the proposed new requirements for being granted Finnish PR already after 4 years?

AFAIK the government is planning to change the current process from 4 years to 6 years as well as add additional requirements (https://yle.fi/a/74-20037253). Do you mean to say that the odds that someone who couldn't meet the requirements at 5 years could then meet them at 6 years is low?

No, I am saying that the government is allowed to set conditions for granting P-EU after 5 years so high that most eligible people would also qualify for being granted a Finnish PR already after 4 years.

However I'm wondering from the prospective of someone who does meet whatever requirements are set (hypothetically) before their 5th year, does the 5 year EU permit effectively render the 6 year local permit useless to that person?

Yes.