Residence permit for student's family member

[ellyv212]

Hello, I applied for a permit based on studies and got a positive decision a week after my VFS appointment. My spouse is coming to Finland with me and he also applied for a permit based on family ties. He went to his VFS appointment on May 8 and I went to my appointment on May 9 but his application is still waiting to be processed. Migri's website says that if the family member is applying for permit for studies or works simultaneously then we would get our decisions together. I expected my application processing time to be at least 1 month so I was surprised that my decision came so early but I don't understand why my spouse's application wasn't processed together with mine. We included a family reference number in both of our applications and we made sure it was the correct number. We are both living in the US (not sure if it matters).
Has anyone encounter the same problem or is anyone in the same situation? What could be the reasons that our applications weren't processed together?

[browndude]

It may be that for some reason they have needed to do some extra processing on your spouse's permit application. It has not been that long so I would say wait a few more days and if nothing is happening maybe inquire about the status.

[unwittingaqua]

It took about 5 days for my application to be processed. So don't worry too much, you should wait a little longer

[Tshering]

I am wondering if your issue has been resolved. I am facing the same issue. My Residence Permit was granted 5 days after visiting the VFS office. The status of my wife and son's application is still 'waiting to be processed.'

[ellyv212]

My spouse's application is still in "Waiting for processing" status. It has been a month since we visited VFS now. I contacted Migri and they said that the application was processed separately due to reorganization of their work (I'm assuming this refers to Migri's recent organizational restructure). The processing time can be 3 to 6 months. Here is the full response from Migri:

Applications submitted by the same family are usually processed at the same time. In some cases, applications can also be processed separately due to reorganization of our work. Therefore family members sometimes receive their decision at separated time.
I checked his application is waiting for to be processed and the estimated processing time is from 3 to 6 months from the date he visited service point for identification.

There is really nothing we can do but wait...

[ellyv212]

Update: My spouse received a positive decision on 28 June 2024 and his permit card is scheduled to be delivered to us by Fedex today. It's such a relief that it didn't actually take 3-6 months!

[cfb]

Immigration timelines can be unpredictable, but it's common for applications to have different processing times, even when submitted together. Contacting VFS or Migri directly might help clarify why there's a delay for your spouse's application.