Transferring Residence permit to new passport

distantspaces · Post by **distantspaces** » Wed May 24, 2006 9:41 pm

Hi,

This is my situation:

I need to travel to US in a week from now, but my passport (with a valid US visa and Finnish residence permit) got damaged at the binding.

I was told by my embassy that they would issue me a new passport and cancel my existing passport, and they would try to do it in time for my trip.

Does anyone know what this could mean for my re-entry to Finland? As far as the US visa is concerned, I was told that I would be allowed entry in to US as long as I have a valid visa and a valid passport, even if the visa is not in the same passport.

However, on UVI's website, there is a service called "Transfer of residence permit to another travel document". Does this mean that my Finnish A status permit is valid only if it is attached to a valid passport? Why is this service offered?

I don't want to end up in a situation where all my valid visas and permit are in a passport marked as 'cancelled', and my active passport is empty. I will call the police to ask how fast they can transfer my permit to the new passport, but I would like to know if that is needed at all.

Thanks!

**Sponsor:**

zam · Post by **zam** » Wed May 24, 2006 9:56 pm

Finnish residence permit is valid only as long as the travel document it has been stamped into. It can be transferred to a new one (against a fee) if the passport gets damaged, is lost etc...

Jason · Post by **Jason** » Wed May 24, 2006 10:28 pm

My Visa was transfered immediately and for free. Just go to your local Police Station and they can do it. Thats where I did mine.

zoltar · Post by **zoltar** » Wed May 24, 2006 10:35 pm

Actually, I wouldn't worry too much about the Finnish residence permit so much as the damage to your current passport since the US is incredibly bitchy about damaged travel documents. What sort of damage has the passport sustained? My spouse's Finnish passport had to be replaced when the Finnish border guards complained about a rip in the cover and was told he'd never make it into the US. Call the embassy and ask if the damage came after the US placed the visa in the passport.

distantspaces · Post by **distantspaces** » Wed May 24, 2006 10:47 pm

Well, basically the binding on the biographical page has cracked open. I managed to enter UK with that damaged passport, but the lady at the immigration counter said the same thing to me:
"I'll let you in, but don't even think of going to US with this."

I think my passport got damaged in mail on its way back from the US embassy, right after they had placed a new visa.

So now I am hoping that I can get a new passport in time. If they can transfer the permit to my new passport instantly, that would be great. It is reassuring to hear that it doesn't take much time.

amayer · Post by **amayer** » Thu May 25, 2006 7:25 pm

Jason wrote:My Visa was transfered immediately and for free. Just go to your local Police Station and they can do it. Thats where I did mine.

Don't count on this... I had to get my residence permit extended and transferred into a new passport, to the tune of 100€, and it took a week. I think if you get the same permit transferred into a new passport it's only 25€. Or maybe the Kangasala police have a grudge against me, I don't know.

Hank W. · Post by **Hank W.** » Fri May 26, 2006 9:40 am

Magic word is "extend"

daryl · Post by **daryl** » Fri May 26, 2006 3:16 pm

Let's sort out a few ideas here:

1. Visa = permission to visit
2. Residence permit = permission to remain

The Finnish government grants permission to non-citizens to remain in Finland for a limited or indefinite period. This permission is called a fixed-period or permanent residence permit.

Unfortunately the same terms are also used for the certificates of this permission, which causes instant confusion.

The permission is not invalidated by any accident that can befall the certificate. To think otherwise is to assume that the US dollar can be brought down by burning a single greenback or that you are no longer a university graduate if your degree certificate is damaged. In other words, permission granted by the Finnish government to remain in Finland continues even when the certificate of that permission becomes unusable. Only a further (appealable) decision of a Finnish public authority can revoke or amend the permission to remain in Finland.

Because accidents do happen to certificates and they become unusable for various formal reasons (e.g. passport expiry), a procedure generally exists for issuing replacements. In the case of a residence permit (= a certificate of permission to remain in Finland) there is a procedure which is misleadingly described as the "transfer" of a permit into a new passport. This procedure is not a transfer in any sense of the term. It is merely the creation of a new certificate of an existing permission.

If my degree certificates are damaged, do I need to get replacements? Only if I need the certificates for some purpose. The same applies to residence permit stamps and stickers.

As far as I can see, the only reason for getting a new certificate of existing and current permission to remain in Finland is to be able to demonstrate the right to RETURN to Finland from abroad.

To answer the original question, if you need the residence permit sticker in your new passport in order to persuade (e.g.) an airline official that you are entitled to travel to Finland, then you should get the sticker placed in your passport at your local police station. If you come from a country that has a visa exemption agreement with Finland, then there is really no need for this.

This is why I did not bother to get a permanent residence permit sticker placed in my new UK passport two years ago.

daryl

zam · Post by **zam** » Fri May 26, 2006 3:41 pm

daryl wrote:This is why I did not bother to get a permanent residence permit sticker placed in my new UK passport two years ago.

EU citizens do not actually have a residence permit at all anymore. The procedure is nowadays called registration of EU citizens’ and family members’ or an equivalent persons' residence card (who invents these?

). It is not stamped into the passport anymore, you will be given an A4 size paper called "Unionin kansalaisen oleskeluoikeuden rekisteröintitodistus" which is a written certificate of registration. It is issued at the local police station except for the citizens of the Nordic countries for whom it is issued at the Register Offices.

Glossary of terms is available at the website of the Directorate of Immigration: http://www.uvi.fi/netcomm/content.asp?a ... anguage=EN

sinikala · Post by **sinikala** » Fri May 26, 2006 3:56 pm

zam wrote:
daryl wrote:This is why I did not bother to get a permanent residence permit sticker placed in my new UK passport two years ago.
EU citizens do not actually have a residence permit at all anymore. The procedure is nowadays called registration of EU citizens’ and family members’ or an equivalent persons' residence card (who invents these? ). It is not stamped into the passport anymore, you will be given an A4 size paper called "Unionin kansalaisen oleskeluoikeuden rekisteröintitodistus" which is a written certificate of registration. It is issued at the local police station except for the citizens of the Nordic countries for whom it is issued at the Register Offices.

Glossary of terms is available at the website of the Directorate of Immigration: http://www.uvi.fi/netcomm/content.asp?a ... anguage=EN

Mine was never stamped in my passport, I've only ever had the plastic Oleskelulupa card, the current one was issued in 2005 & is presently my main form of ID in my wallet.

Do they not issue these any more?

zam · Post by **zam** » Fri May 26, 2006 4:06 pm

sinikala wrote: Mine was never stamped in my passport, I've only ever had the plastic Oleskelulupa card, the current one was issued in 2005 & is presently my main form of ID in my wallet. Do they not issue these any more?

Yes, the police may also issue an ID card to a foreigner but there is a separate fee for that (the registration of the right of residence costs 40€, the plastic ID card another 40€).

daryl · Post by **daryl** » Fri May 26, 2006 4:49 pm

zam wrote:
daryl wrote:This is why I did not bother to get a permanent residence permit sticker placed in my new UK passport two years ago.
EU citizens do not actually have a residence permit at all anymore. The procedure is nowadays called registration of EU citizens’ and family members’ or an equivalent persons' residence card (who invents these? ). It is not stamped into the passport anymore, you will be given an A4 size paper called "Unionin kansalaisen oleskeluoikeuden rekisteröintitodistus" which is a written certificate of registration. It is issued at the local police station except for the citizens of the Nordic countries for whom it is issued at the Register Offices.

Glossary of terms is available at the website of the Directorate of Immigration: http://www.uvi.fi/netcomm/content.asp?a ... anguage=EN

My permanent residence permit was issued in 1990. I have never had a residence card and have never been registered as an EU citizen in Finland. Furthermore, if and when the United Kingdom hopefully withdraws or is expelled from the European Union my permanent residence permit will still be valid.

But thanks for the lesson.

daryl

daryl · Post by **daryl** » Fri May 26, 2006 4:53 pm

zam wrote:
sinikala wrote: Mine was never stamped in my passport, I've only ever had the plastic Oleskelulupa card, the current one was issued in 2005 & is presently my main form of ID in my wallet. Do they not issue these any more?
Yes, the police may also issue an ID card to a foreigner but there is a separate fee for that (the registration of the right of residence costs 40€, the plastic ID card another 40€).

I got myself one of those newfangled electronic ID cards. Other than possibly allowing somone with the right reader equipment to know who I am before I introduce myself, I haven't yet been able to fathom the advantage of the thing over the old simple plastic card that I got from the police station in the early 1990s.

daryl

distantspaces · Post by **distantspaces** » Thu Jun 01, 2006 2:11 pm

My residence permit was transferred to my new passport at the Tampere police station. It took 3 days, and it cost 25 euros.

A very straightforward procedure.

network_engineer · Post by **network_engineer** » Sat Jun 17, 2006 10:13 pm

Hi Daryl, all,

If I may divert the topic a wee bit...

Daryl, if I may take your statement ("Furthermore, if and when the United Kingdom hopefully withdraws or is expelled from the European Union my permanent residence permit will still be valid.") and stretch my imagination a bit, to imagine the same with another country...

Considering that the Finnish authorities currently intend to cancel the 'Permanent-Residence-Permit-sticker (which to them is the *same* as the permit itself, i.e. the leave to remain), and assuming the worst imagined scenario as above, what would happen to non-EU migrants who have only a EC-Long-Term Resident status permit (sticker) in their passport?

WBR.

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