Finland has announced new rules for foreign nationals seeking to sponsor certain family members, including siblings, for a residence permit. The Finnish Immigration Service has published guidance on residence permits for family members of Finnish citizens and people living in Finland under certain protection statuses. These rules may be relevant to Ghanaians and other foreigners who have family members they wish to bring to Finland. The guidance outlines specific requirements that applicants must meet.
To qualify for a residence permit as a family member based on dependency, applicants must meet three main conditions. Firstly, the sponsor must be a Finnish citizen living in Finland. The family member in Finland must be a Finnish national and have their place of residence in the country. This condition emphasizes the importance of the sponsor's residency status in Finland.
The second condition requires the applicant to be completely dependent on the sponsor. The applicant must demonstrate both mental and physical dependency on the family member living in Finland. Financial dependence alone is not enough to qualify, and the applicant must show a deeper level of reliance on the sponsor. This condition aims to ensure that the applicant's needs are met by the sponsor.
The third condition requires the family to have lived a close family life. The applicant and sponsor must show that they had a close family relationship before the application and intend to continue living together in Finland. This condition highlights the importance of a pre-existing family relationship between the applicant and sponsor.
The Finnish Immigration Service's guidance covers certain relatives who are considered to be dependent on a family member living in Finland. These can include elderly parents, adult children, and unmarried siblings, provided the relevant dependency requirements are met. However, an application based solely on medical or health-related grounds may not qualify if the applicant can receive adequate care in their home country.
The published rules also identify specific family relationships that may fall under the residence permit framework. These include parents of a person aged 18 or over living in Finland, unmarried siblings of an adult resident, and underage siblings of a child living in Finland, where the sibling abroad has a different legal guardian or no guardian. Cases involving an underage sibling may also require official consent from the parents or guardians.
The Finnish Immigration Service states that these provisions concern the direct family members of the primary resident. This means relatives of the resident's spouse or partner are not covered under these particular family-member provisions. The rules are designed to ensure that family members who are dependent on a resident in Finland can join them in the country, while also protecting the rights of Finnish citizens and residents.
Key points
- The sponsor must be a Finnish citizen living in Finland.
- The applicant must be completely dependent on the sponsor.
- The family must have lived a close family life.
