Finland introduces new border procedure for asylum seekers

The legislative amendments that introduce a new border procedure have entered into force on Sunday, said Finnish Immigration Service (Migri) in a press release on Monday.

The amendments also include new grounds for using an accelerated procedure to process asylum applications at the Migri.

The amendments concern the Aliens Act, and they are not connected with the border security act that was adopted on 16 July 2024.

Such applicants who have applied for asylum at the external borders of Finland on 1 September 2024 or later can be referred to the border procedure.

The amendments concerning accelerated procedure apply to all asylum applications, including applications submitted before 1 September 2024.

The purpose of the border procedure is to enhance the examination of applications that are likely to be unfounded and the return of applicants who receive a negative decision.

It is also intended to serve as a tool for managing situations of instrumentalised migration. In addition, the border procedure can prevent secondary movements of asylum seekers to other EU countries.

The border procedure differs from the normal procedure for processing asylum applications in different ways.

By law, the Migri must issue a decision on an asylum application within four weeks of its submission if the border procedure is applied.

During the border procedure, the asylum seekers are not allowed to leave the area of the reception centre in which they are ordered to reside without specific permission.

The border authorities can refer an application to the border procedure only if the grounds presented in the application suggest that the Migri can consider the application inadmissible or use an accelerated procedure to process the application.

When the Migri considers an asylum application inadmissible, it will not examine the grounds for the asylum application in an asylum interview. The Migri can rule an application inadmissible if it after conducting a preliminary examination considers that there are no grounds for continuing the examination.

When the Migri applies an accelerated procedure to an application, it is processed faster than usual. If the Migri rejects an application in an accelerated procedure, it can consider the application manifestly unfounded.

The conditions on the basis of which the Migri can consider an application inadmissible or use an accelerated procedure to process an application are specified in the Aliens Act.