From Deportation and an Entry Ban to a New Residence Permit

This case did not move in a straight line. It started with studies in Finland, continued through the cancellation of residence rights, an entry ban and removal from the country, and has now ended with our client receiving a new continuous residence permit and the entry ban being removed.

Our client originally arrived in Finland on the basis of studies. When the studies were not completed as required, the situation became considerably more serious than simply losing a study permit. The Finnish Immigration Service cancelled the residence permit, ordered removal from Finland and imposed an entry ban. Because the residence status of our client’s partner was also dependent on the family situation at the time, the consequences extended to the whole family.

The couple contacted our office after these decisions had already been made. At that point, there was no single application capable of correcting everything. We appealed the matter to the Administrative Court, but at the same time we had to look beyond the existing case and consider how the family could establish a sustainable legal basis for residence in Finland going forward.

The partner’s own circumstances gave us that possibility. While the appeal was pending, an application for an extended residence permit based on employment was submitted for the partner. That application was successful, and a continuous A permit based on employment was granted for four years, from January 2026 until January 2030. This became an important change in the family’s legal position.

The situation of our client, however, did not resolve at the same speed. The protection sought during the appeal process was not sufficient to prevent enforcement, and the removal decision was eventually carried out. Our client had to leave Finland. At that stage, the objective changed from preventing removal to creating a lawful route back to Finland while also dealing with the existing entry ban.

A new residence permit application based on family ties was submitted together with a request concerning the entry ban. The importance of timing and changed circumstances cannot be overstated here. Section 150 c of the Aliens Act allows an entry ban to be cancelled when circumstances have changed or when there is an important personal reason. By this point, the family situation was materially different because the partner had an independent and long-term right of residence in Finland based on employment. The protection of family life under Article 8 of the European Convention on Human Rights also formed part of the authority’s assessment.

The process took roughly a year, but on 7 August 2026 the Finnish Immigration Service finally removed the entry ban, expressly referring to the changed circumstances and taking into account the family’s overall situation and the protection of family life. On the same date, our client was granted a continuous A residence permit on the basis of family ties as the spouse of a foreign national residing in Finland. The permit also provides unrestricted right to work.

This was not a case where one negative decision was simply overturned, and everything returned to how it had been before. The circumstances had changed, and the legal strategy had to change with them. The partner established an independent right to remain in Finland through employment, while our client complied with the removal decision and continued the process from abroad until there was a lawful basis for the family to reunite.

A cancellation of a residence permit, deportation or even an entry ban can feel final when the decision arrives. Sometimes it is not. What matters is understanding what can still be challenged, what must be accepted for the moment, and whether changed circumstances can later create a completely new legal position.

For this family, after a very long and difficult process, that new position has now been recognised.