– It feels sad and difficult that you have to fight for something all the time, says the Espoo native of Afghan origin Naim Panahi.
Panahi has struggled for eight years to be accepted as a Finn. More than four years passed before he received – after complaints – asylum and a permanent residence permit. Right after that, in 2020, he applied for citizenship and is still waiting for a decision.
In 2022, he received a negative decision on his citizenship application and is now waiting for a decision on his appeal. If it is negative, he can apply for citizenship again only after seven years. has seen the documents of the application process.
According to Panah, it is mentally difficult to wait all the time to see if there will be a positive decision or not.
– I can’t even dream of going to study to be a police officer or vote or become a candidate or do military service, even though I feel like a Finn.
Panah’s story is not exceptional. Some receive a decision from the Immigration Office Migri in a few months, but some have waited more than two years. If you complain about a negative decision, the waiting time will add up to years.
Another busy summer at Migri
In October, Migri announcedthat the expected processing time for citizenship applications is 6–28 months.
In August, the oldest applications still being processed were from 2020. There were approximately 12,000 applications pending for more than 9 months.
This year, by September, Migri had solutions for 8,900 applications. About 700 of them were resolved within three months.
According to Migri, the processing has become congested simply because there have been many applications. By mid-September had applied for citizenship 12,100 people, while last year the number was around 13,000.
– There have probably never been as many applications as recently, says the manager of the results area Kristiina Simonen From Migri’s citizenship unit.
In 2015, a record number of asylum seekers came to Finland, many of whose citizenship applications have now been processed.
– Many did not have identity documents, and it has taken on average more time than usual to find out their identity, says Simonen.
In addition, the number of citizenship applications almost doubled between June and July.
– Generally, there have been about a thousand applications per month. Now there were 1,800 of them in both months, says Simonen.
The government is tightening the conditions of citizenship, plans include a citizenship test. Simonen thinks that many applicants wanted to make sure that they could submit an application according to the old conditions.
When there is a long queue of applications, some of the statements in the oldest have time to expire. Requesting new reports slows down the processing of the check, says Simonen.
He believes that the backlog will be cleared only in the middle of next year.
“Unreasonable”
– A processing time stretching up to two years is by no means reasonable, says the leading jurist Marjaana Laine from Pakolaisneuvonta ry, which provides legal advice and legal aid.
According to the law, long processing times are not an exception, but are repeated from time to time.
Already at the beginning of the 2000s the chancellor of justice gave remarks to the foreigner’s office at that time about the lengthening of processing times for citizenship applications. He stated that according to the constitution everyone has the right to have their case dealt with without undue delay.
When a person already has a permanent residence permit, he can live in Finland, even if he does not get citizenship. However, citizenship is important both practically and spiritually, Laine states.
Citizenship affects electoral rights and how to get family members to Finland. Citizenship is also required to perform military service and to work in individual professions, such as police.
In Laine’s opinion, the experience of being accepted as a full member of society is especially important.
– If the background is a prolonged residence permit or asylum process, the individual feels that he is not wanted in this society. This message may come up again when applying for citizenship.
According to Laine, it does not make sense in terms of society or integration.
Even Migrin Simonen does not consider the longest processing times to be reasonable. His opinion is that a decision should be made in six months.
The vast majority of citizenship applications are accepted. A decision to reject has received in recent years 10–15 percent of applicants.
“Too strict an interpretation”
Migri has received additional resources from time to time due to congestion, but Laine of Refugee Counseling believes that sufficient resources should be secured permanently. He does not see long processing times as the only problem.
– From time to time, it seems that the matter is made complicated, and the application is rejected due to even very small details.
Laine would like consideration that better takes into account the individual situation of the applicant, above all, when interpreting the requirements for establishing identity and language skills for those receiving international protection.
– There are many refugees who do not even know their exact date of birth, because in all countries it is not recorded accurately.
Laine considers it a big problem how Migri interprets that the applicant would have given conflicting information about his identity at some point.
For example, if an applicant tries to correct a wrongly marked date of birth in a refugee camp in Finland, he or she is considered to have appeared under different identities, and the identity is considered unclear.
In this case, citizenship is not granted. He can apply for it again only when ten years have passed since he was registered in the Finnish population register, i.e. he received a residence permit.
Laine says that better consideration should be given to whether the ambiguity regarding identity is related to refugee status and whether there is such a big difference in the information that, based on it, the identity changes to another.
Panahi ran into the age assessment for the second time
Naim Panahi also encountered his identity being considered unclear when he applied for asylum. In 2017, Migri ordered an age assessment for him, i.e. a forensic age examination. Panahi was defined as 18 years old. He himself said that he was 16 years old at the time, according to the information he received from his parents.
Migri felt that he could be returned to Afghanistan.
– An adult is easier to return, says Panahi.
After complaints, Panahi received asylum, but on different grounds. Migri considered that he has westernized to such an extent and has used his freedom of speech to such an extent and has been actively influencing things that he is not safe in Afghanistan.
When Panahi applied for citizenship after receiving asylum, the age assessment made in 2017 became an obstacle again: Migri considered that the identity had not been sufficiently established.
If he loses the appeal, he can apply for citizenship again in 2030.
Panahi has received a Finnish professional education, speaks fluent Finnish and earns a living in the healthcare industry.
Laine points out that used in Finland forensic age examination does not indicate chronological age.
Also the Supreme Administrative Court has stated, that an age survey cannot provide accurate information or even a completely reliable estimate of the applicant’s age. However, according to KHO, the research can be taken into account as one factor when assessing the clarity of identity.
The interpretation of learning difficulties is also confusing
Laine also criticizes Migri’s interpretation regarding the deviation from the language proficiency requirement as a condition for citizenship. On demand can be deviated fromif a person shows that he cannot learn the language sufficiently.
For example, torture, other trauma and illness make learning difficult, but there are not enough courses that take special needs into account, says Laine. When applying for citizenship, a teacher’s certificate of participation in education and that the applicant is not able to learn Finnish or Swedish is still required. In addition, a medical certificate is required that the health condition is permanent.
According to Laine, Migri interprets permanence unreasonably, even if it has been shown that the person will not learn the language.
– We see unreasonable negative decisions, most of which are related to the language proficiency requirement or identity verification.
In Laine’s opinion, the applicant’s situation should be better taken into account and the provisions of the law should be clarified.
– It is worrying that the government program is going in the other direction.
As an example, he cites the fact that the act is about to be removed from the law, according to which the period of stay in the country of a recipient of international protection is calculated from the arrival in Finland and the application for protection. The purpose of the legislation is that the acquisition of citizenship should not be affected by how long it takes to obtain a residence permit.
According to the new government program only a stay with a residence permit is accepted as a residence period.
– Let’s propose something that is stupid from the point of view of society if we want to get people to integrate here. Laws required by Finland’s international obligations and ensuring equal treatment should not be removed, Laine believes.
He also finds it worrying if the uncertainty of people who want to stay here is increased.
– There are also young people who are perfectly integrated and speak Finnish well, who are starting to think about whether they want to stay. We are losing these people, says Laine.
Panahiki would also like Migri to investigate the issues more fairly and personally.
– There would be no need to waste my and the authorities’ resources, he says. The process has become expensive for him with application and appeal costs.
Panahi works as a nurse and is studying to become a paramedic.
It saddens him that he has to fight about things all the time and at the same time it is said that immigrants come here, do nothing and just use the shit.