Finland Visa & Permit Refusals 2026 — Appealing Migri Decisions to the Administrative Court and KHO

Normally 30 days from the date you are notified of the decision. The appeal instructions (valitusosoitus) attached to every decision name the competent regional Administrative Court, list the required attachments and explain how to file — electronically via the courts' e-service or in writing. The deadline is strict: administrative courts cannot extend it, and a late appeal is dismissed without examining the merits. Note that the clock runs from notification (for example, when you receive the decision electronically in Enter Finland or by post with a deemed-service rule), not from the decision date printed on the letter, so check the notification details carefully.

The Administrative Court fee is EUR 310 for cases filed on or after 1 January 2025 (it was EUR 270 before). No fee is charged at all if the court changes the decision in your favour, if you have been granted legal aid, or in international protection matters under the Aliens Act. A further appeal to the Supreme Administrative Court costs EUR 610 under the same exemptions. Your own legal costs are normally yours to bear unless the court orders otherwise, so weigh the EUR 310 against simply filing a corrected new application to Migri, which is often the cheaper and faster route for evidence-based refusals.

Usually not. The court reviews the lawfulness of Migri's decision: it either rejects your appeal or sets the decision aside and returns the matter to Migri for reprocessing. If the case is returned, Migri must decide it again in line with the court's reasoning — which in practice often leads to a positive decision, but only after a further round at Migri. This is why the appeal route suits disputes about legal assessment (was the income calculated correctly, were the family ties properly weighed), while pure documentation problems are better fixed by filing a fresh, complete application immediately.

Ask what caused the refusal. If it was a curable fact — salary below the threshold, a missing employer attachment, an unlegalised certificate — a new application with the corrected evidence is usually faster than the Administrative Court queue and costs only the application fee. If the dispute is about Migri's interpretation — how your income was assessed, whether your relationship is genuine, whether an exception applies — an appeal is the right tool, because a new application would meet the same reasoning. The two are not exclusive: you can appeal within the 30 days to preserve your rights and file a new application in parallel.

Structurally limited: KHO only takes immigration cases if it grants leave to appeal, mainly where a precedent-setting question, a manifest error or another especially weighty reason exists. The majority of leave applications are refused, making the regional Administrative Court the decisive instance in most permit disputes. The application for leave and appeal must be filed within 30 days of the Administrative Court's decision, and the KHO fee is EUR 610 (waived if you win, with legal aid, or in international protection cases). Build your best case at the Administrative Court stage rather than holding arguments back for KHO.

No. Migri's processing fee covers the handling of the application, not the outcome, and it is not returned on refusal — nor credited against a new application, which carries a fresh fee. This makes front-loading the application worthwhile: meet the income figure exactly as Migri counts it (gross money salary, excluding fringe benefits), have foreign documents apostilled or legalised and translated by an authorised translator before filing, and make sure your employer completes its Enter Finland tasks on time. The court fee operates differently: EUR 310, but charged only if you lose the appeal and no exemption applies.