Image: Jouni Immonen / Yle

The Finnish Immigration Service Migri has said that more than 1,000 international students are awaiting residence permit extensions so they can continue their studies in Finland. In a release issued on Friday, the agency said that 1,075 students were still waiting to have their permits extended and that applications that it received on 26 June were waiting to be processed.

Migri also noted on Friday that another 1,035 students were waiting for first-time permits to begin studying at various universities and universities of applied sciences or polytechnics. In those cases the agency said, applications that arrived on 25 June were next in the processing queue.

Migri: Insufficient staff processing applications

Migri added that all student residence permits were being processed as matters of urgency. the organisation has come under close scrutiny over what some describe as gratuitously long processing times.

In Yle News’ All Points North podcast on the subject last week, Migri Senior Officer Leena Turku said that delays this year were due to summer workers taking up their duties later than usual in mid-June rather than at the beginning of the month.

On Monday, Migri said in a release that delays were caused in part by insufficient staff processing students’ applications. It also noted that the number of student applications received this year rose seven percent compared to last year.