Challenges for African students to get study permits

I will like to start this story about the challenges people from Africa face when they gain admission to study. Finland has one embassy serving the western part of Africa. People who wish to travel for studies have to travel to Nigeria the only embassy in the region.

The trip is stressful and expensive for a lot of people. Secondly, the whole RP process can be slow and very stressful.

I waited for 16 months to get a response on an application which was refused eventually on the basis that I was living the country illegally. However, at the time of application, I had a permit valid RP for the next twelve months. But, the processing took so long that the permit was expired by the time they started processing. I had filled a second work permit to avoid that from happening but Covid happened and I could not get appointment to the office. My waiting period interrupted my work which caused huge financial stress. They tell you wait until you get a response because your permit can be refused. Finland is not the cheapest place to live as we all know. If the processing time can be shortened, people will know their status early and make preparations to go back to their home country if necessary.

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Please sign the petition: bit.ly/ReformMigri