To facilitate a swift identification process for Pakistani students facing issues with entering United Arab Emirates, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA) of Finland accepts student residence permit applications at VFS Doha, Qatar from July 9 until August 6, 2025.
This special arrangement only applies to student residence permit applicants. Family members of student applicants and any other applicants are to continue to schedule their identification appointments as normal at VFS Abu Dhabi.
Key points:
- Student applicants, who are on the VFS Abu Dhabi waiting list, have automatically been scheduled an identification appointment at VFS Doha and will be contacted by email by the Embassy of Finland in Abu Dhabi.
- Students who have already secured an appointment at VFS Abu Dhabi, but want to reschedule to VFS Doha, can contact the Embassy of Finland in Abu Dhabi by email by Friday, July 11, 2025 to inquire about student appointment slots at VFS Doha. If there are available slots, they will be contacted by email with further instructions.
- The offered appointment slot at VFS Doha cannot be rescheduled due to the high volumes and limited slots. Those who do not accept the offered slot at VFS Doha, will need to book a new appointment at VFS Abu Dhabi.
- Residence permit cards will be delivered to the embassy of Finland in Abu Dhabi for the applicants who have completed identification at VFS Doha. The Embassy of Finland in Abu Dhabi will contact applicants when their residence permit card has arrived, and they will be instructed on the card delivery options.
To guarantee a smooth and quick identification visit at VFS Doha, the residence permit application fee should be paid online at Enter Finland before the identification appointment.
In addition, the MFA strongly advises applicants not to apply for a D visa. If D visa is requested, the applicant will need to provide their passport to the Embassy of Finland in Abu Dhabi for the D visa sticker printing.
Appointment bookings for VFS Doha after July 11, 2025 will not be accepted.
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