How applications for basic social assistance are processed

Kela will usually review your application within seven working days (Monday to Friday) of receiving it along with all the necessary supporting documents.

If your application is incomplete, you will be asked to supply the necessary supporting documents. In that case, your application will be decided within seven working days (Monday to Friday) of the day on which the documents arrived at Kela.

We may also contact you by phone if we believe that you could be granted assistance for a longer period of time. Any calls from Kela will usually come from an 020 number.

Example

If an application for social assistance arrives at Kela on a Monday, your application will be decided on Wednesday the following week, at the latest, unless there is a mid-week holiday or there are other equivalent days in between.

  • 12 January 2021 The application arrives at Kela.      
  • 21 January 2021 The last processing day at Kela. The payment will be in your bank account within two banking days of the date of the decision.
  • 25 January 2021 The social assistance payment is deposited to your account.

How urgent applications are processed

In urgent situations, you must either telephone or visit a Kela customer service point and state the reasons for the urgency. Your application may, for example, be urgent if your circumstances change unexpectedly in a way that it was not possible to foresee.

If Kela considers your application to be urgent, it will be processed on the day on which the application arrived or on the following working day. The payment will be in your bank account within two banking days of the date of the decision. In urgent situations, you can also be given a voucher to pay for medicines or groceries. Medication vouchers are transmitted from Kela electronically to the pharmacy. Food vouchers can be picked up at the nearest Kela customer service point or, if so agreed, for example at the municipal social services office.

Check the status of your application in the online customer service

Visit Kela's e-service to see whether your application has been decided and when the benefit you have applied for will be paid. Log in to the e-service (available in Finnish and Swedish only) using your online banking credentials or a mobile ID.