Residence permits to Finland
If you want to stay in Finland for a longer period than three months, you need a residence permit. Nationals of an EU member state, Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway or Switzerland do not need a residence permit to come to Finland.
How to apply for a residence permit
- You can apply for a residence permit in Finland if you have a job, a student place or a family member in Finland.
- Apply for a residence permit before you arrive in Finland. According to the EU visa rules, one of the requirements for granting a Schengen visa is that the person must leave the Schengen area before the visa expires. For this reason, a visa cannot be granted to a person who has come to Finland in order to obtain a residence permit or to wait for the decision on a pending residence permit. This rule also applies to family members of Finnish citizens.
- As the resident permit applicant, you must file the application yourself.
- Go to the Finnish Immigration Service’s Application Finder to choose the right application.
- Apply for a residence permit in the Finnish Immigration Service’s online service Enter Finland. You can also submit a paper application.
- Fill in the residence permit application carefully. Make sure that you have included the right appendices.
- After you have filled in the application online, book an appointment to prove your identity. You must prove your identity with a travel document (passport). Other documents may also be requested. You will receive more detailed information when you book your appointment. Having filled in an application for a residence permit, book an appointment for providing your biometric information (your signature, photograph and fingerprints).
- A Finnish mission or a VFS Application Centre may be located in a country other than where you are staying. Be prepared that you may need to apply for a visa to visit that country.
- Go to the mission or the VFS Application Centre, prove your identity and pay the fee charged for a residence permit application together with a possible VFS service fee. You can also pay the residence permit application fee as an online payment as you submit your application in Enter Finland. The fee will not be refunded even if you cancel your application or your application is rejected.
- Next, your application will move to the Finnish Immigration Service’s processing queue.
- If you submitted your application in Enter Finland, you can follow the processing in the online service.
- Processing the application takes time. You may be asked to provide further information and be invited to an interview. Please be patient, all applications will be processed. You can follow the processing of your application on the Finnish Immigration Service’s website.
- You will be informed once the decision has been made.
- If you receive a favourable decision, your residence permit card will be delivered to you to the same place where you submitted your application. A negative decision means that you were not considered to have sufficient grounds for obtaining a residence permit.
- For more information on residence permit applications, please visit the website of the Finnish Immigration Service at migri.fi.
Guide for Students
When you are applying for your first residence permit for your studies, check out the guide for students. In the guide you can easily find the information you need. The guide will also help you make a checklist of the attachments you need for your application.
Guide for studentsGuide for an employed person
When you are applying for your first residence permit for an employed person, check out the guide for employed persons. In the guide you can easily find the information you need. The guide will also help you make a checklist of the attachments you need for your application.
Guide for an employed person
If you encounter problems at work, you can find information on the work-related rights and obligations in Finland, and instructions on how to proceed, on the website of the Finnish Immigration Service (Migri).
Loss of residence permit card
If your Finnish residence permit card has been lost, stolen or expired, you may apply for a D visa for return to Finland if your residence permit is valid. To apply for a D visa, you must visit the Finnish mission in person and present there proof of the loss of your card.
You must report a lost or stolen card to the authorities of the country where your card was lost or stolen.
Read more about the D visa on the website of the Finnish Immigration Service (Migri).
Expired residence permit
If your residence permit has expired while you have been abroad, apply for a new residence permit at a Finnish diplomatic or consular mission. A visa cannot be granted for this purpose, because the return requirement set out in the Visa Code is not met. A visa may be granted only in situations referred to in the Visa Code, such as in a serious humanitarian situation – not because the applicant is in a hurry, has lost his or her air ticket or cannot pay the residence permit fee, for example.
If a mission cannot grant a visa under the Visa Code, you must apply for a residence permit before returning to Finland.
Fast track for holders of a D visa who have been issued with a residence permit
You can be issued with a D visa for Finland if you are applying for one of the following:
- a residence permit for a specialist
- an EU Blue Card
- a residence permit for startup entrepreneur
- a residence permit for intra-corporate transferee (ICT)
- a residence permit for work in senior or middle management
- a residence permit for studies
- a residence permit for research
- a residence permit for family member of an applicant for one of the above permits.
Citizens of countries exempt from visa requirement do not need a D visa.
For more information, please visit the website of the Finnish Immigration Service.
Where to apply for a residence permit?
Apply for a residence permit at the Finland Visa Application Centre in Ankara.
Instructions on applying a residence permit can be found on the website of the Embassy of Finland in Ankara.