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Residence permit application for studies

Apply for a residence permit with this application if you are moving to Finland to study and you have been accepted as a student at an educational institution in Finland. The educational institution can be a university, a university of applied sciences, a general upper secondary school or a vocational education institution. You may apply for a residence permit for studies, if

  • your studies lead to a degree or a vocational qualification, or
  • you are coming to Finland as an exchange student.

You cannot be granted a residence permit for studies, if your studies mainly consist of distance learning online and do not require you to stay in Finland. If you wish to visit Finland for a shorter period of time, find out whether you can get a visa. For information on extended permits, see the page Extended permit for studies.

Before applying, watch our video about students’ residence permits. The video will show you how to apply for a student’s residence permit in Finland. 

  • Expected processing time for electronic application

    First permit 1 month

  • Expected processing time for paper application

    First permit 3 months

  • Electronic application fee

    First permit 350 €

  • Electronic application fee, minor holder

    First permit 240 €

  • Paper application fee

    First permit 450 €

  • Paper application fee, minor holder

    First permit 270 €

You can apply for a D visa at the same time as you apply for a residence permit. The D visa allows you to travel to Finland immediately after you have been issued with a residence permit and a D visa sticker has been attached to your passport. You should apply for a D visa only if you can travel to Finland within two weeks of being granted a residence permit, because you need to be able to collect your residence permit card from a collection point in Finland.

With a D visa, you can arrive in Finland during a time period of 100 days before the residence permit becomes valid. The validity period of your D visa needs to overlap with the validity period of your residence permit for at least one day. Please note that if you apply for a residence permit long before your studies begin, it may not necessarily be possible to grant you a D visa together with the residence permit. In such cases, it is possible that your card is delivered to Finland but you are not necessarily able to collect it from the collection point in Finland. If this happens, someone else can pick up the card for you. Read more about the D visa.

This is what you should do

Prepare:

Fill in the application:

You may work in paid employment for a maximum of 30 hours per week on average

If you have been granted a residence permit for studies, you are allowed to work in paid employment in any field for an average of 30 hours per week. The number of working hours can be exceeded some weeks, as long as the average working hours are no more than 30 hours per week at the end of the year.

  • During holidays, for example, you may work full-time in any field, provided that your average working hours are no more than 30 hours per week at the end of the year. 

In other words, you may work for an average of 120 hours per month or a total of 1,560 hours per year.

If your degree requires completing internships or a diploma work, the working time restrictions do not apply to them. In other words, the weekly 30-hour limit is not applied to them if it has been agreed already while making the agreement that you will earn credits from them. If the work is registered afterwards as an internship included in your studies, the 30-hour limit will apply.

Your employer checks how many hours your residence permit allows you to work. Both you and your employer are responsible for ensuring that the maximum number of hours is not exceeded. The authority responsible for overseeing working times is the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (tyosuojelu.fi).

If your residence permit was granted before the legislative amendments that entered into force on 15 April 2022, you have the same right to work as those who have a new residence permit. In other words, you may work for 30 hours per week on average.

Your residence permit can be either an A permit or a B permit

If you are coming to Finland to pursue 

  • a higher education degree, you will be granted an A permit, that is, a continuous residence permit.
  • a degree other than a higher education degree, you will be granted a B permit, that is, a temporary residence permit. B permits are also granted to exchange students.

You can change your B permit to an A permit if 

  • you study for a degree at a higher education institution in Finland
  • you meet the other conditions for the residence permit, and
  • you submit a new residence permit application.

If your studies do not lead to a higher education degree, you cannot get an A permit. 

Read more about residence permit types.

Residence permit application for studies, OLE_OPI

Fill in an electronic application

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