Student: this is what you should do to apply for a residence permit
If you have received a study place in Finland, you can apply for a residence permit for studies.
You can receive a residence permit for studies if
- you have been admitted to a higher education institution or other educational institution located in Finland and your studies lead to a degree or a vocational qualification.
- you participate in an exchange programme between educational institutions or some other exchange programme. For more information on exchange programmes, please contact your educational institution.
Apply for a residence permit for studies in the Enter Finland online service. Fill in the application carefully and add all the necessary attachments. Make sure that any attachments have been translated into Finnish, Swedish or English.
If your family members are applying with you, make sure that
- documents related to the family relationship have been legalised
- all the attachments have been translated into Finnish, Swedish or English
- the applications contain the necessary reports on adequate financial resources.
Book an appointment to prove your identity
Once you have submitted your application in Enter Finland, book an appointment for identification, i.e., to prove your identity. Book the appointment as soon as possible because embassies or consulates may be busy during the summer when many students are applying for their first residence permit. Check the Ministry for Foreign Affairs’ website Finland abroad (finlandabroad.fi), to see which embassy you should visit to prove your identity.
The embassies of New Delhi, Kathmandu and Abu Dhabi will prioritise residence permit applications for studies in June and July
We prioritise students so that they get to start their studies on time in autumn 2025. Prioritising students means that their family members may not be able to identify themselves at the same time as the main applicant applying for a residence permit for studies.
Due to prioritising students, you may not be able to reserve an appointment for the identification of your entire family. We recommend that family members book an appointment to prove their identity before June or after July.
The embassies of New Delhi, Kathmandu and Abu Dhabi will prioritise residence applications for studies in June and July, as the number of applications of students and their family members has increased significantly in these embassies.
Wait for the decision
At the moment, approximately 75% of those applying for the first residence permit for studies receive a decision within 30 days.
We aim to process the family members’ applications at the same time as the student’s application if the family members have visited to prove their identity at the same time as the student and their applications contain all the necessary information and attachments. We process family members’ applications within 90 days of submitting a fully completed application. A fully completed application means that the application has been duly filled in and contains all the necessary attachments. Documents related to family relationships must also be legalised.
We aim to make a decision on pending applications as soon as possible and process all residence permit applications for studies as urgent. We will contact you if we need more information on your application.
You can follow the current status of the processing of applications on our website. We publish updates on the status of the processing queue every week.
