Application for a long-term resident’s EU residence permit for third-country nationals

1. You are staying in Finland legally. You must hold one of the following permits and the permit must be valid:

• a continuous residence permit (A permit)
• a permanent residence permit (P permit)
• a residence card of a family member of an EU citizen
• right of residence under the withdrawal agreement (Brexit permit).

2. You have lived legally in Finland for a continuous period of 5 years immediately before submitting the application.

You must have lived in Finland for a continuous period of at least 5 years under one of the following permits:

• continuous residence permit (A permit)
• permanent residence permit (P permit)
• residence card for a family member of an EU citizen
• right of residence under the withdrawal agreement (Brexit permit).

If you have an EU Blue Card, your period of residence in Finland may in some cases also include residence in another EU country. See the page Period of residence requirement for more information on the continuity of your residence and on how to calculate your period of residence.

3. You and your family have enough money to live in Finland.

• You must have sufficient financial resources for living in Finland. When we assess your income, the grounds for your earlier residence permit or right of residence in Finland are not relevant. Family members of Finnish citizens and beneficiaries of international protection, for example, are required to have sufficient financial resources, too, when they apply for a P-EU permit.

4. Granting a P-EU permit is not necessarily possible if you have committed crimes or are suspected of a crime. 

For more information, see the page Impact of crimes on getting a permanent residence permit.  

See also the general requirements for entry into the country on the page Permanent residence permits.

The documents must be legalised, unless they have been issued by authorities of the Nordic countries or by authorities of an EU Member State. For instructions on how to have your documents legalised, see the page Interpretation, translation and legalisation.

Attachments

1. Copy of valid national passport and a passport photo

• You are usually required to have a valid passport issued by your country of nationality. If you have been granted an alien’s passport for the purpose of obtaining a national passport, obtain a national passport as soon as possible.

If you have been granted international protection, you are not required to have a national passport. For more information on the passport requirement, see the page Passports and other travel documents. 

• You must have a passport photo that complies with the passport photograph instructions issued by the police, or a photograph retrieval code from a photo shop. Read more on the website of the Finnish police (poliisi.fi).
  • The passport photo must be no more than 6 months old.

2. Documents on your financial resources in Finland

Provide proof of your financial resources. The application form states what documents you must submit as proof of your income and financial resources. What documents you must provide depends on how you will secure sufficient financial resources for yourself in Finland.

• Examples of possible income sources:
  • Your or your partner’s paid employment or business activities.
  • Your or your partner’s pension, assets or other income (such as rental income or income from dividends). 

When you apply for a P-EU permit for your child, the source of the sufficient financial resources may be the salary of the parent or guardian who lives in Finland or income from business activities, for example. 

3. Consent of the other person who has custody of the child if you apply for a P-EU permit for a child

• The other person who has custody of the child must fill in the form Consent from the guardians for a passport or a residence permit application for a child (pdf). Attach the form to the application. 
• If one of the persons who have custody of the child lives outside Finland / If the other person who has custody of the child lives outside Finland, the consent must be confirmed by a notary public or a similar authority.
• If there is no other person who has custody of the child, attach free-form proof of this to the application.

1. You are staying in Finland legally. You must hold one of the following permits and the permit must be valid:

• a continuous residence permit (A permit)
• a permanent residence permit (P permit)
• a residence card of a family member of an EU citizen
• right of residence under the withdrawal agreement (Brexit permit).

2. You have resided legally in Finland for 5 years immediately before submitting the application.

You must have lived in Finland for a continuous period of at least 5 years under one of the following permits:

• a continuous residence permit (A permit)
• a permanent residence permit (P permit)
• a residence card for a family member of an EU citizen
• right of residence under the withdrawal agreement (Brexit permit).

If you have an EU Blue Card, your period of residence in Finland may in some cases also include residence in another EU country. See the page Period of residence requirement for more information on the continuity of your residence and on how to calculate your period of residence. 

3. The level of your Finnish or Swedish language skills is good (level B2). 

The level good corresponds to level B2 of the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages (YKI intermediate level grade 4, or good oral and written skills in the Civil Service Language Proficiency Certificate test). 

You can prove your language skills by completing one of the following:

• a language proficiency test (National Certificate of Language Proficiency (YKI) or a Civil Service Language Proficiency Certificate)
• Finnish primary and lower secondary education (‘peruskoulu’)
• Finnish general upper secondary education (‘lukio’)
• Finnish initial vocational qualification (‘ammatillinen perustutkinto’)
• Finnish further vocational qualification (‘ammattitutkinto’) or specialist vocational qualification (‘erikoisammattitutkinto’)
• studies in the Finnish or Swedish language as part of your degree at a Finnish higher education institution
• a maturity test in Finnish or Swedish as part of your degree at a Finnish higher education institution.

For more information, see the page Language skills requirement. Read more about the language proficiency tests on the website of the National Agency for Education (oph.fi).

You may be exempted from the language skills requirement only if there are exceptionally serious grounds for making an exception in your case. 

4. You and your family have enough money to live in Finland.

• You must have sufficient financial resources for living in Finland. The grounds for your earlier residence permit or right of residence in Finland do not affect the requirement for sufficient financial resources. Beneficiaries of international protection and family members of Finnish citizens, for example, are required to have sufficient financial resources, too.

5. Granting a P-EU permit is not necessarily possible if you have committed crimes or are suspected of a crime. 

• For more information, see the page Impact of crimes on getting a permanent residence permit.  

See also the general requirements for entry into the country on the page Permanent residence permits.

Check the application form to see which attachments are required and submit the documents that are relevant to your situation.  

The documents must be legalised, unless they have been issued by authorities of the Nordic countries or by authorities of an EU Member State. For instructions on how to have your documents legalised, see the page Interpretation, translation and legalisation.

When you apply for a P-EU permit for a child, submit the [corresponding/relevant] attachments together with the child’s application as well. 

When you visit a service point of the Finnish Immigration Service, bring with you the original documents.

Attachments:

1. Copy of valid national passport and a passport photo

• You are usually required to have a valid passport issued by your country of nationality. If you have been granted an alien’s passport for the purpose of obtaining a national passport, obtain a national passport as soon as possible.

If you have been granted international protection, you are not required to have a national passport. For more information on the passport requirement, see the page Passports and other travel documents. 

• You must have a passport photo that complies with the passport photograph instructions issued by the police, or a photograph retrieval code from a photo shop. Read more on the website of the Finnish police (poliisi.fi).
  • The passport photo must be no more than 6 months old.

2. Documents on your financial resources in Finland

Provide proof of your financial resources. The application form states what documents you must submit as proof of your income and financial resources. What documents you must provide depends on how you will secure sufficient financial resources for yourself in Finland.

• Examples of possible income sources:
  • Your or your partner’s paid employment or business activities.
  • Your or your partner’s pension, assets or other income (such as rental income or income from dividends). 

When you apply for a P-EU permit for your child, the source of the sufficient financial resources may be the salary of the parent or guardian who lives in Finland or income from business activities, for example. 

3. Certificate proving that the level of your Finnish or Swedish language skills is good

• Submit a copy of the certificate. Read more about which certificates can be accepted as proof of your language skills on the page Language skills requirement.

4. Consent of the other person who has custody of the child if you apply for a P-EU permit for a child

• The other person who has custody of the child must fill in the form Consent from the guardians for a passport or a residence permit application for a child (pdf). Attach the form to the application. 
• If one of the persons who have custody of the child lives outside Finland / If the other person who has custody of the child lives outside Finland, the consent must be confirmed by a notary public or a similar authority.
• If there is no other person who has custody of the child, attach free-form proof of this to the application.

Fill in the application form in the online service Enter Finland. Online applications are more affordable than paper applications, and you may be able to avoid having to visit a service point. 

If you cannot use Enter Finland, fill in a paper application. You will find a link to the application at the bottom of this page.

If you apply online, pay the processing fee with a credit card or with Finnish online banking credentials when you submit the application via Enter Finland.

If you apply with a paper form, pay the processing fee when you visit a service point of the Finnish Immigration Service to prove your identity.

Book an appointment for a service point of the Finnish Immigration Service in our appointment system (migri.vihta.com).

If you submitted the application on Enter Finland, you will receive notifications of your application's progress and of any requests for additional information by email and text message.

If you applied on paper, you will receive notifications of your application's progress and of any requests for additional information by email.

See the expected processing time on the page Processing times.