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.

See the page P-EU permit for more information on how the period of residence is calculated.

3. You have a valid travel document

Read more on the page Passports and other travel documents.

4. You have enough money to live in Finland.

• To be granted a P-EU permit, must have sufficient financial resources. In other words, you and your family members must have enough money for living in Finland. Your income is not sufficient if it is based on social assistance, labour market subsidy or basic unemployment allowance. 
• 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.

Granting a P-EU residence permit may not be possible if you have committed crimes or are suspected of a crime.

In addition, you must meet the general requirements for obtaining a residence permit. See the general requirements for granting a residence permit.

General attachments:

• A valid passport accepted by Finland (um.fi). 
  • You must present your passport when you visit a service point to prove your identity.
• A colour copy of the passport page containing your personal data and all pages that contain notes.
• A passport photo complying with the photo guidelines issued by the police, or a photograph retrieval code you received from a photo shop
  • Photo guidelines (poliisi.fi)
  • The passport photo must be no more than 6 months old.

Application-specific attachments:

• Information about your financial resources

  • You can prove that you have sufficient financial resources by presenting proof of being employed, of having a business, of receiving pension or certain benefits, or of having other funds or assets.

  • The information about your salary and benefits comes directly from the Incomes Register. Therefore, you do not need to attach documents about salaries or benefits to your application.

  • See the application form for further details on what documents you must submit as proof of your income sources.

  • If we need further information from you, we will send you a request for additional information.

• If the application concerns a child under 18 years of age who has two parents or guardians who both have custody of the child, attach to the application a written consent from the other parent or guardian.

  • Consent from the guardians for a passport or a residence permit application for a child (pdf)

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.