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Are you going to begin your studies in early 2020? Apply online in Enter Finland

Publication date 3.12.2019 8.41
Press release

As the end of the year is drawing close, many students are applying for a residence permit for their student exchange in Finland. If you are due to begin your studies in early 2020, you should apply for a residence permit as soon as your admission to a Finnish educational institution has been confirmed.

The easiest way to apply is to use the online service Enter Finland. Using Enter Finland, you can also submit all the necessary attachments. For further instructions, see the page Studying in Finland.

In addition, we have recorded a useful webinar on residence permits for studying in Finland which you can watch on our website.

Applications from students beginning their studies in the spring semester are coming in

The majority of the residence permit applications from students who come to Finland from non-EU countries and who started their studies this autumn have been decided. Between 1 June and 31 October 2019, a total of 7,606 decisions were issued. Out of these decisions, 4,155 were for students who applied for their first residence permit, and 88 per cent of these decisions were positive. During the same period, a total of 3,451 applications for an extended permit were decided, and 97 per cent of the decisions were positive.

During 2019, a total of 9,904 applications have been submitted by students. Of the applications submitted, 5,339 were applications for a first residence permit for studies and 4,565 were applications for an extended permit.

At present, there are approximately 1,380 pending applications. More applications are coming in all the time. Most of the applications that are currently pending are from students who will begin their studies in early 2020.

However, there are still pending applications from students who were due to begin their studies this autumn. We aim to decide all applications as soon as possible.

The processing of your application may sometimes take longer, for instance if the Finnish Immigration Service has requested additional information from you. This is often the case if we need additional information about your financial resources.

Statistics on residence permit applications from students: migri.fi/statistics

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