Residence permit for athletes, coaches and referees

1. You are a professional athlete, coach, or referee.

Your employer has ensured that you have the necessary professional ability. The employer must provide an explanation showing that this criterion is met when supplementing your application by filling in your terms of employment.  

2. You have a job, or pursue a trade or business in Finland.

If you have a job, your employer must supplement your application by filling in your terms of employment either online in Enter Finland for Employers or by using the paper form.

3. You must have a sufficient level of income in Finland during the entire period of validity of your residence permit.

• Your income must come mainly from the work for which you are granted a residence permit. 
• You may work in paid employment or pursue a trade or business without establishing a company.
  • If you are an athlete:
    • Your salary from sports must be at least EUR 1,045 per month and at least EUR 12,550 per season or year.
    • If your income comes from pursuing a trade or business, or from a combination of paid employment and pursuing a trade or business, your income from sports must be at least EUR 1,045 per month in 2023.
  • If you are a coach or referee:
    • If your livelihood is based on income from employment, your salary must be no lower than the salary specified in the relevant collective agreement. 
    • If there is no collective agreement in your sector or if you work part-time, your salary must be at least 1,331 euros per month in 2023.
    • If your income comes from pursuing a trade or business, or from a combination of paid employment and pursuing a trade or business, your income must be at least 1,331 euros per month in 2023.
• Your employer may pay part of your salary as fringe benefits, such as an accommodation benefit or company car. Fringe benefits are taken into account according to their taxable value. See the website of the Finnish Tax Administration for more information about the taxable values of fringe benefits (in Finnish).
• Read more on the page Income requirement.
• When you apply for an extended permit, the Finnish Immigration Service verifies that you have earned a sufficient amount in salaries and income. 

In order to be granted a residence permit, you must also meet the general requirements for issuing residence permits. See also the general requirements for granting a residence permit.

Have the attachments translated and legalised if needed.

General attachments

• Valid passport (you must present it when you submit the residence permit application)
• Passport photocomplying with the photo guidelines issued by the police or a photograph retrieval code you received from a photo shop, OLEL_PK
• Colour copies of the passport page containing personal data and of all passport pages that contain notes
• Document showing that you are legally staying in the country where you submit the application
• Form MP_1 (if you already are in Finland and apply for your first residence permit)

If you pursue a trade or business, attach to your application

• your contracts with clients, or 
• an explanation of how you will engage in business activities if you have not signed any contracts with clients.

You can fill in the application online in Enter Finland. The fee for an online application is lower than for a paper application. If you apply for your first residence permit in Enter Finland, you might not need to visit a service point when you apply for an extended permit.

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

If you apply for a residence permit online in Enter Finland, you need to pay the processing fee  

• with a credit card or with Finnish online banking credentials when you submit your application, or
• when you visit a Finnish embassy or consulate abroad or a service point of the Finnish Immigration Service in Finland to prove your identity.  

If you apply for a residence permit with a paper application, you need to pay the processing fee

• when you visit a Finnish embassy or consulate abroad or a service point of the Finnish Immigration Service in Finland to prove your identity.

• If you are abroad, book an appointment at a Finnish mission (embassy or consulate).
• If you are in Finland, book an appointment at a service point of the Finnish Immigration Service.

When you apply for an extended permit, you may avoid the need to visit a service point to prove your identity if you log in to your existing Enter Finland account using Finnish online banking credentials. Read more on the page Identification.

For more information, see: 

• Handling your matters at a Finnish mission
• Handling matters at a service point of the Finnish Immigration Service

• If you applied online in Enter Finland, you will receive notifications of your application's progress and of possible 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 possible requests for additional information by email.

For more information, see: Processing of applications

You can follow the processing of your application with the help of our chatbot, Kamu, by giving Kamu the diary number of your application. Kamu will also tell you the expected processing time of your application. 

For more information, see: What affects the processing time of your application