Residence permit application for sports or coaching

Apply for a residence permit with this form if you are coming to Finland as an athlete or a coach and you will be undertaking this activity professionally and on a full-time basis. You must also have signed a player agreement or an employment contract with a sports club or similar organization.

Expected processing time for electronic application

First permit 1 month / extended permit 1-2 months
Expected processing time for paper application

First permit 1-2 months / extended permit 1-2 months
Electronic application fee

First permit 380 € / extended permit 160 €
Paper application fee

First permit 480 € / extended permit 430 €

Athlete, coach or trainer

This is what you should do

1

Make sure you meet the requirements for the residence permit you are applying for.

2

Make sure you have all the attachments needed. If necessary, have them translated and legalised. The processing time may be longer if you have not filled in your application sufficiently.

3

Fill in your application.

4

Pay for your application in the online service Enter Finland, at a Finnish mission (embassy or consulate) or at a service point of the Finnish Immigration Service.

5

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

6

Wait for a decision. The Finnish Immigration Service will contact you if necessary.

7

Read what happens after you have applied. Check the estimated processing time of your application here. You can follow the processing of your application with the help of our chatbot Kamu. In addition, you will usually receive automated messages at the different processing stages of your application.

8

You should wait for the residence permit in the same country or locality where you submitted your application and proved your identity.

General requirements for entry into Finland

Make sure you meet the general requirements for entry into Finland before you submit an application.

Requirements

You must also meet the following requirements:

Examples of what makes you a professional:

education in a sports institute or an institution of higher education
membership of a sports club
previous employment in some sport

You must have confirmed employment before you may apply for a residence permit for sports. Your sports club or employer must be located in Finland, and you must be in an employment relationship with them. If you have been offered work by a sports club, the club needs to confirm that you will really be hired. This is usually done in the form of an employment contract.

Income requirement

You must have sufficient financial resources.

If you apply for a residence permit in order to work in Finland, you need to be able to support yourself in Finland with your salary throughout the time your residence permit is valid.
When you apply for an extended permit, the Finnish Immigration Service will check how much you have been paid in salary during the validity of your previous residence permit.

Read more on the page Income requirement.

Right to work

If you are in Finland when you are applying for a residence permit, you have the right to work as a coach, referee or player already before you are granted a residence permit. In this case, you must reside in Finland legally (you have a valid visa or you are allowed to stay in Finland without a visa). However, your right to work will end after three months at the latest, or even earlier if your visa expires. Your right to work only applies to playing, coaching and working as a referee.
Your right to work gives you the right to perform only the work for which you have been granted a residence permit.
If you apply for an extended permit, check if you have the right to work while your application is being processed.

General attachments

Valid passport (you must present it when you submit the residence permit application)
Passport photo complying 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)

Application-specific attachments

Your employment contract or player contract with a sports club or a corresponding employer
Certificates from your previous employers/sports clubs
Certificate of sports club membership
Degree certificate or a corresponding document
Your latest pay certificate (only if you apply for an extended permit)