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Residence permit application on the basis of family ties when your cohabiting partner is a Finnish citizen

Apply for a residence permit with this application if: 

  • your partner is a Finnish citizen and
  • you are cohabiting partners.
    • Being cohabiting partners means that you and your partner have lived together a in marriage-like relationship for at least two years. The requirement of having lived together for at least two years does not apply if you and your partner have joint custody of a child or if there are other serious reasons for an exception.

  • Expected processing times:

    Processing times

  • Electronic application fee

    530 €

  • Paper application fee

    580 €

Permit requirements for applications submitted before 16 June 2025

Make sure you meet the following requirements and the general requirements for entry into Finland. See the general requirements for entry into the country on the page First residence permit.

Permit requirements for applications submitted on or after 16 June 2025

Make sure you meet the following requirements and the general requirements for entry into Finland. See the general requirements for entry into the country on the page First residence permit.

General attachments

  • A valid passport issued by your country of nationality. For more information, see the page Passports and other travel documents. Show the passport when you visit a service point to prove your identity. 
  • A passport photo complying with the photo guidelines issued by the police (poliisi.fi), or a photograph retrieval code you received from a photo shop
    • The passport photo must be no more than 6 months old.
  • Colour copy of the passport page containing your personal data and copies of all passport pages with notes
  • Colour copy of your spouse’s passport page containing personal data and copies of all passport pages with notes
  • Supplement form for spouse LIITE_PUOLISO (pdf) (to be filled in and signed by your spouse living in Finland)
  • Document showing that you are legally staying in the country where you submit the application
  • Form MP_1 (pdf) (if you already are in Finland and apply for your first residence permit)

Application-specific attachments

Below is a list of application-specific documents. Submit the documents that your situation requires. The documents must be legalised, unless they have been issued by authorities of the Nordic countries or by authorities of an EU Member State. If the attachments are in a language other than Finnish, Swedish or English, you must have them translated by an authorised translator or by an official translator of another EU Member State. In some situations, the attachments must also be verified before legalisation. See the page Interpretation, translation and legalisation for instructions.

  • Document showing that you have lived together for at least two years (e.g. tenancy agreement, extract from a register of occupants or similar reliable document).
  • Birth certificate with information on the child's parents and a certificate of joint custody of the child (must be legalised if not issued in the Nordic countries); or
    • Grounds for referring to other serious reasons.
  • Divorce certificate (if you have previously been married and have divorced).
  • Certificate of dissolution of registered partnership (if you have previously been in a registered partnership that has been dissolved).
  • Death certificate (if you have previously been married or in a registered partnership and the former spouse has died).

Fill in the application:

Residence permit application on the basis of family ties when your spouse is a Finnish citizen, OLE_PUOLISO

Fill in an electronic application
Fill in a paper application

Prepare for your life in Finland

Right to work

You have an unrestricted right to work. You cannot start working before you get a residence permit.