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Health

An exception to the language skills requirement may be granted if your health or a sensory or speech disability makes it impossible for you to acquire the required language skills.

If you need to apply for an exception to the language skills requirement because of your health or a sensory or speech disability, attach the following documents to your application:

  1. Certificates of all language courses you have taken and
  2. a medical certificate issued by a doctor who has treated you. The certificate must contain the following information:
    • whether your illness or disability prevents you permanently from acquiring the required language skills
    • in what way your illness or disability prevents you permanently from learning languages
    • in what way your illness or disability has been treated.
      • The certificate must be as recent as possible.

If you have a vision impairment, you still need to prove that your oral skills in the language are satisfactory.

  • You can, for instance, attach to your application a certificate issued by your teacher on your oral skills in the Finnish or Swedish language.

Exceptions to the language skills requirement are made very rarely

There are many illnesses and disabilities that might complicate life or make it more difficult to study or learn a language. However, an illness or a disability is rarely of such kind that it makes it permanently impossible for you to learn a language. 

Even if you attach to your application a medical certificate of your illness, disability or inability to work, it does not guarantee that an exception can be made to the language skills requirement in your case.  

We will take all the information and certificates that we have about your health into account.

The following conditions alone are not sufficient grounds for granting an exception to the language skills requirement:

  • hearing or seeing difficulties
  • dyslexia (learning difficulties)
  • concentration problems
  • memory problems
  • high blood pressure
  • diabetes
  • musculoskeletal disorders
  • pain conditions
  • depression
  • post-traumatic stress disorder
  • anxiety disorder
  • states of fear.