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Permits and citizenship

Income requirement

Usually, granting a residence permit requires that you have sufficient financial resources. In other words, you must have enough money for living in Finland. This is sometimes referred to as ‘meeting the income requirement’ or as having ‘secure means of support'.

The amount of money that you must have at your disposal in Finland is referred to as the ‘income threshold’. There are different income thresholds for different residence permits. The income thresholds are based on the statistics on social assistance compiled by the Social Insurance Institution of Finland (Kela) and on other sources.

There are separate salary requirements for work-based residence permits. The salary requirements are based on collective agreements, legislation or statistics.

The exact amount of money you must have depends on which residence permit you are applying for. To find out what type of income requirement you must meet and how much it is in euros, see the application page of the permit you are applying for, or the pages linked below.

Income requirement for various residence permits

See more detailed information on the income requirement on the page of each residence permit:

If you apply for a long-term resident’s EU residence permit, you have to provide a statement on your financial resources.

You are not required to have sufficient financial resources in the following cases:

  • You have been granted a residence permit on compassionate grounds or as a victim of human trafficking.
  • You are an underage sibling of a minor foreign national who has come to Finland alone and has been granted a residence permit on compassionate grounds, and your parents have died or disappeared.
  • You have been granted a residence permit on the basis of international protection (asylum, subsidiary protection or temporary protection).
  • You have been accepted as a quota refugee.
  • You are a family member of a Finnish citizen: You are a spouse, a child under 18, or a child’s parent or guardian and have custody of the child.
  • You are another relative of a Finnish citizen.
  • You are a former Finnish citizen or a family member of a former Finnish citizen.
  • You are a descendant of a former Finnish citizen, or a family member of such a descendant.
  • You are from the area of the former Soviet Union and you were evacuated from Ingria or you served in the Finnish army, or you are a family member of such a person.
  • You are an Ingrian returnee and you are applying for an extended permit or a permanent residence permit.
  • You are the spouse or an underage child of an Ingrian returnee, you are applying for an extended permit or a permanent residence permit, and you applied for your first residence permit on the basis of family ties before 1 July 2016.

Family members of a person who has been granted international protection

In some cases, the family members of a person who has been granted international protection do not need to meet the income requirement. For more information, see the page Income requirement for family members of a person who has been granted international protection.

Exceptions to the income requirement

We may derogate from the income thresholds on a case-by-case basis.

Making an exception to the income requirement is possible if there are exceptionally weighty reasons or if a derogation is in the best interest of a child. If you are requesting an exception to the income requirement, submit documents stating why we should make an exception in your case.