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Instructions for students applying for an extended permit

Submit your application in good time before your current permit expires. The entire process may take several weeks.

The mandatory appendices 

If your documents are not in Finnish, Swedish or English, have them translated into one of these languages by an authorized translator. Take the originals of your documents with you to the service point.  For more information about the appendices, please see our website 'Residence permit application for studies'.

This is what you should do to apply for an extended permit

1

Apply for your extended permit in Finland. You cannot apply for an extended permit abroad. If you submit your application abroad, your application will be processed as an application for a first residence permit and the application will be subject to a processing fee for a first permit. 

2

If you need an extended permit to complete your studies, submit your application before your current permit expires. We recommend that you apply for a new residence permit at the earliest three months before your current residence permit expires. Your application will become pending from the moment you send in the application in our online service Enter Finland. 

3

To submit your application, log in to your online account at enterfinland.fi. We recommend that you use strong identification when logging in. Fill in the application form for studies. Fill in your name as it is in your passport, your contact details and the date you plan to arrive in Finland. 

4

Submit your online application. 

5

If you used strong identification when logging in to your Enter Finland account, you do not necessarily need to visit a service point. 

When you have submitted your application, Enter Finland will tell you whether you need to book an appointment for proving your identity at a service point or not. 

Read more about strong identification on the web page migri.fi/identification. We recommend that you use strong identification. 

6

If required, visit one of our service points for identification and fingerprinting. Your application will not be processed before you have visited a service point. Book an appointment at one of our service points at migri.vihta.com

All our service points are listed at migri.fi/service-points
 

Important to remember: 

The application process is longer if you submit an incomplete application. We process all residence permit applications for studies as urgent. 

If your application is approved, you will get a biometric residence permit card. The card is manufactured in Finland and delivered to your Finnish address. It is not possible to collect the card from a Finnish embassy. 

Inform us of your change of address, if you move to another address in Finland. 

How to follow the progress of your application: 

  • Check the processing queue of students’ residence permit applications
  • Use the Kamu chatbot on Migri.fi to check how your application is proceeding. Kamu will check the progress of your application among other submitted applications with the same case type and processing basis.
  • Log in to your Enter Finland account. 
  • Please note that telephone or email inquiries will not speed up the process.

The D visa allows you to travel to Finland immediately after being issued with a residence permit

You can apply for a D visa at the same time as you apply for a residence permit. The D visa allows you to travel to Finland immediately after you have been issued with a residence permit and a D visa sticker has been attached to your passport. You should apply for a D visa only if you can travel to Finland within two weeks of being granted a residence permit, because you need to be able to collect your residence permit card from a collection point in Finland.

With a D visa, you can arrive in Finland during a time period of 100 days before the residence permit becomes valid. The validity period of your D visa needs to overlap with the validity period of your residence permit for at least one day. Please note that if you apply for a residence permit long before your studies begin, it may not necessarily be possible to grant you a D visa together with the residence permit. In such cases, it is possible that your card is delivered to Finland but you are not necessarily able to collect it from the collection point in Finland. If this happens, someone else can pick up the card for you. Read more about the D visa.