Residence permit application for internship

You and your employer must sign an employment contract. The employment contract must contain the principal terms and conditions of employment, such as your salary.

Your employer must give an assurance or present documentation showing that the internship does not replace a job. A free-form statement is sufficient.

You have to get paid for your internship. Your salary must at least correspond to the salary specified in the collective agreement that applies to your employment relationship.

If there is no collective agreement in your sector, your gross salary must be at least EUR 1,331 per month in 2023. This sum meets the condition regarding previous employment (in Finnish: ‘työssäoloehto’) under the Unemployment Security Act.

Grants or scholarships granted by your home country university (Erasmus+ grants, for example) or pocket money paid by an organisation are not taken into account when assessing your financial resources on the basis of your internship. Food and housing allowances can be accepted, according to their taxable value, in the assessment of your means of support. The allowances must be mentioned in the internship agreement.

For example the following exchange programmes are accepted:

• programmes of the Finnish National Agency for Education
• programmes of the EU or of educational institutions or student organisations that the EU supports
• labour policy education that is part of a regional training programme funded by the Ministry of Economic Affairs and Employment of Finland.

• Erasmus+ 
• The Finnish National Agency for Education’s Finnish in Finland training programme 
• Fulbright Mid-Career Professional Development Program and 
• Fulbright Distinguished Awards in Teaching Research Program

The training agreement signed by you and the organisation responsible for the training programme must include documentation of how you intend to finance your stay in Finland during the traineeship. The documentation can be, for example, a decision stating that you have been granted a scholarship or other benefit for the traineeship. Prove documentation of the scholarship or other benefit in your application.

You have to sign a training agreement with the organisation responsible for the training programme. The training agreement contains the terms and conditions of your training. The training agreement must contain the following information:

• a description of the training programme, including the educational objective or learning components
• the duration of the traineeship
• the placement and supervision conditions of the traineeship (where the traineeship takes place and who supervises the traineeship)
• the traineeship hours, that is, how many hours per day, week, or month the training will take
• scholarship and other benefits for the traineeship.
   

You can only get a residence permit if you are able to travel to Finland and stay in the country legally. This means that you must have a valid passport. If your passport expires while the residence permit is valid, remember to renew it early enough. Your residence permit may be withdrawn if you don’t have a valid passport while residing in Finland.

• Internship agreement containing the following information:
  • a description of the internship programme, including the educational objective or learning components
  • the duration of the internship
  • the placement and supervision conditions of the internship
  • the internship hours
  • the legal relationship between you and your employer (the organisation where your internship takes place)
  • the principal terms and conditions of the internship, including the applicable collective agreement
  • the salary paid for the internship; the salary must at least correspond to the salary specified in the collective agreement that applies to the internship. 
• The employer’s assurance of or documentation showing the following:
  • assurance or documentation showing that the internship does not replace a job
  • assurance or documentation showing that the employer has not, during the preceding four months, terminated the employment relationship of an employee with the same or similar work due to financial or production-related reasons or reasons arising from the reorganisation of the employer’s operations.
• Depending on the nature of your internship, you must also attach:
  • a certificate from your educational institution stating that the internship matches your studies or degree; and
  • a certificate from your educational institution regarding your incomplete studies; or
  • a degree certificate; or
  • a certificate from the organisation arranging the internship (if the internship is related to an exchange programme of a non-governmental organisation).

• The training agreement between you and the organisation responsible for the training programme. The training agreement must contain the following information:
  • a description of the training programme, including the educational objective or learning components
  • the duration of the traineeship 
  • the placement and supervision conditions of the traineeship (where the traineeship takes place and who supervises the traineeship)
  • the traineeship hours, that is, how many hours per day, week, or month the training will take
  • scholarship and other benefits for the traineeship.