Language skills requirement (applications submitted on or after 8 January 2026)
The requirement for sufficient Finnish or Swedish language skills is one of the integration requirements that you must meet when you apply for a permanent residence permit and are at least 18 years of age.
The applicable language skills requirement and the required level of language skills depend on the application path you have selected
You must meet the relevant language skills requirement if you apply for a permanent residence permit on one of the following application paths:
- Application path: Residence of 6 years.
- You have lived in Finland for at least 6 years under a continuous residence permit (A permit) or a Brexit permit, you have at least 2 years of work history in Finland, and the level of your Finnish or Swedish language skills is satisfactory (level B1). If you have reached 65 years of age, the language skills requirement does not apply to you.
- Application path: Higher education degree completed in Finland.
- You have completed a master’s degree at a university or a university of applied sciences, a licentiate or doctoral degree or a bachelor’s degree at a university (not at a university of applied sciences) in Finland, and the level of your Finnish or Swedish language skills is developing (level A2 or 15 credits in Finnish or Swedish language studies completed at a higher education institution).
- Application path: Particularly good language skills.
- You have lived in Finland for at least 4 years under a continuous residence permit (A permit) or a Brexit permit, you have at least 3 years of work history in Finland, and the level of your Finnish or Swedish language skills is particularly good (level C1).
You are required to have sufficient language skills also if you apply for a P-EU permit. In that case, the level of your Finnish or Swedish language skills must be good (level B2).
Skill levels for language skills
- The level developing corresponds to level A2 of the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages.
- A National Certificate of Language Proficiency (YKI) at the basic level with at least grade 2 in one oral subtest and in one written subtest.
- A Civil Service Language Proficiency Certificate with satisfactory oral and written skills.
- The level satisfactory corresponds to level B1 of the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages.
- A National Certificate of Language Proficiency (YKI) at the basic level with at least grade 3 in one oral subtest and in one written subtest.
- A Civil Service Language Proficiency Certificate with satisfactory oral and written skills.
- The level good corresponds to level B2 of the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages.
- A National Certificate of Language Proficiency (YKI) at the basic level with at least grade 4 in one oral subtest and in one written subtest.
- A Civil Service Language Proficiency Certificate with good oral and written skills.
- The level particularly good corresponds to level C1 of the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages.
- A National Certificate of Language Proficiency (YKI) at the basic level with at least grade 5 in one oral subtest and in one written subtest.
- A Civil Service Language Proficiency Certificate with excellent oral and written skills.
You can prove that you have the required language skills with a National Certificate of Language Proficiency (YKI) or a Civil Service Language Proficiency Certificate for all skill levels mentioned above if your grade for oral and written skills in Finnish or Swedish is sufficient.
- You can prove that you have developing, satisfactory or good language skills also by completing primary and lower secondary education, general upper secondary education, an initial vocational qualification, a further vocational qualification or a specialist vocational qualification, or studies in the Finnish or Swedish language or maturity test in Finnish or Swedish as part of your degree at a higher education institution in Finland.
- You can prove that you have developing language skills also by completing 15 credits in Finnish or Swedish language studies at a higher education institution.
- You can prove that you have particularly good language skills only by taking the National Certificate of Language Proficiency (YKI) test or the Civil Service Language Proficiency Certificate test.
You must have an acceptable certificate of language skills when you submit your application
Read the requirements for the application path you have selected to check the level of language skills required of you. Attach a certificate as proof of your language skills to your application.
If you apply for a permanent residence permit and have reached 65 years of age, the language skills requirement does not apply to you.
You can prove that you have sufficient language skills in the following ways:
You can prove that the level of your language skills is developing, satisfactory, good or particularly good by taking the National Certificate of Language Proficiency test (YKI) or the Civil Service Language Proficiency Certificate test.
- A National Certificate of Language Proficiency in Finnish or Swedish at the level required for the application path you have selected. The required level must be passed with one of the following subtest combinations:
- speaking and writing
- listening comprehension and writing
- reading comprehension and speaking.
You may have two separate certificates that together form an accepted combination of subtests.
- A Civil Service Language Proficiency Certificate in Finnish or Swedish at the level required for the application path you have selected.
Read about the language tests before you register for them. For further information, see the website of the Finnish National Agency for Education (oph.fi).
You can prove that the level of your language skills is developing, satisfactory or good by completing the primary and lower secondary education in Finland.
- You must have a certificate of completing the entire primary and lower secondary education syllabus with Finnish or Swedish as the native language or second language.
You can prove that the level of your language skills is developing, satisfactory or good by completing the general upper secondary education in Finland.
- You need to have one of the following:
- certificate of completing the general upper secondary education syllabus with Finnish or Swedish as the native language or second language
- certificate of completing the matriculation examination in Finnish or Swedish. In addition, you must have a passing grade in Finnish or Swedish as your native language or as a second language.
You can prove that the level of your language skills is developing, satisfactory or good with the following qualifications completed in Finland:
- initial vocational qualification
- further vocational qualification
- specialist vocational qualification.
You are required to have a certificate of your qualification completed in Finnish or Swedish. Only certificates showing that you have completed the qualification in full are accepted as proof of your language skills.
You can prove that the level of your language skills is developing, satisfactory or good by completing the following studies at a university or university of applied sciences:
- maturity test completed in Finnish or Swedish as part of a degree that you have completed at a Finnish university or university of applied sciences or
- studies in the Finnish or Swedish language as part of a degree that you have completed at a Finnish university or university of applied sciences. By completing these studies, you can achieve the language proficiency that is required of public officials in positions that require a higher education degree. Check with your university that your studies in Finnish or Swedish are included in your degree.
In addition, you can prove that the level of your language skills is developing by completing at least 15 credits in Finnish or Swedish language studies at a higher education institution in Finland.
- If you have a speech disability or a hearing impairment, you can prove that the level of your language skills is developing or satisfactory by presenting a certificate of your skills in Finnish or Finland-Swedish Sign Language issued by the Finnish Association of the Deaf. For more information, see the website of the Finnish Association of the Deaf (kuurojenliitto.fi).
Exemption from the language skills requirement can only be granted in special cases
Granting an exemption from the language skills requirement means that we make an exception and do not require that you have sufficient skills in Finnish or Swedish.
Exemption from the language skills requirement if you apply for a permanent residence permit
You can request an exception to the language skills requirement only if you apply for a permanent residence permit on the following application path:
- Application path: Residence of 6 years.
- You have lived in Finland for at least 6 years under a continuous residence permit (A permit) or a Brexit permit, you have at least 2 years of work history in Finland, and the level of your Finnish or Swedish language skills is satisfactory (level B1).
In individual cases, exceptions to the language skills requirement may be possible for reasons of health. This means that you must have one of the following conditions that prevents you from learning a language in the long term:
- illness
- disability
- disorder.
If you request an exception to the language skills requirement, submit a document concerning your health, for example, a recent doctor’s certificate. The document must state how your illness, disability or disorder affects your ability to learn a language in the long term.
Exemption from the language skills requirement if you apply for a P-EU permit
In individual cases, exceptions to the language skills requirement may be possible only if there are exceptionally serious grounds for making an exception. Such reasons include, for example:
- old age
- illiteracy
- low education
- other individual reasons.
If there are very serious grounds for making an exception, state all of them in your application and attach supporting documents to your application.
When we make a decision, we will assess your overall situation and the documents you have provided.