Residence permit application for other relatives or family members of persons who have been granted refugee status, subsidiary protection or temporary protection in Finland

• Financial dependence alone is not enough. For example, elderly parents, children who have turned 18 and unmarried siblings can be considered to be dependent on their family member or relative living in Finland.
  • Dependency can be due to old age, severe illness or disability, for example. Dependent family members or relatives are not usually granted a residence permit if they need treatment and can get treatment in their home country.
• Close family life means that your family life has not stopped at any point, for example, when becoming an adult or starting a family.
• Granting a residence permit requires also that a negative decision would be unreasonable in your case.

• You must meet the income requirement (requirement for sufficient financial resources). You can prove that you meet the income requirement by submitting evidence of, for example, salary or income from business activities that your relative or family member living in Finland receives. Your income cannot be based on social assistance, labour market subsidy or basic unemployment allowance.
  • The income requirement does not need to be met if the other relative or family member living in Finland is under 18 years of age.
• Read more about the income requirement on the page Income requirement for family members of a person who has been granted a residence permit in Finland.

• Financial dependence alone is not enough. For example, elderly parents, children who have turned 18 and unmarried siblings can be considered to be dependent on their family member or relative living in Finland.
  • Dependency can be due to old age, severe illness or disability, for example. Dependent family members or relatives are not usually granted a residence permit if they need treatment and can get treatment in their home country.
• Close family life means that your family life has not stopped at any point, for example, when becoming an adult or starting a family.
• Granting a residence permit requires also that a negative decision would be unreasonable in your case.

• It is required that your relative or family member has lived in Finland for at least 2 years only if he or she has refugee status or subsidiary protection status in Finland.
• This requirement does not apply if your other relative or family member has a residence permit on the basis of temporary protection in Finland. See the page Period of residence requirement for more information.

• You must meet the income requirement (requirement for sufficient financial resources). You can prove that you meet the income requirement by submitting evidence of, for example, salary or income from business activities that your relative or family member living in Finland receives. Your income cannot be based on social assistance, labour market subsidy or basic unemployment allowance.
• Read more about the income requirement on the page Income requirement for family members of a person who has been granted a residence permit in Finland.

If you apply for a residence permit online in Enter Finland, you need to pay the processing fee  

• with a credit card or with Finnish online banking credentials when you submit your application, or
• when you visit a Finnish embassy or consulate abroad to prove your identity.  

If you apply for a residence permit with a paper application, you need to pay the processing fee

• when you visit a Finnish embassy or consulate abroad to prove your identity.

Book an appointment to visit a Finnish mission (finlandabroad.fi) to prove your identity.

Applications for a first residence permit can be submitted in Finland only in certain exceptional situations.

For more information, see the page Proving your identity abroad.

Read what happens after you have applied. Check the estimated processing time of your application. In addition, you will usually receive automated messages at the different processing stages of your application.

Among other things, the authorities may ask you for information about whether you have enough money to live in Finland.

If you were not issued a personal identity code together with your residence permit card, you must visit a service location of the Digital and Population Data Services Agency in person.

The Digital and Population Data Services Agency enters your personal details, information about your family relations and your address in the Population Information System. You can also apply for a municipality of residence at the Digital and Population Data Services Agency.

For more information, visit the website of the Digital and Population Data Services Agency (dvv.fi)