Period of residence requirement for permanent residence permits

• You are required to have lived in Finland for a continuous period of 4 years under a continuous residence permit (A permit). If you apply for a permanent residence permit for a child under 18 years of age, the same period of residence requirement applies to the child. For further information on other requirements, see the page Application for a permanent residence permit.

The required period of residence is 6 years or 4 years, depending on the application path you have selected. The period of residence requirement does not apply to you if you apply for a permanent residence permit on the basis of a higher education degree completed in Finland.

You can obtain a permanent residence permit after a period of residence of 6 years on the following 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. 

You can obtain a permanent residence permit after a period of residence of 4 years on the following application paths:

• Annual income of EUR 40,000
  • You have lived in Finland for at least 4 years under a continuous residence permit (A permit) or a Brexit permit, and your annual income is more than EUR 40,000.
• Higher education degree completed outside Finland
  • You have lived in Finland for at least 4 years under a continuous residence permit (A permit) or a Brexit permit, you have a master’s degree or a licentiate or doctoral degree recognised in Finland and at least 2 years of work history in Finland.
• 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.

You can obtain a permanent residence permit without having to meet the period of residence requirement on the following 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. The level of your Finnish or Swedish language skills is developing.

The legislative amendments that entered into force on 8 January 2026 do not affect the period of residence requirement for P-EU permits.

You are required to have resided legally in Finland for at least 5 years with one of the following:

• continuous residence permit (A permit)
• permanent residence permit (P permit)
• residence card of a family member of an EU citizen
• right of residence under the withdrawal agreement (Brexit permit).

If you hold an EU Blue Card, your period of residence in Finland may in some cases also include residence in another EU Member State.

The period of residence requirement must be met when you submit your application. The time that it takes us to process your application will not be counted towards the required period of residence. The decision will be negative if you submit your application too early and do not meet the residence requirement.

A child can obtain a permanent residence permit without having to meet the period of residence requirement if: 

• the child’s parent or guardian who has custody of the child resides in Finland and 
• the parent or guardian holds a permanent residence permit, a P-EU permit or Finnish citizenship.

The child and the person who has custody of the child can apply for a permanent residence permit at the same time. The child can obtain a permanent permit if the person who has custody of the child is granted a permanent permit.

If the child does not have a parent or guardian in Finland, or the child’s parent or guardian has a residence card of a family member of an EU citizen, the child may be granted a permanent residence permit when he or she has lived in Finland for at least 4 years under a continuous residence permit (A permit).

• If you held a continuous residence permit (A permit) already when you arrived in Finland, the period of residence is calculated from the day you arrived in Finland.
• If you did not hold a residence permit when you arrived in Finland, your period of residence is calculated from the day you received your first continuous residence permit (A permit).

• If you held a continuous residence permit (A permit) already when you arrived in Finland, the period of residence is calculated from the day you arrived in Finland.
• If you did not hold a residence permit when you arrived in Finland, your period of residence is calculated from the day you received your first continuous residence permit (A permit).

• If you apply for a permanent residence permit, your period of residence is calculated from the day you arrived in Finland. This means that your period of residence may start already before the start date of the validity period of your continuous residence permit (A permit).
  • If you left Finland before receiving a decision on your protection status, your period of residence is calculated from the day you returned to Finland.
• If you apply for a P-EU permit, the period of residence is calculated from the day you submitted your asylum application or the day you arrived in Finland as a quota refugee.

• If you held a continuous residence permit (A permit) already when you arrived in Finland, the period of residence is calculated from the day you arrived in Finland.
• If you did not hold a residence permit when you arrived in Finland, your period of residence is calculated from the day you received your first continuous residence permit (A permit).

• Your period of residence is calculated from the day you moved to Finland. You are required to have resided legally in Finland.

• You cannot apply for a permanent residence permit or a P-EU permit if you hold a temporary residence permit (B permit). The time you have lived in Finland under a temporary residence permit will not be included in your period of residence.

You cannot get a permanent residence permit if you currently hold a residence permit for studies.

• If you have previously had a continuous residence permit (A permit) for studies, the time you have lived in Finland under the permit may be included in your period of residence only if you have completed the degree on the basis of which you received the permit.

You cannot get a P-EU permit if you currently only hold a residence permit for studies. 

• If you have previously had a continuous residence permit (A permit) for studies, no more than half of the time you have lived in Finland under the permit may be included in your period of residence. 

• Your legal residence in another EU Member State can be included in your period of residence in certain situations. These situations include the following:
  • you have resided in Finland with an EU Blue Card for at least 2 years immediately before applying for a P-EU permit and
  • before that, you have lived in another EU Member State for at least 12 months with an EU Blue Card issued by the other EU Member State and
  • you have resided within the territory of the EU for a continuous period of at least 5 years with one of the following:
    • EU Blue Card
    • residence permit for a specialist
    • residence permit for a researcher
    • a continuous residence permit on the basis of studies (A permit) and
    • a residence permit on the basis of international protection.

• Your period of residence is calculated from the day you moved to Finland to live with your family member. Your family member is a citizen of an EU Member State, Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway or Switzerland.

If you have resided legally in Finland with an EU citizen for a continuous period of 5 years, we recommend that you apply for a residence card of a family member. The card is issued as proof of your right of permanent residence in Finland. For more information, see the page Permanent residence card for a family member of an EU citizen.