Residence permit application for persons employed as a specialist

Apply for a residence permit with this application if you work as a specialist or as a teacher and have a contract of employment with an employer operating in Finland or have accepted a binding job offer. A specialist is a person who comes to Finland to work with expert tasks that require special expertise (highly skilled worker). You are also required to have a higher education degree.

Expected processing time for electronic application

First permit 3–4 months /

extended permit 4 months
Expected processing time for paper application

First permit 3–4 months /

extended permit 4 months
Electronic application fee

First permit 350 € / extended permit 190 €
Paper application fee

First permit 550 € / extended permit 190 €

Specialist

This is what you should do

1

Make sure you meet the requirements for the residence permit you are applying for.

2

Make sure you have all the attachments needed. If necessary, have them translated and legalised. The processing time may be longer if you have not filled in your application sufficiently.

3

Fill in your application.

4

Pay for your application in the e-service Enter Finland, at a Finnish mission (embassy or consulate) or at a service point of the Finnish Immigration Service.

5

If you are abroad, visit a Finnish mission (embassy or consulate). If you are already in Finland, book an appointment at a service point of the Finnish Immigration Service.

6

Wait for a decision. The Finnish Immigration Service will contact you if necessary.

7

Read what happens after you have applied. Check the estimated processing time of your application here.

8

You should wait for the residence permit in the same country or locality where you submitted your application and proved your identity.

General requirements for entry into Finland

Make sure you meet the general requirements for entry into Finland before you submit an application.

Requirements

You must also meet the following requirements:

Specialists for example include:

IT experts
experts in some field of specialisation who have a higher education degree
other persons with a higher education degree whose work requires expert knowledge

If you apply for a residence permit as a specialist, your gross income must be at least EUR 3,000 per month. If you are employed as a specialist but your salary is lower than that, you need to apply for a residence permit for an employed person.

Taxable fringe benefits provided by the employer can be counted towards the specialist’s salary. These fringe benefits may be, for instance, a company car or a housing benefit. In assessing your salary we may, however, consider it conspicuous if the fringe benefits account for an exceptionally large proportion of your salary. The amount of fringe benefits is usually considered exceptionally large if the fringe benefits account for more than half of your salary, or if their amount exceeds the taxable value of a full board benefit as determined by the Tax Administration. You must present a certificate or other reliable documentation of the taxable value of your fringe benefits. Daily allowances or other similar compensations for travelling or for the costs caused by residing in Finland will not be counted towards the employee’s salary.

The salary required for a specialist for the duration of a one-year residence permit is approximately EUR 36,000, regardless of how many days you will stay in Finland during the validity of your permit. When you apply for an extended permit, the Finnish Immigration Service will check how much you have been paid in salary and for how long you have stayed in Finland during the validity of your previous residence permit.

Right to work

You have the right to work as a specialist. Check your right to work if you wish to change jobs.
If you are in Finland when you are applying for a residence permit, you have the right to work as a specialist already before you get a residence permit. In this case, you must reside in Finland legally (you have a valid visa or you are allowed to stay in Finland without a visa). However, your right to work will end after three months at the latest, or even earlier if your visa expires.
If you apply for an extended permit, check if you have the right to work while your application is being processed.

General attachments

Valid passport (you must present it when you submit the residence permit application)
Passport photo complying with the photo guidelines issued by the police or a photograph retrieval code you received from a photo shop, OLEL_PK
Colour copies of the passport page containing personal data and of all passport pages that contain notes
Document showing that you are legally staying in the country where you submit the application
Form MP_1 (if you already are in Finland and apply for your first residence permit)

Application-specific attachments

Certificate concerning the principal terms and conditions of employment; or
Consultancy agreement
Certificate of fringe benefits from the employer/client
Commission agreement with a Finnish client (must be included if the employer is a foreign company that has no office in Finland)
Job description
Certificate of a higher education degree