Online service Enter Finland
Enter Finland is the online service of the Finnish Immigration Service. You can manage almost all permit and citizenship matters with the Finnish Immigration Service using the online service Enter Finland.
When you start completing an application form, the online service will guide you through the process. You do not need to save your application manually. The service will save it automatically. Before you apply for a residence permit, make sure you select an application that suits your situation.
Watch our video instructions on how to use the online service Enter Finland on the page Videos.
- Using Enter Finland during the application process
- Creating a user account
- Finding the right application
- Adding attachments
- Printing a receipt
- Requesting a certificate of your right of residence
- You cannot apply for the following in Enter Finland
- You may avoid having to visit a service point in some situations if you use strong electronic identification
- Enter Finland for Counsels and Representatives
- Enter Finland for Employers
- Information about service breaks and help with Enter Finland
Using Enter Finland during the application process
- You can track the progress of your application in your personal user account.
- You can supplement your application after you have submitted it. Notify us of any changes.
- We will send a request for additional information into your Enter Finland account if we need additional information from you to decide your application. You will also get an email or a text message notification when we request additional information from you.
- When we have made a decision on your application, you will receive a notification into your user account on Enter Finland. You will also receive a notification email or text message.
- For data security reasons, the decision and your application will disappear from Enter Finland after one year from the day when you opened the decision for the first time.
Creating a user account
As a rule, each applicant who has reached the age of 18 must submit their application from their own Enter Finland user account. The application can also be submitted by the applicant's legal counsel or representative if the applicant is at least 18 years of age.
There are two ways to create a user account on the start page of Enter Finland: you can either use your email address and generate a password or use strong electronic identification to create a user account. If you create an account for yourself with your email address, please note that the email address can only be connected to one Enter Finland account.
It is not possible to log in to the same user account with both strong electronic identification and an email address. You can change your login method from email to strong electronic identification by logging in to Enter Finland and editing your account information.
- Open the main menu and select ‘My Account’.
- Find the ‘Change now’ button. It will take you to the Suomi.fi website. There you can log in to Enter Finland using strong electronic identification, such as your Finnish online banking credentials.
- For children, meaning applicants under the age of 18, the parent or guardian or other legal representative of the child can submit the child’s application from the adult’s own Enter Finland account.
- Children between 15 and 17 years of age can create a user account and submit their applications themselves.
- If a child has two parents or guardians, use only one parent’s or guardian’s account to submit an application for the child.
- A parent or guardian or a representative can create a user account on Enter Finland to submit an application for a child even if the adult will not apply for a residence permit online.
Finding the right application
Select an application based on the main reason why you will be living in Finland. You can use the Application Finder on our website to help you determine which application form you should use. Answer the questions, and the Application Finder will direct you to the right application's information page based on your answers. Read the information page to see what the requirements for the permit are and what documents you will need. The link near the bottom of the page will take you to the online service Enter Finland where you can fill in and submit the application form.
When you want to apply for a residence permit on the basis of work, Enter Finland will ask you a set of questions to determine which application form is the right one for you.
The purpose of the questions posed by the Application Finder and the online service Enter Finland is to help you find the right application form based on your answers. However, you are responsible for ensuring that you select the right application and that you meet all the requirements.
Adding attachments
Please use PDF files if possible. The following file formats are accepted: PDF, TXT, RTF, JPG, PNG and GIF. The maximum file size for an attachment is 4 megabytes (4 MB).
When you fill in an application form on Enter Finland, the service takes you to the ‘Add documents’ tab. On that page, you will see a list of the documents that you need to attach to your application. Please make sure that the documents you add are clear and readable. If the attachments you have sent us are not readable, we have to ask you to send them again. This will slow down the processing of your application.
You can use the ‘Send additional information’ tab on your Enter Finland user account if you want to supplement an application that you already have sent.
Watch the video instructions on how to add attachments to your application on Enter Finland.
- Open the ‘Add documents’ tab and click the ‘Add attachment’ button.
- Select the file from your computer and add it either by double-clicking the file or by clicking the ‘Open’ button.
- Repeat steps 1 and 2 for each attachment.
- Submit the attachments by clicking the 'Add attachment' button.
- Use a scanner to scan the documents or pictures.
- Save the documents, preferably as a PDF file.
- In the scanner settings, select 150 dpi as resolution, for example.
- If the attachment is a picture, you can use a photo editing software on your own computer to reduce the file size.
Printing a payment receipt
Once you have submitted and paid for your application on Enter Finland, you can print out a receipt as proof of the payment. You will see the receipt under ‘Your application and attachments’ or by clicking a separate banner titled ‘Print an initiation certificate or a receipt of payment of the processing fee’. When a decision has been made on your application and you have read it, the matter will stay on the ‘My applications’ page for one month. After reading the decision on the page ‘Previous applications’, you have one year to print out the receipt.
The receipt will be in the language that you chose as your language of contact on Enter Finland. If you pay or have already paid the application at a service point or a Finnish mission, you will get a separate receipt from the service point or the mission in question. In this case, the payment details are not shown in the certificate of a pending application or on Enter Finland.
Requesting a certificate of your right of residence
Your residence permit decision will be available on Enter Finland for one year from the day when you opened the decision for the first time. We recommend that you save and print out the decision before it is removed from the service. If a decision has already been removed from Enter Finland, you can ask the Finnish Immigration Service to issue a certificate of your right of residence in Finland. The processing fee is EUR 50. If the decision has already been removed from Enter Finland, you can check your right to work and the duration of your residence permit from your residence permit card.
For more information see the page Certificate Requests.
You cannot apply for the following in Enter Finland
- residence permit on the grounds of Finnish origin
- residence permit on other grounds
- travel documents
- asylum
- a Schengen visa.
You may avoid having to visit a service point in some situations if you use strong electronic identification
You may avoid having to visit a service point of the Finnish Immigration Service in some situations if you use strong electronic identification to log in to Enter Finland and apply for:
- an extended permit
- a new residence permit card
- a new residence card
- Finnish citizenship for an adult.
After you have sent your application, Enter Finland will tell you whether or not you need to visit a service point. Read further instructions on how to avoid having to visit a service point.
Enter Finland for Counsels and Representatives
Enter Finland for Counsels and Representatives is an online service intended for attorneys, counsels, guardians and representatives of applicants. The online service enables a safer and quicker processing of documents. The service can be used in asylum processes. Users can follow the status of their clients' applications, send additional information and documents as well as request documents related to the clients' applications.
Enter Finland for Counsels and Representatives can be activated at any point of the application process between application submission and having a decision issued on the application. Please note that one client can only have one professional at a time using Enter Finland for Counsels and Representatives. For more information, see Enter Finland for Counsels and Representatives and our video instructions (youtube.com).
How to create a user account
- Open the start page of Enter Finland for Counsels and Representatives.
- When you create a user account, use the Suomi.fi website and identify yourself using online banking credentials, a mobile certificate or a certificate card.
- Send us a power of attorney via Enter Finland or a notification on acting on behalf of a client.
Enter Finland for Employers
Employers can use Enter Finland for Employers to follow the status of their employees' residence permit applications, to submit documents or to pay the processing fee on behalf of the employees. For more information, see the page Enter Finland for Employers.
Information about service breaks and help with Enter Finland
Enter Finland may occasionally experience technical difficulties that affect the availability of the service. See the most recent information on technical issues as well as instructions for users in case of issues with the service.
If you need guidance on how to use Enter Finland, you can call the service number for Enter Finland guidance at 0295 790 606 (open from Monday to Friday at 8.30–15.30). If you have a technical problem with Enter Finland, please contact our technical support by email: esupport@migri.fi.