Right to work without a residence permit
You may work in Finland without a residence permit if you are going to perform any of the tasks listed below.
However, your residence in Finland must be legal. Residence without a residence permit is legal in the following situations:
- You have a valid visa (you come from a country whose citizens need a visa in order to enter Finland).
- You have a Schengen residence permit granted by another country, allowing you to reside in Finland for a short period of time.
- You are a citizen of a visa-free country, in which case you may work in Finland for the duration of your visa-free residence time.
You do not need a residence permit for an employed person or any other residence permit if you meet these conditions:
- you have been invited to work in Finland or you have signed a contract to work in Finland and you will work for a maximum of 90 days;
And you must also work in one of the following positions:
- an interpreter, a teacher, a specialist or a sports judge or referee; or
- a professional artist, coach or athlete, or a member of an assistance or support team for such a person.
You may also perform these tasks without a residence permit if you work lasts 90 days or less.
- You are a product demonstrator or a film worker, and your employer does not have an office in Finland.
- You are a sailor and you work on a ship listed in the Register of Merchant Vessels or, if you were hired outside Finland, on a ship that primarily operates between foreign ports.
- You are a permanent employee of a company that operates in another EU/EEA country, and you come to Finland to perform temporary acquisition or subcontracting tasks as specified in the regulations concerning the freedom to provide services. You must also have permits that allow you to reside and work in said country, and these permits have to be valid when you finish your work in Finland.
- You are a member of the personnel for a vehicle owned or controlled by a foreign party, and
- you drive a vehicle whose task is to transport across the border a load that is to be delivered to or retrieved from a certain destination, or
- operation in Finland is related to regular service between municipalities, at least one of which is located abroad, and
- you do not reside in Finland.
- You are the leader of a tourist group travelling to Finland from abroad, and your employer or contractor does not have an office in Finland. As the leader of the tourist group, you arrive in Finland together with the group and also leave the country together with the group.
If you intend to continue working even after the period of 90 days, you need to apply for a residence permit. If you do not have a residence permit when the time limit of 90 days expires, your right to work will end. In this case, you can continue working only after you have been granted a residence permit.
If you are an asylum seeker, your right to work begins:
- when you have applied for international protection, you have a valid travel document that entitles you to cross the border, and you have resided in Finland for three months.
- when you have applied for international protection but you do not have a valid travel document that entitles you to cross the border, and you have resided in Finland for six months.
Read more about an asylum seeker’s right to work.
