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Residence permit application for Working Holiday

Apply for a residence permit with this application if you are a citizen of Australia, New Zealand, Japan or Canada and you are coming to Finland for a Working Holiday. Finland has a reciprocal agreement with Australia, New Zealand, Japan and Canada. Citizens of other countries cannot be granted a residence permit on these grounds.

  • Expected processing times:

    Processing times

  • Electronic application fee

    380 €

  • Paper application fee

    480 €

For the citizen of New Zealand there is no processing fee. No processing fee is collected due to the agreement on the abolition of visas concluded between Finland and New Zealand in 1973.

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 in the online service Enter Finland or use a paper application form.

4

Pay for your application in the online service Enter Finland or at a Finnish mission (embassy or consulate).

5

Book an appointment to visit a Finnish mission abroad to prove your identity.

6

Wait for a decision abroad. 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. In addition, you will usually receive automated messages at the different processing stages of your application.

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 meet one of the following requirements:

Right to work

  • The agreement between Finland and Australia restricts the right to work. If you are an Australian citizen, you may work for a maximum of nine (9) months during a twelve-month (12) trip, but you may only work for three (3) months for a single employer. If you plan to work for the same employer for longer than three months, you must apply for and be granted a residence permit for an employed person. Read more on the page Coming to Finland for work.
  • New Zealand citizens’ right to work is not restricted in the agreement between Finland and New Zealand.
  • Japanese citizens’ right to work is not restricted in the agreement between Finland and Japan.
  • Canadian citizens’ right to work is not restricted in the agreement between Finland and Canada.

General attachments

  • A valid passport accepted by Finland (um.fi). Present your passport when you submit your residence permit application
  • A passport photo complying with the photo guidelines issued by the police (poliisi.fi), or a photograph retrieval code you received from a photo shop
    • The passport photo must be no more than 6 months old.
  • 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 (pdf) (if you already are in Finland and apply for your first residence permit)

Application-specific attachments

  • A return ticket or sufficient means to acquire a return ticket
  • Documentation showing that you have sufficient funds to stay in Finland
  • Health insurance for your entire stay (if you are a citizen of Canada, Japan or New Zealand)

Residence permit application for internship, OLE_TY3

Fill in an electronic application
Fill in a paper application