Find the right residence permit application for you

According to Finnish law, spouses, children and the guardian of a child younger than 18 are considered to be family members.

You may have been accepted to study at a university, higher education institution, general upper secondary school, or vocational school. Your studies must lead to a degree or a vocational qualification, or you can be an exchange student. If your studies do not lead to a degree or a vocational qualification and you are not an exchange student, a residence permit for studies can only be issued for justifiable reasons. Such reasons may be further studies to supplement vocational skills or degrees already acquired, further training relating to work done in the country of departure, or special training available in Finland.

If you are coming to Finland to conduct scientific research, to study for a licentiate degree or to prepare a doctoral dissertation, you may be eligible for a residence permit for a researcher.

• If you have completed a degree, a qualification or your research work in Finland, you can apply for a residence permit on the basis of a degree completed in Finland or on the basis of research completed in Finland. Your income may come from different sources, including paid employment, pursuing a trade or business, engaging in business activities, and also partly from other sources. If you do not yet have a job and you do not meet the requirements regarding sufficient financial resources, you may apply for a residence permit to look for work.
• You can apply for the residence permit to look for work if you have studied in Finland while holding a residence permit for studies or conducted research while holding a residence permit for a researcher, and have completed your studies or research work.

If you already have a job, you can apply for a residence permit on the basis of work. Any task for which you receive a salary counts as work.

You are

• a private trader (in Finnish: 'toiminimi', 'toiminimiyrittäjä')

• a partner in a general partnership 

• a general partner in a limited partnership (not a silent partner)  

• a member of a cooperative who has an unlimited liability for refinancing or

• an entrepreneur in a limited liability company; you need to own at least 30 per cent of the company’s shares and be a member of the Board of Directors or work as the company's managing director.
   

A start-up entrepreneur owns a recently founded company that aims for growth, or is about to establish such a company. When you apply for a residence permit as a start-up entrepreneur, you need a positive Eligibility Statement from Business Finland. See the website of Business Finland for information on what the start-up company must be like.

• former Finnish citizens
• descendants of someone who is a Finnish citizen by birth
• people from the area of the former Soviet Union who were part of the Ingrian evacuees in 1943–1944 or who served in the Finnish army in 1939–1945.