Residence card of a family member of an EU citizen in Finland

• You are the EU citizen's spouse. 
• You are the EU citizen's cohabiting partner. Cohabiting partners are persons living in a marriage-like relationship in the same household on a permanent basis if:
  • they have lived in the same household for at least two years; or
  • they have a child in their joint custody.

A spouse or cohabiting partner can be of any gender. 

• You are under the age of 21 or a dependent child. A child is:
  • under 21 years of age; or
  • the EU citizen's child or grandchild who is dependent on the EU citizen; or
  • the EU citizen’s spouse’s child or grandchild who is dependent on the EU citizen or on the spouse.
• You are a dependent parent. A parent is:
  • the mother, father or grandparent of the EU citizen or of the EU citizen’s spouse; and
  • dependent on the EU citizen or on the EU citizen’s spouse.
• You are a parent or guardian of a minor and the minor is an EU citizen
• You are another relative and dependent on the EU citizen. Other relatives are treated in the same manner as family members of EU citizens, regardless of their citizenship, if:
  • the relative is, in the country of departure, dependent on the EU citizen or lived in the same household with the EU citizen in question. In contrast, other relatives of an EU citizen’s spouse are not usually treated as the EU citizen’s family members.
  • serious health grounds absolutely require the EU citizen in question to give the relative personal care.

If your family member is a Finnish citizen, he or she needs to have exercised his or her right of free movement:

• A family member of a Finnish citizen can get a residence card only if the Finnish citizen has exercised his or her right of free movement.
• Your Finnish family member must have lived in an EU Member State other than Finland, or in a country comparable to the EU Member States, for at least 3 months.
• You and your Finnish family member must have moved to Finland directly from the other Member State. If you have lived in a third country between your residence in a Member State and your move to Finland, apply for a residence permit as a spouse of a Finnish citizen. 
• If you and your family member do not move from the other Member State to Finland simultaneously, your Finnish family member needs to have moved to Finland first, before you. 
• If your Finnish family member holds the citizenship of another EU Member State and has only lived in the Member States where he or she holds citizenship, your family member has not exercised his or her right of free movement. In such a case, you need to apply for a residence permit as a spouse of a Finnish citizen.
• You can be issued with a residence card of a family member of an EU citizen if: 
  • you and your family member have lived together in an EU Member State other than Finland or in a country comparable to the EU Member States; or
  • you and your family member have lived in a partnership or led a family life while you were residing in an EU Member State other than Finland or in a country comparable to the EU Member States before you yourself moved to Finland.
• When you apply for a residence card as a family member of a Finnish citizen, you do not need to present proof of sufficient financial resources.

• You can be issued with a residence card only when your family member, who is an EU citizen, also resides in Finland. 
• The application can only be submitted in Finland. You must live in Finland when you submit the application. You need to be residing most of the time in Finland.
• If your family member moves away from Finland, your residence card is no longer valid.

You need to have a valid passport. You can come to Finland with a visa or visa-free.

Attach to your application documents proving that your family member, who is an EU citizen, still meets the requirements for the registration of his or her right of residence.

• If your family member has applied for EU registration on the basis of employment, attach his or her latest payslip.
• If your family member has applied for EU registration on the basis of studies, attach a certificate from your family member's educational institution on the continuation of his or her studies. 
• If your family member has applied for EU registration on other grounds, attach documents proving that he or she still has grounds for registration.

If you are a spouse, attach to your application the following documents:

• document on family ties. It can be, for instance, a marriage certificate or some other document that proves your family ties. The document must be legalised if it has been issued by a country that is not a Nordic country or an EU Member State.

If you are a cohabiting partner, attach to your application the following documents:

• evidence of cohabitation, such as a rental agreement, an extract from the register of occupants or some other document proving that you and your partner have lived together for at least 2 years or proving that you have a child in your joint custody.

If you are applying for a residence card for your child, attach the following documents to the application:

• document on family ties, such as a birth certificate or some other document that proves your family ties. The document must be legalised if it has been issued by a country that is not a Nordic country or an EU Member State.
• information about the child’s other parent or guardian if this other parent or guardian is not your spouse or cohabiting partner:
  • last name, first name, date of birth or personal identity code, citizenship, address and email address.
  • other parent’s or guardian’s consent. If the other parent or guardian does not live in Finland or is not moving to Finland, the consent must be confirmed by a notary.

If you are a parent or have custody of a child, attach to your application the following documents:

• document on family ties, such as a certificate of having custody of the child, or some other document that proves your family ties. The document must be legalised if it has been issued by a country that is not a Nordic country or an EU Member State.

If you are a dependent parent, attach the following documents to your application:

• evidence of being dependent on someone. This could be, for instance, a document regarding your health, your need of assistance and the financial support you are getting from your family member. You can also submit evidence of having lived together with your family member in your country of departure. 
• document on family ties. The document must be legalised if it has been issued by a country that is not a Nordic country or an EU Member State.

If you are some other relative, attach the following documents to your application:

• evidence of being dependent on someone. This could be, for instance, a document regarding your health, your need of assistance and the financial support you are getting from your relative. You can also submit evidence of having lived together with your relative in your country of departure.
• document on family ties. The document must be legalised if it has been issued by a country that is not a Nordic country or an EU Member State.

If you are a family member of a Finnish citizen, fill in the supplement form Suomen kansalaisen vapaan liikkumisoikeuden käyttö (pdf).

Passport photo complying with the photo guidelines issued by the police, or a photograph retrieval code you received from a photo shop.

• Passport photographs (poliisi.fi)

Fill in the application in our online service Enter Finland.

If you cannot use Enter Finland, fill in a paper application. You will find a link to the application at the bottom of this page.

If you submit an online application in Enter Finland, pay the processing fee: 

• with a credit card or with Finnish online banking credentials when you submit the application; or
• when you visit a service point of the Finnish Immigration Service to prove your identity. 

If you submit a paper application, pay the processing fee at a service point of the Finnish Immigration Service.

Book an appointment in our appointment system (migri.vihta.com) to visit a service point of the Finnish Immigration Service.

When you visit the service point, bring with you:

• your valid passport
• a passport photo complying with the photo guidelines issued by the police, or a photograph retrieval code you received from a photo shop
• originals and copies of the documents that you attach to your application 
  • If your attachments are not in Finnish, Swedish or English, they must be accompanied by a translation into one of these languages by an authorised translator.
  • However, a document that has been issued by an authority of an EU Member State concerning birth, marriage, registered partnership or death does not need to be translated if you attach to the document a multilingual standard form issued by the authority.

Read more on the page Book an appointment at a service point in advance.

• If you applied online in Enter Finland, you will receive notifications of your application's progress and of any requests for additional information by email and text message.
• If you applied on paper, you will receive notifications of your application's progress and of any requests for additional information by email.

For more information, see: What affects the processing time of your application?

If the decision is positive, your new residence card will be delivered to a collection point.

If you are not satisfied with the decision, you have a statutory right to appeal against the decision to an administrative court. Instructions on how to appeal are attached to the decision. 

The majority of decisions made by administrative courts are subject to a fee. For more information about court fees in administrative courts, see the website for Finnish courts (oikeus.fi).