Submit your application in the e-service Enter Finland. After you have submitted your application, you have to visit the Finnish diplomatic mission or consulate in your country of origin/residence to prove your identity and have your fingerprints taken. A paper application is submitted to the Finnish diplomatic mission or consulate in your country of origin/residence.

Processing fee (EUR): online application: 400, paper application: 600

The granting of your residence permit is subject to an analysis of the labor market and workforce needs, which is managed by the Employment and Economic Development Office and which verifies:

• that you have sufficient means of subsistence;
• that the terms of work comply with the provisions in force; and
• that the employer has met and will meet his or her obligations as an employer.

The Finnish Immigration Service will reject or grant your residence permit according to the positive or negative evaluation from the Employment and Economic Development Office and following an assessment of other grounds for a refusal, such as:

• threats to public policy, public security, public health;
• Finland’s international relations; or
• an existence of well-founded reasons to suspect evading of immigration regulations.

You will be informed of the decision through the diplomatic mission or consulate in your country.

The following employees will not need a residence permit:

• interpreters, teachers, experts or sports referees who, upon invitation or under a contract, work in Finland for no longer than three months;
• artists or sports professionals or their assistants who, upon invitation or under a contract, work for no longer than three months;
• sailors working on a vessel operating in international waters or sailing mainly between foreign ports;
• permanent employees of a company based in another EU/EEA country who perform temporary procurement or subcontract work in Finland as long as they have valid permits in the other country;
• forest berry pickers entering Finland for a maximum period of 90 days.

General attachments:

• Valid passport (you must present it when you submit the residence permit application)
• Passport photo complying with the photo guidelines issued by the police or a photograph retrieval code you received from a photo shop
• Color 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 (if you already are in Finland and apply for your first residence permit)

Ask your employer for the following documents and attach them to your application:

(If you need more information about matters that concern your employer, contact the Employment and Economic Development Offices (TE Offices) for advice):

• Appendix to worker’s residence permit application (TEM 0.54), filled in by the employer
• Certificate of paid taxes or certificate of tax debts (no more than 3 months old)
• Certificates from the insurance company on employer’s statutory insurance premiums regarding
• TyEL insurance;
• accident and group life insurance; and
• an unemployment insurance (no more than 3 months old).
• Report on the number of employees in the company (also the share of full-time and part-time employees)
• Report on recruitment of labor force from the Finnish labor market and the labor market within the EU/EEA.

Application-specific attachments:

• Salmonella certificate (if you are a restaurant worker or your duties include food preparation or packaging)
• Tuberculosis certificate (if your duties include taking care of children below school age)

You can appeal decisions made by the Finnish Immigration Service before an Administrative Court within 30 days following notification of the decision. The appeal procedures are indicated in the decision. A rejection from the Administrative Court can be appealed as a last resort to the Supreme Administrative Court. You will need to apply for leave to appeal.

You may apply to reunite in Finland with your spouse (and same sex registered partner) and your unmarried minor children.

Partners who have been living continuously in a marriage-like relationship within the same household for at least two years also benefit from family reunification. The two year period is not required if the relationship has resulted in any children.

The residence permit granted to your family member is valid for the same duration as your residence permit. It grants full access to employment and education.

After four years of continuous residence (permit A), you can apply for a permanent residence permit P if you still meet the requirements for a continuous residence permit. You must have spent at least half of the validity period of your permit in Finland and your permit must still be valid at the time you submit your application.

After five years of continuous and legal residence, you may obtain a long-term resident EC residence permit.