Lupa-asiat

Visa

Visas (viisumi) are only granted for short visits. Such a visit must not exceed the duration of three months. Foreigners who come to Finland e.g. on holiday, on business or to take part in a meeting, require a visa. Visas are generally applied for at the Finnish mission in the applicant’s country of domicile.

Finland has agreements with certain countries that exempt the citizens of those countries from the need to obtain a visa when entering Finland. These include the Nordic countries and countries within the EU.

More about visas can be obtained from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (ulkoasiainministeriö) website.

Residence Permit in Finland

For a person to enter Finland, a residence permit and a visa can be granted. The website for the Finnish Immigration Service (maahanmuuttovirasto) has information on how to obtain a residence permit. The permits are usually subject to a fee.

The Finnish Immigration Service’s Migrating to Finland? service provides the opportunity to check whether you fulfil the requirements for moving to Finland and what permits you will need.The service is available in Finnish, Swedish and English.

Citizens of Nordic and EU countries

Nationals of Sweden, Norway, Denmark and Iceland (i.e. the Nordic Countries) can enter and reside in Finland without a residence permit. Also, a work permit is not required from citizens of the Nordic Countries that want to find salaried employment in Finland.

Nationals of an EU or an EEA country can reside, work, practise a profession or study in Finland for three months without any particular procedure involving authorities. You must register your rights of residency if the stay exceeds the duration of three months. See the Info Bank page on the Citizens of EU Member States for more information.

Citizens of other countries

If you are from a country other than an EU or Nordic country and you wish to stay in Finland for over three months, you will usually need a residence permit (oleskelulupa). If you wish to work in Finland, you will usually require a residence permit for an employed person. See the Info Bank page on Working in Finland for more information.

Forms for applying for a residence permit:

English
Finnish
Swedish

Information on the prices of residence permits

English
Finnish
Swedish

The website of the Finnish Immigration Service contains more information on visas and residence permits for non-EU/EEA nationals in Finnish, Swedish, English, French and Russian.

Further details on immigration and permit issues can be obtained from the online service Suomi.fi in Finnish, Swedish and English.