Profile

Finland

Residency route coverage

Residency route coverage
Route familyRoutesCoverage
Investment

No routes recorded

No qualifying route as of 2026-08-20[5][8]
Finland has no investment-based residence permit. The immigration service lists seven grounds on which a first permit may be sought – work, research, family ties, studies, remigration, certain other special grounds, and being a victim of human trafficking – and investment is not among them.
Remote work

No routes recorded

No qualifying route as of 2026-08-21[5][8][11][12]
Finland has no digital-nomad or remote-work permit. Its work permits all require an employer or a contract whose work is done in Finland, and its entrepreneur permits require business activity in Finland. Income earned abroad is not a ground for residence.
Passive income

No routes recorded

No qualifying route as of 2026-08-20[5][8]
Finland has no passive-income, retirement or independent-means residence route. The same two Migri enumerations were used as for investment: neither the seven grounds for a first residence permit nor the enumeration of 'other, special grounds' contains any limb for a person supporting themselves from pension, rental, investment or savings income without working. Migri's own income requirement pages attach a means test to permits granted on other grounds; none of them creates a route on means alone.
EntrepreneurRoutes recorded
WorkRoutes recorded
StudyRoutes recorded
One instrument. Migri's post-study routes are work-family permits under the v1.0/G9 convention and are recorded as such: the residence permit on the basis of a degree completed in Finland, and the residence permit to look for work or to start a business.
FamilyRoutes recorded

Country facts

Identity

Identity
Local nameSuomi
ISO codeFIN
RegionEurope
CurrencyEUR as of 2026-08-20[1]
Official languagesfi, sv as of 2026-08-20[1]
The EU country profile records Finnish and Swedish as Finland's official EU languages. Migri and the Tax Administration both publish English pages, but English is not an official language and the operative text – the state income tax scale, for one – is published only in Finnish and Swedish.

Memberships

Memberships
Memberships
    • Bloc: EU
    • Member: Yes as of 2026-08-20[1]
    • Since: 1995-01-01 as of 2026-08-20[1]
    • Bloc: EEA
    • Member: Yes as of 2026-08-20[1]
    • Bloc: Schengen
    • Member: Yes as of 2026-08-20[1]
    • Since: 2001-03-25 as of 2026-08-20[1]
    • Bloc: Eurozone
    • Member: Yes as of 2026-08-20[1]
    • Since: 1999-01-01 as of 2026-08-20[1]

Permanent residence

Permanent residence
Qualifying years6 as of 2026-08-20[9][10]
Six years is the general path for an applicant aged 18 or over applying on or after 8 January 2026: six years under a continuous (A) residence permit or a Brexit permit, at least two years of work history in Finland, and satisfactory Finnish or Swedish. Three four-year paths exist as alternatives – annual income over EUR 40,000; a master's, licentiate or doctoral degree obtained outside Finland plus two years of work history; or three years of work history plus particularly good language skills – and an applicant with a higher education degree completed in Finland is exempt from the period-of-residence requirement entirely. Applications submitted before 8 January 2026 were decided on a four-year continuous-residence rule. The long-term resident's EU residence permit (P-EU) is a separate instrument on five years and is unaffected by the 8 January 2026 amendments.
Language requirementB1 as of 2026-08-20[7][9]
Migri maps its own levels to the CEFR explicitly: 'satisfactory' is B1 and is the level required on the six-year path; 'developing' is A2 (Finnish higher education degree path); 'particularly good' is C1 (four-year path); 'good' is B2 and applies to the P-EU permit. B1 is recorded as the general rule. The requirement does not apply to applicants aged 65 or over on the six-year path.
Integration requirementNot established from a qualifying source[7]
Income requirementRecorded at the source, but not reducible to a single value as of 2026-08-20[6][9][10]

Citizenship

Citizenship
Years to naturalisation8 as of 2026-08-20[2]
Dual citizenshipallowed as of 2026-08-20[4]
Migri: 'Finland accepts multiple citizenship.' The other country's own law may not, which Migri notes but which is not a Finnish restriction.
Language requirementrequired, level unspecified as of 2026-08-20[2]
Migri requires 'at least satisfactory oral and written skills' in Finnish, Swedish, Finnish Sign Language or Finland-Swedish Sign Language, and states no CEFR level on the citizenship pages. Migri's permanent-residence guidance maps 'satisfactory' to B1, but that mapping is published for the Aliens Act permit paths, not for naturalisation under the Citizenship Act, so it is not carried across here. Exceptions exist for applicants over 65, for health reasons, for illiteracy on arrival and on other very serious grounds. Recorded required_unspecified deliberately; closing it to b1 needs the Migri citizenship language-skills page.
Citizenship test requiredNo as of 2026-08-20[2]

Tax

Tax
Tax-residency day thresholdRecorded at the source, but not reducible to a single value as of 2026-01-20[18]
Other tax-residency triggershabitual abode, physical presence as of 2026-01-20[18]
Headline income tax rate37.50% as of 2025-11-22[14][19]
Top bracket of the 2026 state income tax scale on earned income: 37.50 per cent on the part of taxable earned income exceeding EUR 52,100. This is the state rate only. Municipal income tax, the church tax where applicable and the health care contribution (1.10 per cent on wage and work income in 2026) are levied on top, so a resident's combined marginal rate is materially higher than this figure. Capital income is taxed separately and flat-banded: 30 per cent up to EUR 30,000 and 34 per cent above it.
Income tax structureprogressive as of 2025-11-22[14][19]
Earned income is taxed on a progressive state scale with five brackets in 2026 (0-22,000 at 12.64 per cent; 22,000-32,600 at 19.00; 32,600-40,100 at 30.25; 40,100-52,100 at 33.25; above 52,100 at 37.50), and at proportional municipal and church rates on top. Capital income is not progressive.
Net-wealth taxNot established from a qualifying source
Inheritance or estate taxYes as of 2024-10-23[15]
Special tax regimes
    • Name: Key employees' tax at source (avainhenkilon lahdevero)
    • Status: Active
    • Type: impatriate
    • How the regime works: special rate
    • Headline rate: 25% as of 2025-12-08[16][17]
      Per cent, a final source tax on wages, from 1 January 2026; it was 32 per cent until the end of 2025. It replaces the ordinary progressive scale even where the holder resides in Finland for more than six months and is therefore a resident taxpayer. Because the tax is final, no deductions are available against it, and expenses incurred to earn key-employee income cannot be deducted against other income either. No health care or daily allowance contribution is withheld; pension and unemployment insurance contributions are, unless an A1 or equivalent certificate is produced.
    • Duration (years): 7 as of 2025-12-08[16]
      The relief runs for the first 84 months of work – 7 years – and the tax card must be requested within 90 days of starting work as a key person. A Finnish citizen moving back to Finland gets no more than 60 months (5 years), so the field's single number holds only the general case; the Finnish-citizen limb is stated here rather than averaged in. An expired card can be extended within 30 days of expiry while the maximum period is unspent, and a change of employer requires a new card.

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Reference figures

Reference figures
Reference figuresNo reference figures recorded

Changes

Recent changes

Recent changes
2024-10-01The period of residence required for naturalisation rose to eight years for citizenship applications submitted on or after 1 October 2024, from five years' continuous residence or seven years' accumulated residence after the age of 15.[2]
2026-01-01Migri's processing fees changed, set by a decree of the Ministry of the Interior. The fee for an online first residence permit for an entrepreneur rose from EUR 550 to EUR 750 and the paper fee from EUR 700 to EUR 900. Applications pending on 31 December 2025 keep the 2025 fee.
Affects: Residence permit for an entrepreneur[3]
2026-01-08Amendments to the Aliens Act changed the requirements for a permanent residence permit. Applicants aged 18 or over now choose among application paths with different periods of residence (six years, or four years on three alternative paths, or no period of residence with a higher education degree completed in Finland), and a work history requirement and a Finnish or Swedish language requirement were introduced. A language requirement was introduced for the P-EU permit as well, at a different level; the P-EU permit has no work history requirement and its five-year residence requirement was unchanged. A child may now be granted a permanent residence permit without a period of residence where a parent or guardian holds a permanent permit, a P-EU permit or Finnish citizenship.[7][9][10]
2026-01-01The final source tax on foreign key employees' wages fell from 32 to 25 per cent, for wages and salaries paid on or after 1 January 2026. A key employee holding a 2025 or earlier tax card showing 32 per cent does not need a new card: the employer may apply the new rate on its own initiative where the circumstances and the statutory conditions are otherwise unchanged. The scope of the key-employee act also expanded on the same date to cover, under certain conditions, Finnish citizens moving back to Finland, for work started on or after 1 January 2026.[16][17]

Pending changes

Pending changes
Legislative drafting began at the Ministry of Economic Affairs and Employment in early 2026; no date setOn 19 December 2025 the ministerial working group on employment and entrepreneurship decided to reform both the start-up entrepreneur permit and the entrepreneur permit. Business Finland's Eligibility Statement would no longer be applied for separately in advance but would form part of the residence permit application to Migri, and would become chargeable; the Business ID requirement on an entrepreneur's first permit would be dropped where the business is not yet operating in Finland; Migri's initial screening of applications would be widened and oral hearings of start-up entrepreneurs increased; and the conditions for granting an extended permit to a start-up entrepreneur would be clarified. Legislative project TEM003:00/2026.
Affects: Residence permit for a start-up entrepreneur, Residence permit for an entrepreneur[13]

Verification

Verification
Sources cited19
of which official (tier 1)19
Oldest as-of date2024-10-23
Newest as-of date2026-08-21
Reviewed on2026-08-22
Schema version1.1

Sources

  1. [1] Finland – EU country
    European Union (Directorate-General for Communication) · official portal · Tier 1 · Accessed 2026-08-20
  2. [2] Citizenship application
    Finnish Immigration Service (Maahanmuuttovirasto, Migri) · official portal · Tier 1 · Accessed 2026-08-20
  3. [3] Changes to Finnish Immigration Service processing fees as of 1 January 2026
    Finnish Immigration Service (Maahanmuuttovirasto, Migri) · official portal · Tier 1 · Published 2025-12-31 · Accessed 2026-08-20
  4. [4] Finnish citizenship
    Finnish Immigration Service (Maahanmuuttovirasto, Migri) · official portal · Tier 1 · Accessed 2026-08-20
  5. [5] First residence permit
    Finnish Immigration Service (Maahanmuuttovirasto, Migri) · official portal · Tier 1 · Accessed 2026-08-20
  6. [6] Income requirement for persons who apply for a residence permit on the basis of work
    Finnish Immigration Service (Maahanmuuttovirasto, Migri) · official guidance · Tier 1 · Accessed 2026-08-20
  7. [7] Language skills requirement (applications submitted on or after 8 January 2026)
    Finnish Immigration Service (Maahanmuuttovirasto, Migri) · official guidance · Tier 1 · Accessed 2026-08-20
  8. [8] Coming to Finland on other grounds
    Finnish Immigration Service (Maahanmuuttovirasto, Migri) · official portal · Tier 1 · Accessed 2026-08-20
  9. [9] Period of residence requirement for permanent residence permits
    Finnish Immigration Service (Maahanmuuttovirasto, Migri) · official guidance · Tier 1 · Accessed 2026-08-20
  10. [10] Permanent residence permits
    Finnish Immigration Service (Maahanmuuttovirasto, Migri) · official portal · Tier 1 · Accessed 2026-08-20
  11. [11] Residence permits on the basis of work
    Finnish Immigration Service (Maahanmuuttovirasto) · official portal · Tier 1 · Accessed 2026-08-21
  12. [12] Coming to Finland for work
    Finnish Immigration Service (Maahanmuuttovirasto) · official portal · Tier 1 · Accessed 2026-08-21
  13. [13] Hallitus uudistaa kasvuyrittäjän oleskelulupaa (Government to reform residence permits for start-up entrepreneurs)
    Ministry of Economic Affairs and Employment of Finland (työ- ja elinkeinoministeriö) · official portal · Tier 1 · Published 2025-12-19 · Accessed 2026-08-20
  14. [14] Ansiotulot – Valtion tuloveroasteikko 2026 (Earned income – state income tax scale 2026)
    Finnish Tax Administration (Verohallinto) · official guidance · Tier 1 · Published 2024-11-23 · Accessed 2026-08-20
  15. [15] Inheritance tax and tax matters of a death estate
    Finnish Tax Administration (Verohallinto) · official guidance · Tier 1 · Published 2024-10-23 · Accessed 2026-08-20
  16. [16] Foreign key person – you can pay tax at source on your income
    Finnish Tax Administration (Verohallinto) · official guidance · Tier 1 · Published 2025-12-05 · Accessed 2026-08-21
  17. [17] Tax withheld at source from key employees will decrease on 1 January 2026 – no new tax card needed
    Finnish Tax Administration (Verohallinto) · official guidance · Tier 1 · Published 2025-12-08 · Accessed 2026-08-21
  18. [18] Residency and nonresidency in Finland
    Finnish Tax Administration (Verohallinto) · official guidance · Tier 1 · Published 2026-01-20 · Accessed 2026-08-20
  19. [19] Tax bases 2026
    Finnish Tax Administration (Verohallinto) · official guidance · Tier 1 · Published 2025-11-22 · Accessed 2026-08-20

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