Residence permit on the basis of a degree completed in Finland
Residency route facts
Identity
| Official name (local) | Oleskelulupahakemus Suomessa tutkinnon suorittaneelle as of 2026-08-22[1] Heading of the Finnish-language edition of this route's own page on migri.fi, transcribed as published. Migri's Finnish headings are application-form titles rather than permit names; this field carries the statutory permit name where an act supplies one, and the authority's published heading where it does not. |
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| Official name (English) | Residence permit on the basis of a degree completed in Finland as of 2026-08-21[1][9] |
| Legal basis | Ulkomaalaislaki 301/2004 (Aliens Act, consolidated to 22 December 2025), section 75 as of 2026-08-22[10] One provision covers both the completed-degree and the completed-research routes: a permit for a foreign national who has completed a degree or a piece of research in Finland and whose main purpose in staying is work or business. The means test routes through section 39. Finnish text: “75 § Suomessa tutkinnon tai tutkimuksen suorittaneen oleskelulupa. Ulkomaalaiselle, joka on suorittanut Suomessa tutkinnon tai tutkimuksen loppuun ja jonka maassa oleskelun pääasiallinen tarkoitus on työnteko tai elinkeinon harjoittaminen, myönnetään hakemuksesta Suomessa tutkinnon tai tutkimuksen suorittaneen oleskelulupa. Oleskeluluvan myöntämisen edellytyksenä on, että ulkomaalaisen toimeentulo on turvattu 39 §:n mukaisesti oleskeluluvan voimassaolon ajan.” |
| Instrument type | residence permit as of 2026-08-21[7][8] |
Who can apply
| Nationals not served by this route | EU, EEA, EFTA as of 2026-08-21[3][7] Migri states that citizens of an EU Member State, Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway or Switzerland must register their right of residence rather than apply for a residence permit. Mapped to the eu, eea and efta bloc ids: the four named non-EU states are exactly the EEA/EFTA set, and the vocabulary has no separate id for Switzerland alone. |
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Permit terms
| Initial duration | Not established from a qualifying source Migri's page states no term for this permit. |
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| Renewable | Yes as of 2026-08-21[1] |
| Work rights | full as of 2026-08-21[1] The permit covers paid employment, pursuing a trade and engaging in business activities without a further permit; Migri states expressly that a holder does not need the employed-person or entrepreneur permit. |
Permanent residence and citizenship
| Counts toward permanent residence | Yes as of 2026-08-21[1][6] Migri names 'degree completed in Finland' as one of the permanent-residence application paths and requires, for it, that the applicant meet the requirements for a continuous (A) residence permit for a person who has completed a degree in Finland – which states that this route is a continuous permit and that it leads to permanent residence. |
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Requirements
| Job offer required | No as of 2026-08-21[1] A job is one of three alternatives: employment, pursuing a trade, or business activities. Where there is employment, the employer must supplement the application with the terms of employment. An applicant with none of the three is directed to the residence permit to look for work or to start a business. |
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| Labour-market test | No as of 2026-08-21[5] Migri's labour market test page carries an exhaustive list of the permits to which labour market testing applies – the residence permit for an employed person, and the residence permit for seasonal work where the work lasts 6-9 months. This route is not on it. Recorded false on that enumeration, not on this route page's silence. Migri states the point positively for this route: a person who has completed a degree or qualification in Finland may apply for this permit, 'which does not require a labour market test'. |
| Qualification requirement | degree as of 2026-08-21[1] A degree completed in Finland: a higher education degree at a university or university of applied sciences, the Finnish matriculation examination, or an initial, further or specialist vocational qualification. Certificates of competence area are not degrees. The degree need not be recent. |
| Own means requirement | Recorded at the source, but not reducible to a single value[1][4] |
| Job-search route | No as of 2026-08-21[1] |
Process
| Where to apply from | from abroad only as of 2026-08-21[1] First permit abroad, extended permit in Finland only. |
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| Fees |
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Physical presence
| none stated | to keep the permit as of 2026-08-21[1] Migri's route page states no residence or presence condition for keeping this permit. Recorded none_stated on that basis, not as a positive statement that absence is unlimited. Continuity of residence bites later, at the permanent-residence and naturalisation stages, which are recorded at country level. |
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Family inclusion
| Family members may be included | Yes as of 2026-08-21[1][9] Migri's work hub states that a person granted a residence permit for work may usually have family members apply on the basis of family ties, and this route's own page directs a spouse and children to the family-ties application. |
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| Eligible relations | spouse, registered partner, unmarried partner, minor child, parent as of 2026-08-21[2] Migri's family-ties page defines family members of a Finnish citizen or a non-EU foreign national as: a spouse, a registered partner, a cohabiting partner (2 years' continuous cohabitation, waived where there is joint custody of a child or other serious reasons), a person who has custody of a child under 18, and an unmarried child under 18 of whom the sponsor has custody. Mapped to spouse, registered_partner, unmarried_partner, minor_child and parent. 'Other relatives' are expressly not family members unless the sponsor is a Finnish citizen or holds protection status. |
| Family may apply at the same time | Not established from a qualifying source |
| Family members' work rights | Not established from a qualifying source |
Your next step
Read the requirements above considering your own situation: the income multiple, the absence limits, who you can bring. Check the country record for the reference figure those amounts are calculated from, and for anything that has changed recently.
The next step is your own case. That assessment is legal work. Create profile for our assistance in this.
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Verification
| Sources cited | 10 |
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| of which official (tier 1) | 10 |
| Oldest as-of date | 2026-08-21 |
| Newest as-of date | 2026-08-22 |
| Reviewed on | 2026-08-22 |
| Schema version | 1.1 |
Sources
- [1] Residence permit application for person with a degree completed in Finland
Finnish Immigration Service (Maahanmuuttovirasto) · official portal · Tier 1 · Accessed 2026-08-21 · Archived copy - [2] Moving to Finland to be with a family member
Finnish Immigration Service (Maahanmuuttovirasto) · official portal · Tier 1 · Accessed 2026-08-21 · Archived copy - [3] First residence permit
Finnish Immigration Service (Maahanmuuttovirasto, Migri) · official portal · Tier 1 · Accessed 2026-08-20 - [4] 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 - [5] Labour market test
Finnish Immigration Service (Maahanmuuttovirasto) · official guidance · Tier 1 · Accessed 2026-08-21 · Archived copy - [6] Permanent residence permits
Finnish Immigration Service (Maahanmuuttovirasto, Migri) · official portal · Tier 1 · Accessed 2026-08-20 - [7] Residence permit types
Finnish Immigration Service (Maahanmuuttovirasto, Migri) · official guidance · Tier 1 · Accessed 2026-08-20 - [8] Residence permits on the basis of work
Finnish Immigration Service (Maahanmuuttovirasto) · official portal · Tier 1 · Accessed 2026-08-21 - [9] Coming to Finland for work
Finnish Immigration Service (Maahanmuuttovirasto) · official portal · Tier 1 · Accessed 2026-08-21 - [10] Ulkomaalaislaki 301/2004 (Aliens Act, consolidated text)
Oikeusministeriö / Finlex · statute · Tier 1 · Published 2025-12-22 · Accessed 2026-08-22