Residence permit on the basis of an intergovernmental agreement
Residency route facts
Identity
| Official name (local) | Oleskelulupahakemus valtioiden välisen sopimuksen perusteella as of 2026-08-22[4] 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 an intergovernmental agreement as of 2026-08-21[4][7] |
| Legal basis | Ulkomaalaislaki 301/2004 (Aliens Act, consolidated to 22 December 2025), section 74(1)(7) as of 2026-08-22[9] Section 74 is the residual work provision, headed “Muu oleskelulupa ansiotyötä tai elinkeinon harjoittamista varten”, and it carries eleven enumerated grounds in a single subsection. This route is ground 7, identified by the statute's own words: “tekee työn, joka sisältyy valtioiden väliseen sopimukseen”. Subsection 3 sets one means test for all eleven grounds: “toimeentulo on turvattu … tulolla, joka pääosin saadaan siitä perusteesta, jota varten oleskelulupa myönnetään”. The labour market test in sections 72 and 72 b does not apply to any of them. |
| Instrument type | residence permit as of 2026-08-21[6][7] |
Who can apply
| Nationals not served by this route | EU, EEA, EFTA as of 2026-08-21[2][6] 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[4] Migri publishes an extended-permit fee for this permit. |
| Work rights | employment only as of 2026-08-21[3][4] The work the permit was granted for. Migri's income guidance for this group also allows the holder's main income to come from pursuing a trade or business without establishing a company, which employment_only does not capture; see the requirements block. |
Permanent residence and citizenship
| Counts toward permanent residence | Not established from a qualifying source |
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Requirements
| Job offer required | Yes as of 2026-08-21[4] Work forming part of an intergovernmental agreement. Migri publishes a one-month expected processing time for both first and extended permits – the fastest on its work list. Confirmed employment is required before applying, and a supply contract indicating the work covered must be attached. |
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| Salary threshold |
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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. |
| Employer sponsorship | Yes as of 2026-08-21[4] The employer must supplement the application with the terms of employment, except where the holder pursues a trade or business rather than being an employee. |
| Job-search route | No as of 2026-08-21[4] |
Process
| Where to apply from | from abroad only as of 2026-08-21[4] 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[4] 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[4][8] 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[1] 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 | 9 |
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| of which official (tier 1) | 9 |
| 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] Moving to Finland to be with a family member
Finnish Immigration Service (Maahanmuuttovirasto) · official portal · Tier 1 · Accessed 2026-08-21 · Archived copy - [2] First residence permit
Finnish Immigration Service (Maahanmuuttovirasto, Migri) · official portal · Tier 1 · Accessed 2026-08-20 - [3] 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 - [4] Residence permit application on the basis of an intergovernmental agreement
Finnish Immigration Service (Maahanmuuttovirasto) · official portal · Tier 1 · Accessed 2026-08-21 - [5] Labour market test
Finnish Immigration Service (Maahanmuuttovirasto) · official guidance · Tier 1 · Accessed 2026-08-21 · Archived copy - [6] Residence permit types
Finnish Immigration Service (Maahanmuuttovirasto, Migri) · official guidance · Tier 1 · Accessed 2026-08-20 - [7] Residence permits on the basis of work
Finnish Immigration Service (Maahanmuuttovirasto) · official portal · Tier 1 · Accessed 2026-08-21 - [8] Coming to Finland for work
Finnish Immigration Service (Maahanmuuttovirasto) · official portal · Tier 1 · Accessed 2026-08-21 - [9] Ulkomaalaislaki 301/2004 (Aliens Act, consolidated text)
Oikeusministeriö / Finlex · statute · Tier 1 · Published 2025-12-22 · Accessed 2026-08-22