Residence permit to look for work or to start a business
Residency route facts
Identity
| Official name (local) | Oleskelulupahakemus opiskelijoille ja tutkijoille työnhakua tai yritystoiminnan aloittamista varten as of 2026-08-22[3] 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. |
|---|---|
| Official name (English) | Residence permit to look for work or to start a business as of 2026-08-21[3][6] |
| Legal basis | Laki kolmansien maiden kansalaisten maahantulon ja oleskelun edellytyksistä tutkimuksen, opiskelun, työharjoittelun ja vapaaehtoistoiminnan perusteella 719/2018 (consolidated to 22 December 2025), section 10 as of 2026-08-22[1] Section 10 grants a permit to look for work or start a business to the holder of a permit under sections 6, 7 or 7 a, once the research is completed or the degree taken. It must be applied for within five years, and issues as a temporary permit for a maximum of two years. Finnish text: “10 § Oleskeluluvan myöntäminen työnhakua ja yritystoimintaa varten. Kolmannen maan kansalaiselle, jolle on myönnetty oleskelulupa 6, 7 tai 7 a §:n perusteella, myönnetään tutkimustoiminnan loppuunsaattamisen tai tutkinnon suorittamisen jälkeen oleskelulupa työnhakua tai yritystoimintaa varten. … Oleskelulupaa on haettava viiden vuoden kuluessa … Oleskelulupa myönnetään tilapäisenä enintään kahdeksi vuodeksi.” |
| Instrument type | residence permit as of 2026-08-21[5][6] |
Who can apply
| Nationals not served by this route | EU, EEA, EFTA as of 2026-08-21[2][5] 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. |
|---|
Permit terms
| Initial duration | up to 2 years as of 2026-08-21[3] A first permit or an extended permit may be granted for a maximum of two years. The permit may also be used in three parts: each part must last at least six months, and the last part must end within three years of the date the first part started. |
|---|---|
| Renewable | Yes as of 2026-08-21[3] A new permit may be applied for at the earliest three months before the current one expires. |
| Maximum total duration | up to 2 years as of 2026-08-21[3] Two years in total, whether taken continuously or in three parts within a three-year window. |
| Work rights | full as of 2026-08-21[3] The permit includes an unrestricted right to work, so no new permit is needed on finding a job. Migri directs applicants who have a job but do not earn enough for a work-based permit to this permit as well. |
Permanent residence and citizenship
| Counts toward permanent residence | Recorded at the source, but not reducible to a single value[3] |
|---|
Requirements
| Job offer required | No as of 2026-08-21[3] The route requires the opposite: the applicant must not yet have found a job. It may nonetheless be used by someone who has a job that does not pay enough for a work-based permit. |
|---|---|
| Labour-market test | No as of 2026-08-21[4] 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. |
| Qualification requirement | degree as of 2026-08-21[3] A degree completed in Finland, or completed research work or a doctoral degree in Finland, plus a current or former residence permit for studies or for research. A holder of a national (non-Directive) research permit qualifies only on the completed-degree limb. The permit must be applied for within five years of the studies or research permit expiring. |
| Own means requirement | EUR 800 per month as of 2026-08-21[3] At the applicant's disposal, for the whole permit period – Migri's own worked example is EUR 19,200 for a two-year permit. On an extended permit the means may be secured by work, which Migri checks against the Incomes Register. This is a flat national figure, not the three-tier municipal table that governs most other Finnish means tests. |
| Job-search route | Yes as of 2026-08-21[3] This route is itself a job-search instrument under the v1.0/G9 definition: it is granted precisely because the holder has not yet found work. |
Process
| Where to apply from | either as of 2026-08-21[3] Migri states a first permit is applied for abroad and an extended permit in Finland, but the route's ordinary use is as an extended permit applied for in Finland on graduation, and the page describes that path in detail. Recorded 'either' on the two paths Migri sets out. |
|---|---|
| Fees |
|
Physical presence
| none stated | to keep the permit as of 2026-08-21[3] 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. |
|---|
Family inclusion
| Family members may be included | Not established from a qualifying source Not established for this route. Migri's page says nothing about family members, and the general work-hub statement is about permits granted for work, which this permit is not – it is granted in the absence of work. |
|---|
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.
Profile benefits
- A 30-minute call with our consultant, who reads your profile first.
- An offer for legal support built around your case, covering the whole process.
Verification
| Sources cited | 6 |
|---|---|
| of which official (tier 1) | 6 |
| 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] Laki kolmansien maiden kansalaisten maahantulon ja oleskelun edellytyksistä tutkimuksen, opiskelun, työharjoittelun ja vapaaehtoistoiminnan perusteella 719/2018 (consolidated text)
Oikeusministeriö / Finlex · statute · Tier 1 · Published 2025-12-22 · Accessed 2026-08-22 - [2] First residence permit
Finnish Immigration Service (Maahanmuuttovirasto, Migri) · official portal · Tier 1 · Accessed 2026-08-20 - [3] Application for students and researchers: residence permit to look for work or to start a business
Finnish Immigration Service (Maahanmuuttovirasto) · official portal · Tier 1 · Accessed 2026-08-21 · Archived copy - [4] Labour market test
Finnish Immigration Service (Maahanmuuttovirasto) · official guidance · Tier 1 · Accessed 2026-08-21 · Archived copy - [5] Residence permit types
Finnish Immigration Service (Maahanmuuttovirasto, Migri) · official guidance · Tier 1 · Accessed 2026-08-20 - [6] Residence permits on the basis of work
Finnish Immigration Service (Maahanmuuttovirasto) · official portal · Tier 1 · Accessed 2026-08-21