Residence permit for a specialist
Residency route facts
Identity
| Official name (local) | Erityisasiantuntijan oleskelulupa as of 2026-08-22[9] Name the statute itself gives the permit, at Ulkomaalaislaki 301/2004, section 73. Migri's Finnish page for this route is headed “Erityisasiantuntijan oleskelulupahakemus”, which is an application-form title rather than the permit's name. |
|---|---|
| Official name (English) | Residence permit for a specialist as of 2026-08-21[6] |
| Legal basis | Ulkomaalaislaki 301/2004 (Aliens Act, consolidated to 22 December 2025), section 73 as of 2026-08-22[9] Section 73 grants the specialist's residence permit for expert duties requiring special expertise, at a salary of at least the average gross wage of an employee, and expressly disapplies the labour market test in sections 72 and 72 b. The threshold is set as a formula rather than a figure, which is why the published amount changes each year. Finnish text: “73 § Erityisasiantuntijan oleskelulupa. Ulkomaalaiselle myönnetään hakemuksesta erityisasiantuntijan oleskelulupa, jos hän toimii erityisosaamista vaativissa asiantuntijatehtävissä, josta hänelle maksettava palkka on vähintään keskimääräinen palkansaajan bruttopalkka. Erityisasiantuntijan oleskelulupaan ei sovelleta 72 ja 72 b §:ää.” |
| Instrument type | residence permit as of 2026-08-21[5][7] |
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[6] Migri: a first residence permit for a specialist is granted for a maximum of 2 years, and for the duration of the employment relationship where that is shorter. |
|---|---|
| How the initial term is set | matches the contract |
| Renewable | Yes as of 2026-08-21[6] |
| Work rights | employment only as of 2026-08-21[6] The holder has the right to work as a specialist and must check the rules on changing jobs. Specialists may additionally work without any residence permit for up to 90 days. |
Permanent residence and citizenship
| Counts toward permanent residence | Not established from a qualifying source |
|---|
Requirements
| Job offer required | Yes as of 2026-08-21[6] |
|---|---|
| Salary threshold |
|
| 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, equivalent experience as of 2026-08-21[6] As a rule a higher education degree; alternatively the special expertise required in the work, acquired through work experience or other education. The employer must verify it. |
| Employer sponsorship | Yes as of 2026-08-21[6] |
| Job-search route | No as of 2026-08-21[6] |
Process
| Where to apply from | from abroad only as of 2026-08-21[2][6] First permit abroad, extended permit in Finland only. |
|---|---|
| Fees |
|
| Stages |
|
Physical presence
| none stated | to keep the permit as of 2026-08-21[6] 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 | Yes as of 2026-08-21[6][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. |
|---|---|
| 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.
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 | 9 |
|---|---|
| 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] 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 permit application for persons employed as a specialist
Finnish Immigration Service (Maahanmuuttovirasto) · official portal · Tier 1 · Accessed 2026-08-21 - [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