Residence permit for studies
Residency route facts
Identity
| Official name (local) | Opiskelijan oleskelulupa as of 2026-08-21[7] |
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| Official name (English) | Residence permit for studies as of 2026-08-21[7] |
| Legal basis | Laki kolmansien maiden kansalaisten maahantulon ja oleskelun edellytyksistä tutkimuksen, opiskelun, työharjoittelun ja vapaaehtoistoiminnan perusteella 719/2018 (consolidated to 22 December 2025), sections 7 and 7 a as of 2026-08-22[1] Section 7 is the study permit and section 7 a the related national provision. Section 7(4) requires insurance covering healthcare costs, and switches to medicines-only cover where the estimated duration of the studies is at least two years. Finnish text: “Oleskeluluvan myöntäminen edellyttää lisäksi, että kolmannen maan kansalaisella on vakuutus, joka kattaa sairaanhoidon kustannukset. Jos opintojen arvioitu kesto on vähintään kaksi vuotta, riittävää on, että vakuutus kattaa lääkekustannukset.” |
| Instrument type | residence permit as of 2026-08-21[6][8] |
Who can apply
| Nationals not served by this route | EU, EEA, EFTA as of 2026-08-21[3][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 application page states no term for the permit itself. It does state that a family member's first A permit is granted for one year at most and a family member's extended permit for four years at most, but those are the dependant's terms, not the student's. |
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| Renewable | Yes as of 2026-08-21[7] Migri publishes a separate extended-permit application for studies. |
| Work rights | hours capped as of 2026-08-21[7] Paid employment in any field, an average of 30 hours a week – Migri's own restatement is 120 hours a month or 1,560 hours a year. The weekly figure may be exceeded in some weeks, including full-time work during holidays, provided the annual average holds. Internships and diploma work forming part of the degree are outside the cap where the credit was agreed in advance; work registered as an internship afterwards is not. The employer checks the hours, and both parties are responsible for the cap. Permits granted before the 15 April 2022 amendments carry the same right. |
Permanent residence and citizenship
Requirements
| Enrolment status required | admitted as of 2026-08-21[7] Acceptance to study at an educational institution in Finland, evidenced by a certificate of acceptance or attendance. The studies must lead to a vocational qualification or a degree; other studies may qualify on a well-founded reason. Basic education does not qualify. |
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| Means requirement | EUR 800 per month as of 2026-08-21[7] At the applicant's disposal, for the whole duration of the studies. Migri requires proof of financing for the first year of study – EUR 9,600 in the bank account at the time of application – or, for courses shorter than a year, EUR 800 per month. Where the educational institution supports the student's living costs the requirement may be reduced against documentation. Where a tuition fee is to be paid later, its amount must also be in the account at application. A flat national figure, not the three-tier municipal table that governs Finland's work and family means tests – and Migri's own family-income page confirms the distinction by working an example in which a student's own threshold is EUR 800 while the second adult in the household adds EUR 550. |
| Work-hours cap | 30 as of 2026-08-21[7] Hours per week, assessed as an average over the calendar year; see permit.work_rights. |
| Post-study route exists | Yes as of 2026-08-21[4][7] Two, in fact. A graduate with a job, a trade or a business applies for the residence permit on the basis of a degree completed in Finland; a graduate without one applies for the residence permit to look for work or to start a business, within five years of the study permit expiring. Both are recorded as work-family routes in this record, per the v1.0/G9 convention. |
| Post-study permit duration | up to 2 years as of 2026-08-21[4] The residence permit to look for work or to start a business runs for a maximum of two years, optionally split into three parts of at least six months each within three years. |
| Post-study income requirement | EUR 800 per month as of 2026-08-21[4] The means test on the job-search permit itself – the same EUR 800 a month as the study permit, and equally a flat national figure. |
Process
| Where to apply from | from abroad only as of 2026-08-21[7] First permit abroad, extended permit in Finland only. |
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| Fees |
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| Stages |
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Physical presence
| none stated | to keep the permit as of 2026-08-21[7] Migri states no day-count or absence rule for this permit. It does state a condition of a different kind: the permit is not granted where the studies consist mainly of distance learning online and do not require the holder to stay in Finland, and Migri conducts post-decision monitoring of whether the permit's requirements are still met. That is a purpose condition, not a presence rule, so it is recorded here in the note rather than forced into a day count. |
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Family inclusion
| Family members may be included | Yes as of 2026-08-21[2][7] Family members may be granted a permit of the same type as the student's – an A permit where the student holds one, a B permit where the student holds a B. |
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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 Not established for this route. |
| Family members' work rights | Not established from a qualifying source Not established; Migri's studies page does not state the right to work attaching to a family member's permit. |
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.
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Verification
| Sources cited | 8 |
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| of which official (tier 1) | 8 |
| 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] 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] 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 - [5] Permanent residence permits
Finnish Immigration Service (Maahanmuuttovirasto, Migri) · official portal · Tier 1 · Accessed 2026-08-20 - [6] Residence permit types
Finnish Immigration Service (Maahanmuuttovirasto, Migri) · official guidance · Tier 1 · Accessed 2026-08-20 - [7] Residence permit application for studies
Finnish Immigration Service (Maahanmuuttovirasto) · official portal · Tier 1 · Accessed 2026-08-21 · Archived copy - [8] Residence permits on the basis of work
Finnish Immigration Service (Maahanmuuttovirasto) · official portal · Tier 1 · Accessed 2026-08-21