Immigration
2.1. EU Citizens
Our third party relocation service partner will help you through your immigration process.
For a long (over 3 months) or permanent relocation, you must apply to the Finnish Immigration Service for registration of an EU citizen’s right of residence. The application must be submitted within three months of the day of arrival at the latest.
Right of residence registration→
Citizens of another EU country don’t need a residence permit for Finland. You can simply arrive in Finland with a valid passport and stay for three months at most without registering your right of residence. During this time you have the right to work, run a business and study in Finland equal to Finnish citizens. In the likely case of living in Finland permanently for a year or more, you also need to register in person at the nearest service location of the Digital and Population Data Services Agency.
2.2. Non-EU Citizens
Our third party relocation service partner will help you through your immigration process.
If you come to work in Finland and you are a citizen of a country that is not an EU member state or one of the Nordic countries, you need a residence permit. You must apply for a residence permit before you come to Finland.
Your first permit will expire at some point. So, you need to apply for a permit renewal before the current permit expires. You can submit the application online, or by making an appointment with the Finnish Immigration Service. When applying online, you will still need to book an appointment to prove your identity within three months of submitting your application. Note that all renewal applications must be made in Finland.
2.3. Immigration checklists
There are some preparations worth checking before coming over:
- Check the expiration date of your passport and if needed, renew it before moving
- Your residency permit will be valid for as least as long as your passport – we recommend renewing your passport before submitting your permit application if you have less than a year left before the passport expires
- Bring originals of your qualifications, with notarized English translations
- Marriage certificates and children’s birth certificates must be apostilled. This is a process to verify the validity and is usually done in the place of issue.
- Has your family name changed? Be sure to bring your marriage certificate or certificate of name change
And once you come, the appointments mentioned above, are here as a checklist too:
- Maistraatti: You’ll register your address and relationship here
- Kela: You’ll apply for social security and your Kela Card here
- Vero: You’ll apply for a tax card here
- Bank: You’ll open a local bank account here
As mentioned before, our third party relocation service partner will help you every step of the way.
2.4. Useful links
Infofinland.fi (Information bank hosted by the City of Helsinki)
Migri.fi (Finnish Immigration Service home page)
EnterFinland.fi (Finnish Immigration Services online)