Registration of an EU citizen’s right of residence

You must have a reason for staying in Finland. The reason may be work, exercise of a profession, studying, a family member living in Finland or sufficient resources.

If you plan to stay in Finland for more than three months, you must register your right of residence at the Finnish Immigration Service (Maahanmuuttovirasto). You must submit the application within three months of arriving in Finland.

Registration by the Finnish Immigration Service is not the same thing as registering your place of residence in the Population Information System (väestötietojärjestelmä) at the Digital and Population Data Services Agency (Digi- ja väestötietovirasto). You do not need to register your residence at the Finnish Immigration Service if you reside in Finland for a continuous period of less than three months. The three months’ residence is always counted from the time when you have last been outside the borders of Finland.

Read more about the requirements on the page EU citizens.

Processing the application for registration of the right of residence is subject to a fee. If you apply using a paper application, you can pay for the application at a service point of the Finnish Immigration Service. If you fill in the application through the Enter Finland online service, you can pay for the application through Enter Finland or at a service point of the Finnish Immigration Service.

Apply for a registration of an EU citizen’s right of residence through the Enter Finland service:

1. Fill in the application form and include the required appendices. 
2. You should go to a service point of the Finnish Immigration Service because you must prove your identity and present the original copies of the appendices to your application. Take with you a valid identity card or passport.
3. You must visit a service point within three months of submitting the application. You need to make an appointment in advance to visit a service point. Book the appointment in the electronic appointment booking service of the Finnish Immigration Service.
4. Remember to check your Enter Finland account regularly. If further clarifications are needed, you will be informed through your Enter Finland account. You will be informed when the decision has been made.

If you are unable to register online:

1. Print out the registration application from the Finnish Immigration Service website and fill it in. Thereafter, submit the application within three months of arriving in Finland.
2. Make an appointment for the service point in the electronic appointment booking service of the Finnish Immigration Service. You need to make an appointment in advance to visit a service point.
3. Take with you the filled-in registration form, a valid identity card or passport and the necessary appendices.

If the grounds for your residence in Finland and the requirements are met, you will get a registration certificate from the Finnish Immigration Service. The registration of the right of residence is valid until further notice.

When you have lived in Finland legally and continuously for five years, you can apply for an EU citizen’s right of permanent residence. EU citizen’s right of permanent residence must be applied for separately at the Finnish Immigration Service.

Finnish personal identity code (suomalainen henkilötunnus)

If the Finnish Immigration Service registers your right of residence, your personal data is automatically also registered in the Population Information System. You will receive a Finnish personal identity code and an entry indicating your municipality of residence at the same time.

You can also get a Finnish personal identity code at a service location of the Digital and Population Data Services Agency and some tax offices.

Read more on the InfoFinland page Registering as a resident and Municipality of residence in Finland.

The InfoFinland page Moving to Finland checklist contains useful information on other things you have to attend to when moving to Finland.

Employee or entrepreneur

Your right of residence can be registered if you have a job or a business in Finland.

You need to append at least the following documents to your application:

• valid identity card or passport
• valid contract of employment (if you have a job)
• account on business activities (if you are an entrepreneur)

Student

Your right of residence can be registered if you study at an approved educational institution in Finland.

You need to append at least the following documents to your application:

• valid identity card or passport
• certificate of attendance (proof that you are a student at an approved educational institution in Finland)
• assurance that you have sufficient resources for yourself and your family members

Family member of an EU citizen

Your right of residence can be registered if your family member, who is an EU citizen, resides permanently in Finland.

You need to append at least the following documents to your application:

• valid identity card or passport
• certificate of marriage
• account on living together for two years or on a child in joint custody, if you are in a common-law relationship
• birth certificate of the child, if you have a child in your custody
• account on the grounds of the sponsor’s residence in Finland

If your status is ‘other family member’, append the following appendices to your application:

• proof that you need someone to take care of you, for example a document related to your state of health, need for help and financial support from a relative. In addition, you can send an account of you living together with your family member in your country of origin.
• a document on family relationship (a certificate issued by a country other than the Nordic or EU countries must be legalised).

Sufficient resources

If your right of residence cannot be registered on any of the grounds stated above, you can apply for registration if you have sufficient resources for living in Finland. Sufficient resources are also grounds for registration.

You need to append at least the following documents to your application:

• valid identity card or passport
• explanation that you have sufficient resources for living in Finland

For more detailed instructions, please visit the Finnish Immigration Service website.

Family member of a Finnish citizen

If you are a family member of a Finnish citizen, fill in the supplement form “Suomen kansalaisen vapaan liikkumisoikeuden käyttö”. The exercise of the right of free movement means that your family member, who is a Finnish citizen, has lived in another EU country or a country comparable to an EU country for a continuous period of at least three months. During that time, they must have lived a family life with you.

Residence card for an EU citizen’s family member

If you are not a citizen of an EU country, Liechtenstein, Switzerland, Norway or Iceland but you are moving to Finland to live with a family member who is an EU citizen, you must apply for a residence card for an EU citizen’s family member.

You can apply for a residence card online through the Enter Finland service or at a service point of the Finnish Immigration Service. Processing the application for a residence card is subject to a fee.

You need to append at least the following documents to your application:

• a valid passport
• a passport photo, not older than six months, in accordance with the police passport photo guidelines or a photo ID given by a photography studio
• certificate of marriage
• registering certificate of the EU citizen you come to Finland with
• account of relationship (children or other dependent relatives of an EU citizen)
• account on living together (if you are a common-law spouse of an EU citizen and you do not have children in joint custody)

The residence card for an EU citizen’s family member is granted for five years or a shorter time if the duration of living in Finland is less than five years.

Registration of an EU citizen’s right of residence and residence card for an EU citizen’s family member may be cancelled or it may expire if:

• you move away from Finland permanently,
• you continuously reside outside of Finland for two years
• you have given false information when applying for the registration of an EU citizen’s right of residence or residence card for an EU citizen’s family member
• you have withheld a factor that could have prevented you from being registered or receiving the residence card
• you are deported from Finland
• you are granted Finnish citizenship.

Bear in mind that, if your situation in life changes, this may affect your right of residence. Once your right of residence has been registered, your grounds may change to something else during your residence and it will not affect your registration. If you no longer have any grounds for your residence, this may result in your registration being cancelled.

The Finnish Immigration Service makes decisions on cancelling or expiring rights of residence.

If you move abroad

If you do not want your right of residence or residence card to be cancelled, you can submit an application to the Finnish Immigration Service at the latest within two years of moving abroad.