EU citizens

The same applies to citizens of Switzerland and Liechtenstein. You can arrive in Finland if you have a valid identity card or passport. You have the right to work, run a business and study in Finland equally with Finnish citizens. You must ensure your livelihood in Finland yourself.

You can reside in Finland for a continuous period of three months at most without registering your right of residence. If you want to stay in Finland and register as a resident, you must have a job, an operating company, a study place, long time family ties or sufficient resources.

If you are planning on staying in Finland for more than three months, you must apply to the Finnish Immigration Service (Maahanmuuttovirasto) for the 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. If you are a citizen of a Nordic country (Iceland, Norway, Sweden or Denmark), you only need to register your information with the Digital and Population Data Services Agency.

Read more about this on the InfoFinland page Registration of an EU citizen’s right of residence or Nordic citizens.

If you move to Finland permanently for at least one year and want a municipality of residence, notify the Digital and Population Data Services Agency (Digi- ja väestötietovirasto) of the move. If you have a municipality of residence (kotikunta) in Finland, you are usually entitled to use the services of that municipality.

Read more on the InfoFinland page Municipality of residence in Finland.

If you are planning on staying in Finland for less than a year or you do not want a municipality of residence, you can apply for a temporary address registration in the Population Information System.

Read more on the InfoFinland page: Registering as a resident.

If you reside in Finland for a continuous period of less than three months, you don’t need to apply for registration of your right of residence. The three months’ residence is always counted from the time when you have last been outside the borders of Finland.

• As an EU citizen, you do not need a work permit in Finland. You are allowed to start working as soon as you arrive in the country.
• If you work in Finland, you need a Finnish personal identity code and a tax card. You can apply for a tax card at the nearest tax office, and some tax offices also issue personal identity codes. You can also receive a personal identity code at the Digital and Population Data Services Agency. Take a valid identity card or passport and the employment contract with you.
• Deliver the tax card to your employer. Your employer needs it for salary payment and taxation.
• If your work in Finland lasts for more than three months, apply for a registration of an EU citizen’s right of residence through the Finnish Immigration Service’s Enter Finland service or at the nearest service point of the Finnish Immigration Service.

Personal identity code

If you come from abroad to work in Finland, you need a Finnish personal identity code. You can get a personal identity code at

• the Digital and Population Data Services Agency,
• some tax offices, or
• the Finnish Immigration Service at the same time as you register your EU citizen’s right of residence.

If you have received a personal identity code from the Finnish Immigration Service or the Tax Administration but you want your address and family relationship data to be stored, you need to request their registration from the Digital and Population Data Services Agency.

Read more on the InfoFinland page: Registering as a resident.

Tax card and tax number

All people working in Finland need to have a tax card. If you work in construction or shipbuilding, you also need a tax number (veronumero). You can get the tax card and tax number at a tax office.

Read more on the InfoFinland page Tax card.

Looking for work in Finland

If you are an EU citizen, you can come to Finland to look for work for a reasonable time.

On the basis of job searching, you cannot register as a resident in Finland or apply for registration of your right of residence. To be able to stay and live in Finland, you must have a job or another reason mentioned hereinabove and sufficient resources for living.

If you are entitled to unemployment benefit in your home country, it can temporarily be paid to you in Finland as well. You can apply for payment of unemployment benefit in Finland with form E303 or U2. You can get the form from employment authorities of your home country.

If you come to Finland to look for work, you are normally not entitled to unemployment benefit in Finland.

Read more on the InfoFinland page: Find a job in Finland.

Work in Finland guide

The Suomi.fi website provides a guide for those moving to Finland to work. The guide explains what you need to do when moving to Finland to work.

• As an EU citizen, you can start a business in Finland if you have permanent residence in a country belonging to the European Economic Area (EEA). A foreign company can also start business activities in Finland.
• Make a start-up notification of starting a business to the Trade Register of the Finnish Patent and Registration Office and the Tax Administration.
• If your residence in Finland lasts for more than three months, apply for a registration of an EU citizen’s right of residence through the Finnish Immigration Service’s Enter Finland service or at the nearest service point of the Finnish Immigration Service.

Start-up notification

When you register your business for the first time, you must fill in the start-up notification (perustamisilmoitus) and submit the required appendices. You can report the information of the business to the Trade Register of the Finnish Patent and Registration Office and the registers of the Tax Administration with a single Y form. An extract equivalent to a Finnish Trade Register Extract, provided by an authority in the home country, may also be needed as an appendix to the start-up notification.

Read more on the InfoFinland page: Starting a business in Finland.

• As an EU citizen, you can apply for studies at an approved educational institution in Finland.
• If your studies in Finland last for more than three months, apply for a registration of an EU citizen’s right of residence through the Finnish Immigration Service’s Enter Finland service or at the nearest service point of the Finnish Immigration Service.

If you reside in Finland for a continuous period of less than three months, you don’t need to apply for registration of your right of residence. The three months’ residence is always counted from the time when you have last been outside the borders of Finland. This rule applies, for example, to an exchange student who studies in Finland only for a short time (for example, four months). If you leave Finland during your residence and do not stay in the country for a continuous period of three months, you do not need to apply for the registration of your right of residence. In this case, apply for a Finnish personal identity code and report your address information to the Digital and Population Data Services Agency.

More information is available on the InfoFinland page Foreign students in Finland.

• If you are an EU citizen and you move to Finland to live with a family member, you must apply for a registration of an EU citizen’s right of residence due to family ties through the Finnish Immigration Service’s Enter Finland service or at a service point of the Finnish Immigration Service.
• If you are not an EU citizen but your family member living in Finland is an EU citizen, you need a residence card for an EU citizen’s family member. Apply for it through the Finnish Immigration Service’s Enter Finland service or at a service point of the Finnish Immigration Service.

The family member or other relative may be

• a spouse 
• a common-law spouse who you have lived with for at least two years or who you have a child in joint custody with
• a child or grandchild under 21 years of age in your custody
• a child or grandchild under 21 years of age in custody of the spouse
• a dependent parent or grandparent
• a dependent parent or grandparent of the spouse
• a parent of a child under 21 years of age.

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).

You must also apply for registration of the right of residence for a child born in Finland who becomes a citizen of an EU country, Liechtenstein or Switzerland. The registration must be applied for within three months of the child’s birth.

Read more on the InfoFinland page When a child is born in Finland.

When you move to Finland on the basis of family ties, you have an unlimited right to work and study in Finland.

As an EU citizen, you can arrive in Finland if you have a passport or identity card and you are not banned from entering the country.

If you are residing in Finland temporarily, you can get a Finnish personal identity code if you need it for work, for example. You can apply for a personal identity code and register temporary residence at the nearest service location of the Digital and Population Data Services Agency (Digi- ja väestötietovirasto) or tax office (verotoimisto). Take with you a valid identity card or passport.

If your temporary residence lasts for a continuous period of more than three months, you also need a certificate of registration of an EU citizen’s right of residence.

Further information: Registration of an EU citizen’s right of residence.

If you live in Finland temporarily, no municipality of residence in Finland is registered for you and you do not have the same rights as a person living permanently in Finland.

Travelling in Finland

If you are a citizen of an EU country, Liechtenstein or Switzerland and you want to travel to Finland for a short time, for example, make a holiday trip, business trip or visit to relatives, you do not need a visa. You can arrive in Finland if you have a valid identity card or passport.

If you are in Finland as a traveller and you get into a difficult situation, contact your home country’s diplomatic mission. The diplomatic mission can help you if you have been in an accident, fallen ill or become the victim of a crime. The diplomatic mission can also grant you a new passport if your passport has been lost or stolen.