Finland work visa: residence permit for an employed person

You need the TTOL permit when no other permit or exemption covers your job; Migri’s examples include cooks, cleaners and nurses. Specialists, managers, researchers, ICT transferees and seasonal workers have their own permits. A confirmed job is required before you apply, and zero-hour contracts on their own usually do not satisfy the income rule.

Your pay must meet the applicable collective agreement, and the total gross salary must be at least EUR 1,600 a month; the figure counts when there is no agreement in the sector or the work is part-time. Several part-time jobs can be combined. Evening and night supplements are left out, and fringe benefits may make up at most half of the salary at their taxable value. Migri reviews the threshold every year and also checks afterwards, at extension, that you were actually paid enough.

The employer fills in the terms of employment in the employer’s Enter Finland service (or gives you a paper form), and processing starts only when they are attached. For first permits the employer must also confirm the labour market test, showing that no suitable worker was available in Finland or the EU/EEA within a reasonable time. The employer cannot apply on your behalf. Certified employers, who pay a separate certification fee (EUR 140 online in 2026), get faster handling.

First residence permits are filed online in Enter Finland (or on a paper form) and then completed in person at a Finnish embassy or consulate, or at a VFS Global application centre that receives applications for Finland in some countries. Book an appointment and bring your passport and the original attachments; biometrics are taken at the visit, and a VFS Global centre charges its own service fee. Wait for the decision where you applied. If you need a visa to enter Finland, you can request a D visa in the same Enter Finland application. It is placed in your passport at the mission once the permit is granted, is valid for 100 days and lets you travel before the residence permit card arrives. Under the 2026 fee decree a D visa costs EUR 95 online or EUR 120 on paper.

Migri normally gives you a Finnish personal identity code with the positive decision. After moving, book a visit to the Digital and Population Data Services Agency (DVV) to register your address and, if you qualify, a municipality of residence, which opens access to municipal health, social and integration services. Bring your passport, the residence permit card and your employment contract or proof of studies.

Since 11 June 2025, if your employment ends early you generally have three months to find a new job; specialists, EU Blue Card holders, top and middle managers, ICT specialists and managers, and anyone who has held a work-based permit for at least two years have six months. During this period you may also take work in sectors officially listed as suffering from a national labour shortage. Employers must report an early end of employment to Migri within 14 days.

An extended permit can only be applied for in Finland, before the current permit expires; if it expires while the application is pending you may stay and usually keep working. The 2026 fee for an extended permit is EUR 230 online or EUR 430 on paper. Migri checks your income in the national Incomes Register, so make sure your salary data is correct before applying.

Your spouse and minor children can apply for residence permits on the basis of family ties, at the same time or later. They usually need secure means of support; Migri’s 2026 guideline is EUR 1,210 net a month for a single adult in the capital region (EUR 1,090 or 1,030 elsewhere), rising for each additional family member. Once granted, family members may work and study without restrictions.

A negative Migri decision comes with appeal instructions. The appeal goes to an Administrative Court, which can uphold the refusal or send the case back to Migri; further appeal to the Supreme Administrative Court needs leave to appeal. If you applied from abroad, you wait abroad while the appeal is pending.