Before you start

A contract or binding job offer with an employer operating in Finland
For a specialist, a higher education degree or special expertise acquired through experience
A passport valid for the permit period
Biometrics given at a Finnish mission or a service point

Step-by-step

1
Establish which permit fits, and prefer specialist if you qualify
The specialist permit needs €3,937 gross a month in 2026 and skips the availability consideration entirely. The general employed person permit needs €1,600 or the collective agreement rate, and is subject to an assessment of whether suitable labour is already available in the Finnish and EU/EEA market. If both are open to you, the specialist route is faster and less contingent.
Via employerWho: You and your employerBefore applying
2
Apply online through Enter Finland and use the fast track
Migri's fast-track service targets two weeks for a complete specialist or EU Blue Card application filed online with biometrics given promptly. Paper applications and incomplete files fall out of it. Per diems and benefits in kind do not count toward the salary threshold — only gross salary does.
OnlineWho: You
3
Apply for a D visa at the same time
The D visa costs around €95 online and is issued once Migri approves the residence permit. It lets you fly to Finland immediately on the sticker in your passport rather than waiting for the residence permit card to be produced and collected. It does not shorten the decision itself — that is the standard misunderstanding.
OnlineWho: You
4
Register with DVV and ask for both registrations
DVV issues the personal identity code and, separately, decides whether to enter a municipality of residence. The identity code alone lets you work and be taxed; the kotikunta is what gives access to city healthcare, schools and early childhood education. It generally requires an intention to stay over a year and is requested on the same form.
In personWho: YouFirst weeks
5
Apply to Kela for social security coverage
Kela membership is a separate application from the DVV registration and from the permit. It determines reimbursement of prescriptions and private care, parental benefits and much else. Do it as soon as the identity code exists.
OnlineWho: You
6
Plan the permanent residence clock
A permanent residence permit (P) is available after four years of continuous residence on A permits, with no language test at that stage. Citizenship is a much longer road: the residence requirement rose from five to eight years on 1 October 2024.
OnlineWho: You

Documents you’ll need

Passport valid for the permit period
Employment contract or binding job offer with the gross salary stated
Degree certificates or evidence of special expertise
Proof of a Helsinki address, for the municipality of residence decision
Marriage and birth certificates for family members, legalised and translated

Things most newcomers don’t know

The two-stage work permit process was abolished, and guides describing a TE Office stage are describing something that no longer exists.

Until the end of 2024 a TE Office issued a separate partial decision on the labour market position before Migri decided the residence permit. From 1 January 2025 Migri handles the whole case, including the availability consideration where it still applies, and employer notifications go to Migri too. This is one of the most commonly repeated stale facts about Finnish immigration, and following it sends employers to an office that no longer has the file.

Source: Migri

The identity code and the municipality of residence are separate decisions, and only one of them gives you healthcare.

DVV can issue a personal identity code — enough to be employed, paid and taxed — without entering a municipality of residence. The kotikunta requires an intention to stay over a year and is what entitles you to the city's health services, schools and early childhood education. People discover the distinction when they try to book a health station appointment and are told they are not entitled. Ask for both explicitly and check what you actually got.

Source: DVV

The D visa gets you into the country early; it does not get you a decision early.

Finland's D visa is issued only after Migri has approved the residence permit, and it exists to remove the wait for the physical permit card to be manufactured and collected at a mission. That saving is real — often weeks — but people apply for it expecting the permit decision itself to accelerate, and it does not. Use the fast track for the decision and the D visa for the travel.

Source: Migri

Finland has no digital nomad visa, despite years of guides saying it does.

A remote-work residence permit was proposed, discussed publicly and reported on for several years, and it was never enacted. There is no Finnish route based on working remotely for a foreign employer. The routes that exist are the specialist permit, the general employed person permit, the EU Blue Card, the start-up entrepreneur permit assessed by Business Finland, study and family. Any guide describing a Finnish nomad visa is describing a proposal.

Source: Migri

Common mistakes to avoid

Following instructions that route the labour market decision through a TE Office, which stopped in January 2025.
Receiving an identity code and assuming it includes a municipality of residence.
Applying for a D visa expecting it to speed up the permit decision.
Counting allowances and per diems toward the salary threshold, which Migri does not.
Planning a move around a Finnish digital nomad visa that was never enacted.

Some of this may be out of date. Spotted something inaccurate? Help us keep it right for the next newcomer.