What is Finland's Residence permit for a specialist?

Specialists, consultants, teachers and people in a company's top or middle management. The route most software engineers, researchers-in-industry and senior professionals should be using — and the one with the fast track. It lasts typically the length of the contract, up to 2 years for a first A permit, renewable. Continuous (A) status is what starts the permanent-residence clock. Yes. A permanent residence permit (P) is available after 4 years of continuous residence on A permits, with no language requirement at that stage. Citizenship is separate and much longer — the residence requirement was raised from 5 to 8 years on 1 October 2024.

What is Finland's Residence permit for an employed person (TTOL)?

The general work permit, for jobs that do not meet the specialist test — hospitality, care, construction, logistics, retail and much of the rest of the labour market. It lasts usually 1 year at a time initially, then longer. The first permit is often restricted to a specific sector or employer. Yes, after 4 years of continuous residence on A permits.

What is Finland's EU Blue Card?

Highly qualified employees who want EU-wide mobility on top of a Finnish permit. In Finland the salary bar is the same as the specialist permit, which makes it a genuinely easy upgrade rather than a step up. It lasts issued for the contract length up to 2 years, renewable. Yes, and Blue Card time in other EU member states can be aggregated toward EU long-term resident status.

What is Finland's Start-up entrepreneur residence permit?

Founders of an innovative, scalable startup who want to build it in Finland. The gate is Business Finland's assessment, not a capital threshold. It lasts up to 2 years initially, renewable, with the business's actual progress assessed at renewal. Yes, after 4 years of continuous residence on A permits, if the business is still supporting you.

GlobeQuest

Moving from Madagascar to Finland

What your passport gets you at the border — and what it takes to actually stay.

Madagascar

FinlandShort stay

Visa required

Madagascar passport holders need a visa arranged in advance to enter Finland, usually through an embassy, consulate or accredited visa centre.

This is short-stay visitor policy only. It does not let you work, study or settle in Finland — that needs a residence permit.

Passport Index · updated 17 February 2026Finland's official immigration service

Long stay

How you actually move to Finland

Work / sponsoredHigh confidenceVerified August 2026

Residence permit for a specialist

Specialists, consultants, teachers and people in a company's top or middle management. The route most software engineers, researchers-in-industry and senior professionals should be using — and the one with the fast track.

What you need

An employment contract or a binding job offer with an employer operating in Finland
Gross salary of at least €3,937 per month in 2026
A higher education degree, or special expertise acquired through work experience or other education
Work that genuinely requires that expertise
No availability consideration — the labour-market test does not apply to this permit

How long it lasts: Typically the length of the contract, up to 2 years for a first A permit, renewable. Continuous (A) status is what starts the permanent-residence clock.
Path to permanent residence: Yes. A permanent residence permit (P) is available after 4 years of continuous residence on A permits, with no language requirement at that stage. Citizenship is separate and much longer — the residence requirement was raised from 5 to 8 years on 1 October 2024.
Cost: A Migri processing fee, lower for an online application than a paper one; fees were revised on 1 January 2026.
Processing time: Migri's fast-track service targets 2 weeks for specialists who apply online with complete documents and give biometrics promptly. Ordinary applications take considerably longer.

Worth knowing

€3,937 is the 2026 figure and is re-set every 1 January. Per diems and benefits in kind do not count toward it — only gross salary does, which trips up offers structured around allowances.
Apply for a D visa at the same time. It costs around €95 online and lets you travel to Finland as soon as the permit is granted and the sticker is in your passport, rather than waiting for the residence permit card. It does not shorten the decision itself.
Finland has no digital nomad visa. A remote-work visa was proposed and discussed for years but was never enacted; several guides still describe it as though it exists.
Your spouse and children can be included, and family members of specialists generally get unrestricted work rights.

Sources:Migri — residence permit for a specialist Migri — income requirement for work-based residence permits Migri — Finnish Immigration Service

Work / sponsoredHigh confidenceVerified August 2026

Residence permit for an employed person (TTOL)

The general work permit, for jobs that do not meet the specialist test — hospitality, care, construction, logistics, retail and much of the rest of the labour market.

What you need

A confirmed job with an employer operating in Finland before you apply
Total gross salary of at least €1,600 per month in 2026, or the applicable collective agreement rate if higher
Terms of employment complying with Finnish collective agreements
An availability consideration: an assessment of whether suitable labour is already available in the Finnish and EU/EEA labour market for that occupation and region
Any qualifications or authorisations the occupation requires

How long it lasts: Usually 1 year at a time initially, then longer. The first permit is often restricted to a specific sector or employer.
Path to permanent residence: Yes, after 4 years of continuous residence on A permits.
Cost: A Migri processing fee, revised 1 January 2026; the employer also has reporting obligations.
Processing time: Slower than the specialist route, and dependent on the availability consideration. The €1,600 threshold is a floor, not a target — the collective agreement usually sets the real number.

Worth knowing

The two-stage process is gone. Until the end of 2024 a TE Office issued a separate partial decision before Migri decided the permit; from 1 January 2025 Migri handles the whole case and employer notifications go to Migri. Guides describing a TE Office stage are describing a process that has been abolished.
The availability consideration is applied by region and occupation, and some regions publish exemptions for shortage occupations. Whether it bites depends on where the job is, not just what it is.
Changing to an entirely different sector generally requires a new permit, unlike the specialist route.
If you can meet the specialist salary and expertise tests, apply as a specialist instead: no availability consideration and a two-week fast track.

Sources:Migri — residence permit for an employed person (TTOL)Migri — income requirement for work-based residence permits Migri — Finnish Immigration Service

Work / sponsoredHigh confidenceVerified August 2026

EU Blue Card

Highly qualified employees who want EU-wide mobility on top of a Finnish permit. In Finland the salary bar is the same as the specialist permit, which makes it a genuinely easy upgrade rather than a step up.

What you need

A higher education qualification of at least three years, or equivalent professional experience in the roles the directive allows
An employment contract or binding offer of at least 6 months for highly qualified work
Gross salary of at least €3,937 per month in 2026
No availability consideration

How long it lasts: Issued for the contract length up to 2 years, renewable.
Path to permanent residence: Yes, and Blue Card time in other EU member states can be aggregated toward EU long-term resident status.
Cost: A Migri processing fee; the fast track and the D visa are both available.
Processing time: Fast-track processing is available, in the same band as the specialist permit.

Worth knowing

Because Finland sets the Blue Card threshold at the same level as the specialist permit, most people who qualify for one qualify for the other. Choose the Blue Card if you want intra-EU mobility; choose the specialist permit if you want simplicity.
Denmark has an opt-out from EU justice and home affairs and does not issue EU Blue Cards at all, so a Finnish Blue Card gives you no mobility into Copenhagen. Norway and Iceland are outside the EU and equally outside the scheme.
Ireland is also outside the Blue Card directive. Intra-EU mobility is narrower in practice than the name suggests.

Sources:Migri — EU Blue Card Migri — income requirement for work-based residence permits Migri — Finnish Immigration Service

InvestmentMedium confidenceVerified August 2026

Start-up entrepreneur residence permit

Founders of an innovative, scalable startup who want to build it in Finland. The gate is Business Finland's assessment, not a capital threshold.

What you need

A positive eligibility statement from Business Finland, assessing the team, the business model and the growth potential
A registered or to-be-registered Finnish company in which you have a founder role
Secure means of support for yourself and any family members — Migri sets and publishes the entrepreneur figure and revises it annually
Applications must be made by the founders themselves, and the whole founding team can apply on the same statement

How long it lasts: Up to 2 years initially, renewable, with the business's actual progress assessed at renewal.
Path to permanent residence: Yes, after 4 years of continuous residence on A permits, if the business is still supporting you.
Cost: A Migri processing fee; the Business Finland eligibility statement is free.
Processing time: Business Finland targets a fast turnaround on the eligibility statement — often around two weeks — followed by Migri's own decision.

Worth knowing

Business Finland is looking for scalable innovation. A consultancy, an agency or an import business will not get an eligibility statement however sound its finances.
There is a separate, quite different self-employed person's permit for people running an ordinary business, which Migri assesses on profitability instead. Do not confuse the two.
Finland's income figures for entrepreneurs are re-set each January; take the number from Migri on the day you apply rather than from a secondary guide.

Sources:Migri — residence permit for a start-up entrepreneur Migri — income requirement for work-based residence permits Migri — Finnish Immigration Service

StudentMedium confidenceVerified August 2026

Residence permit for studies

Non-EU students admitted to a Finnish degree programme. Finland has deliberately built this into a settlement route, and it works better here than in most of Europe.

What you need

Admission to a programme leading to a Finnish degree or vocational qualification
Documented funds for living costs for the permit period, plus insurance
Tuition paid where fees apply — non-EU/EEA students pay fees at Finnish universities

How long it lasts: Granted for the full duration of the studies rather than year by year, which removed a recurring annual renewal that used to consume students' time and money.
Path to permanent residence: Yes, and unusually directly. Graduates can get a job-seeking permit of up to two years after completing the degree, and time on a continuous permit counts toward the four-year permanent-residence clock.
Cost: A Migri processing fee, revised 1 January 2026, plus tuition.
Processing time: Several weeks to a few months; the D visa is available for students too.

Worth knowing

The two-year post-graduation job-seeking permit is the strongest part of the Finnish system and is much longer than Sweden's or Denmark's equivalents.
Work alongside study is permitted within an average weekly limit, with more freedom if the work is part of the degree.
Researchers are on a separate permit with its own, much lower salary floor — €1,463 per month in 2026 for a researcher in an employment relationship.

Sources:Migri — residence permit application for studies Migri — income requirement for work-based residence permits Migri — Finnish Immigration Service

FamilyMedium confidenceVerified August 2026

Residence permit for a family member

Spouses, registered partners, cohabitants who have lived together for at least two years, and minor children of someone living in Finland.

What you need

A documented family tie
A secure means of support for the household, with amounts set by Migri and revised annually — the requirement is waived where the sponsor is a Finnish citizen's family member in some cases
An interview at a Finnish mission in many cases

How long it lasts: Normally aligned with the sponsor's permit, 1–4 years, renewable.
Path to permanent residence: Yes, on the standard four-year continuous-residence clock.
Cost: A Migri processing fee per applicant.
Processing time: Months. Family cases are slower than work cases across the board.

Worth knowing

The income requirement falls on the household and is the usual reason these applications fail. Migri publishes the figures and they change each January.
Family members of specialists and Blue Card holders generally get full work rights; family members on other bases may be more restricted.
Nordic citizens need none of this: under the Nordic Convention a Danish, Icelandic, Norwegian or Swedish citizen can live and work in Finland without a permit and registers with the Digital and Population Data Services Agency instead.

Sources:Migri — family member of a person who has a residence permit Migri — Finnish Immigration Service

On the ground