EU Blue Card for highly qualified work in Finland

What Migri actually decides

• Is the employment in Finland highly qualified work, with an identified employer and agreed terms of employment?
• Will the work last at least six months? Migri states this as a condition of the route.
• Does the applicant hold higher professional qualifications? Migri accepts either a higher-education qualification requiring at least three years of study, or, as a rule, at least five years of professional experience at a level comparable to a higher-education qualification.
• Does the gross salary reach the Blue Card threshold, counting only what Migri allows to be counted?
• Has the employer submitted the terms of employment, consistent with the contract and the salary claimed?
• Is the applicant's identity reliably established, and does the passport cover the period applied for?

The figures that decide it in 2026

• Gross salary: at least EUR 3,937 per month in 2026. Fringe benefits are not counted towards this sum.
• Minimum duration of the work: 6 months.
• Higher professional qualification: a higher-education qualification requiring at least 3 years of study, or as a rule at least 5 years of comparable professional experience.
• Validity: an EU Blue Card can be issued for a maximum of 2 years. Where the employment lasts less than two years, Migri can issue it for the employment period plus 3 months.
• Statutory maximum processing time for work-based permits: 2 months. For a family member of an EU Blue Card holder the statutory maximum is 2 months, which is shorter than the 9 months that applies to most other family-ties applications.
• Migri processing fee: EUR 530 online and EUR 630 on paper for a first permit; EUR 230 online and EUR 430 on paper for an extension.

The evidence, and what is most often missing or wrong

• A degree that takes less than three years of study, presented as if the three-year rule were about the level rather than the length of the programme.
• Professional experience offered in place of a degree with no structured evidence of its level: no employer statements, no dates, no description of the duties that makes the comparison to a higher-education qualification possible.
• A contract for less than six months, or an open-ended contract with a probation-based end date that reads as shorter than six months.
• A salary that reaches EUR 3,937 only with fringe benefits, which are not counted for this route.
• Terms of employment the employer has not submitted, or submitted with a job title that does not match the contract.
• Mobility taken for granted: a Blue Card holder assuming that a card issued by another Member State transfers to Finland automatically, or that a Finnish card is portable on the same terms everywhere.
• An identity appointment booked later than the fifth working day after submitting, which removes the file from Fast Track.

The order of steps, and where each one happens

• 1. Compare EU Blue Card against the specialist permit on qualification, duration and mobility, not on salary.
• 2. The applicant completes the application, attaches the documents and pays the fee in Enter Finland. A first card is normally applied for from outside Finland; an extension is applied for in Finland.
• 3. The employer completes the terms of employment in Enter Finland; the processing time starts when they are submitted.
• 4. The applicant proves their identity at a Finnish mission or an external service provider abroad — within five working days of submitting, if Fast Track is intended.
• 5. Migri processes the application and may send a request for further information with a binding deadline.
• 6. Decision. A D visa can be requested with an eligible first residence-permit application, so travel need not wait for the card.
• 7. After arrival: DVV for the personal identity code and municipality of residence, then Vero for the tax card, then the bank.

How long it takes

The law sets a maximum processing time of 2 months for work-based residence permits, and Migri publishes current estimates per category, stating that where processing has not begun within the shorter published estimate the longer estimate applies.

Migri lists the EU Blue Card among Fast Track categories with a described target of 14 days. The conditions are the same as for other Fast Track categories: the application and attachments completed and paid in Enter Finland, identity proved within five working days of submitting, and the employer's terms of employment completed within two working days of the employee's submission. Fast Track covers first permits only, not extensions, and not an applicant already in Finland. This is Migri's own service target and not a commitment ENB can make.

• Makes a case slower: qualification evidence that has to be supplemented, a contract whose duration is unclear, a late employer submission, or a missing identity appointment.
• Makes a case slower and is often overlooked: a parallel application in another Member State, or a mobility question raised late in the process.

What goes wrong

• The qualification test is not met: the degree is shorter than three years of study and the professional experience is neither long enough nor evidenced at a comparable level.
• The work is not shown to last at least six months.
• The salary falls below EUR 3,937 once fringe benefits are excluded.
• The work is not highly qualified in substance, and the file should have been a TTOL application.
• A mobility assumption turns out to be wrong, and the person is in Finland on a basis that does not hold.
• A request for further information is answered late, and the decision is made on an incomplete file.

If the decision is negative

A refusal is appealable. The binding appeal period and the competent Administrative Court are stated in the appeal instructions attached to the decision, and the period runs from service of the decision. Under the Act on Judicial Procedure in Administrative Matters the general period is 30 days from service; once it has passed it cannot be extended.

The court fee is EUR 310 at an Administrative Court and EUR 610 at the Supreme Administrative Court for 2025-2027, with no fee where the court changes the decision in the appellant's favour. The Supreme Administrative Court requires leave to appeal. Where an appeal succeeds, the matter returns to Migri for reprocessing rather than the court granting the permit.

Migri also describes a specific consequence of mobility: a Blue Card holder who moves to a second Member State and is refused an EU Blue Card there may return to Finland and stay for three months. This is a narrow rule tied to that situation and should be checked against the decision and current guidance rather than relied on generally.

What ENB does, and what ENB does not do

• Does: compares EU Blue Card and specialist on qualification, employment duration and mobility, and says plainly which file is stronger.
• Does: reviews the degree or professional-experience evidence against the three-year and five-year limbs of the test.
• Does: checks the contract duration and the salary against the 2026 threshold, and identifies what Migri will not count.
• Does: structures the Enter Finland file, plans the identity step against the Fast Track conditions and prepares responses to requests for further information.
• Does: sets out the mobility questions where the applicant has a connection to another Member State, and checks them against the rules of both states for the actual move.
• Does not: decide whether the qualifications meet the legal test. That is Migri's assessment, not ENB's.
• Does not: promise an outcome, a two-week result or a processing time. ENB is not an authority and holds no delegated power from Migri.
• Does not: act as your representative before a court where qualified legal representation is required.

What it costs: two separate payments to two separate parties

ENB's fee is paid to ENB. Migri's processing fee is paid to Migri in Enter Finland and is not refunded if the application is refused.

• ENB work-based residence permit service: EUR 1,500 excluding VAT, paid to ENB.
• ENB residence permit extension service: EUR 350 excluding VAT, paid to ENB.
• ENB appeal review after a Migri decision: EUR 1,000 excluding VAT, paid to ENB.
• Migri first EU Blue Card: EUR 530 online, EUR 630 on paper - paid to Migri.
• Migri extended EU Blue Card: EUR 230 online, EUR 430 on paper - paid to Migri.
• Migri D visa with an eligible first permit: EUR 95 online, EUR 120 on paper - paid to Migri.
• All ENB fees exclude Finnish VAT, where the standard rate is 25.5%. Authority fees are set by the authority and should be re-checked on its own page before payment.