Finnish Entrepreneur Residence Permit: Setting Up a Company and Buying a Business

Setting up a company in Finland, buying an existing business or holding shares in a company does not by itself provide an entrepreneur residence permit. The application assesses whether the person actually works in the business, meets the relevant conditions of entrepreneur status, and whether the business carries out genuine, sustainable activity that can support their livelihood.

What does the entrepreneur residence permit assess?

The entrepreneur residence permit is one of the residence routes for people from outside the EU/EEA who work actively in Finland through their own business. The business model, its financing, its income and expenditure structure, the applicant's genuine role in the company and the sustainability of the business are assessed together.

The assessment may consist of a partial decision stage on the economic conditions of the business and a stage in which Migri assesses the general conditions for a residence permit. The current name of the authority, the division of tasks and the list of documents must be checked from an official source on the application date.

Is setting up or buying a company enough?

No. Company formation, obtaining a Business ID or buying company shares and the residence permit are separate processes. Passive investment or merely contributing capital does not automatically create an entitlement to an entrepreneur permit.

Key matters that are examined

• A genuine and workable business model
• The applicant working actively in the business and meeting the applicable entrepreneur status
• Financing and liquidity sufficient for the activity
• Realistic income and expenditure estimates
• Customers, contracts, sales or other commercial evidence supporting the business model
• The permits, licences, premises or professional conditions required in the sector
• An economic basis that can support the applicant's livelihood
• Tax and other company obligations handled properly

Is there a fixed income threshold?

Two questions hide behind this one, and they have different answers. There is no fixed profit figure the business itself has to reach: the business model, its financing and its income and expenditure structure are assessed together, so a company can be viable on a modest turnover and unviable on a large one.

The applicant's own livelihood is a different matter, and it does have published figures. The 2026 net means-of-support thresholds for the first adult are EUR 1,210 a month — EUR 14,520 a year — in Espoo, Helsinki, Kauniainen and Vantaa, EUR 1,090 a month in the listed larger municipalities and EUR 1,030 a month in other municipalities. A second adult adds EUR 610 a month, the first child EUR 610, the second child EUR 480 and each child from the third EUR 360. For an entrepreneur what counts towards these figures is what the business can actually pay out, not its turnover.

Entrepreneur status is measured too. Migri currently looks for at least 30% of the company's share capital owned personally, or at least 30% of the votes carried by the shares held personally. The same 30% decides YEL self-employed pension insurance, where the test is 30% alone or more than 50% together with family members. Below that line an application is normally assessed as employment rather than entrepreneurship, which is a different permit with a different salary threshold.

What the permit and the company cost

Two or three separate payments to separate parties, and confusing them is the most common budgeting mistake on this route.

• Migri first entrepreneur permit: EUR 750 online, EUR 900 on paper, paid to Migri
• Migri first start-up entrepreneur permit: EUR 650 online, EUR 800 on paper
• Migri extended permit: EUR 230 online, EUR 430 on paper
• PRH establishment notification for an osakeyhtiö in YTJ: EUR 300 through the guided establishment package (ohjattu perustamispaketti), which is available only where every package condition is met: the share capital is EUR 0, the shares carry no subscription price, all shareholders are adult individuals, everyone named has a Finnish personal identity code and Suomi.fi identification, and standard articles of association are enough. EUR 400 for the ordinary electronic notification where the guided package cannot be used; a private trader is EUR 75. These PRH fees are paid to PRH and are separate from ENB's own EUR 400 company-formation fee, which does not include them
• Transfer tax when buying shares in an existing company: 1.5% of the consideration, paid to Vero, with the return generally filed within two months of signing

Migri's processing fee is paid in Enter Finland before the application is sent and is not refunded on a negative decision. The PRH fee pays for the registration itself and covers none of the permit work.

Commercial review when buying a company

Buying an operating company can sometimes offer a stronger commercial basis through its existing customers, turnover, contracts and trading history; however, the risks of losses, debts, taxes, contracts, employees, leases, licences and litigation must be examined separately. A share purchase and an asset or business purchase can have different legal and tax consequences.

ENB Consulting does not advise on investment returns or financial products. Commercial review is aimed at assessing company records, documents, obligations and the transaction structure case by case. The final residence permit decision is made by the competent authority, and no outcome is guaranteed.