Finland Permit for Company Establishment Preparation, Market Research and Order Supervision 2026

1. Typical use cases

2. Route boundary

If the actual role becomes ordinary ongoing operational employment in Finland, another route such as TTOL, specialist or management may be required. Active operation of one's own Finnish business may require the entrepreneur route.

3. Checklist

2026 processing fee: first permit EUR 530 online / EUR 630 on paper; extended permit EUR 230 online / EUR 430 on paper. A first residence permit is normally filed outside Finland. Recheck fees with Migri on the filing date.

4. The permit, the 90-day rule and the visa

This is a residence-permit route: under section 77 of the Aliens Act the work may last up to one year, neither the employer nor the commissioning party may have a place of business in Finland, and the permit has to be granted before the work starts. Separate from it are short business visits — meetings, negotiations, trade fairs — that do not amount to work in Finland; those are made under the Schengen rules. Up to 90 days in any 180-day period may be spent in the Schengen area, and the count covers days spent in every Schengen country, not only in Finland. For an employee who comes to Europe several times a year, the real limit can therefore be reached earlier than expected.

Visa exemption and the right to work are separate questions. Being a national of a country that may enter without a visa does not mean any work may be done in Finland; what may be done is limited to the tasks this permit covers. Where a visa is needed, its type must match the assignment. Once the trip involves the work itself — researching the market, preparing the establishment, supervising orders — the permit has to be in place before it starts; filling up visa days and then switching to a permit is not a plan that works.

5. What is asked at the border and in an inspection

On a permit, the card shows the right to work; on a short business visit made without one, nothing does, so the burden of proof sits with the individual, and at the border or in a workplace inspection documents may be asked for showing the assignment genuinely falls within this scope. An invitation letter, an employer letter setting out the length and content of the assignment, a return ticket and accommodation details should be to hand.

The documents have to corroborate each other. If the task named in the invitation differs from the work actually being done, the outcome can be an assessment of unauthorised work however well-meant the explanation. If the assignment lengthens or its content changes, updating the papers is safer than carrying on with the original letter. For the company too, keeping these records is the only concrete defence in an inspection made later.

6. Which tasks fall within this scope

The tasks this permit covers, for up to one year, are aimed at building sales and supply relationships: market research, meeting potential customers and suppliers, taking orders, negotiating contracts, attending trade fairs and conferences, and taking part in internal training or meetings. What they share is that the work is done for, and on account of, the company abroad.

What falls outside is equally clear: working within a Finnish customer's own staff, doing physical work such as installation and maintenance, providing a continuing service, or running a sales operation established in Finland. The practical way to test the line is this question: when the task ends, is a working arrangement left behind in Finland? If there is, this route does not suffice.

7. What changes once a permanent presence is set up in Finland

When the market research comes out positive and the company decides to set up an office, branch or subsidiary in Finland, the picture changes entirely. The work is no longer a visit made on behalf of a company abroad but an activity carried on in Finland — new ground for residence permits, tax liability and employer obligations alike.

Because the transition is gradual its date can blur, and that is where the problem comes from. Once an office is leased, an employee is hired in Finland, or customer contracts start being made through the Finnish legal entity, the transition has happened in fact. When any of those three signs appears, the immigration, tax and employment-law sides should be reviewed together; retrospective correction is expensive in all three.

8. When a permanent establishment arises for tax

Independently of immigration law, a company based abroad can create a permanent establishment in Finland for tax purposes. That can arise where the company acquires a fixed place here, or where a person regularly concludes contracts on its behalf. Once one exists, the company can become liable to corporate tax in Finland, with the registration and filing duties that follow.

Short visits as a rule do not produce that result; but the same person coming regularly and closing sales in Finland, or the company having premises it uses continuously here, can change the picture. The assessment depends on tax treaties and on the facts. Putting this question to a tax adviser once while moving from the research phase to the selling phase costs far less than a retrospective corporate tax argument later.

9. Planning repeat visits

Entering a market does not happen in one visit; usually several trips are made within a year. That makes managing the day count unavoidable. Keep the entry and exit dates of every trip in a table, calculate the remaining entitlement as at the date of any new trip before planning it, and add in days spent in other Schengen countries.

The second planning element is spreading the same work across more than one person. Where one person's days are used up, a colleague coming instead is a legitimate solution if the team structure is real — but not a rotation arranged to disguise one person exceeding the limit. The third is not waiting once it is clear the engagement will lengthen: because a first residence permit is applied for from abroad, using up the days and then switching to a permit is not a plan that works.

10. The documents to carry with you

On visits made before the permit, or without one, nothing on a card shows why the person is in Finland, so the burden of proof sits with the individual. The documents to carry are few but should be complete: the employer's letter setting out the task and its duration, invitations or meeting confirmations from the companies to be visited, a return ticket, accommodation details and the company's registration document. Where a trade fair is involved, the registration confirmation belongs with them.

The documents corroborating each other is essential. The task named in the employer's letter should fit the meetings in the calendar and the length of the accommodation; unexplained gaps between dates raise questions. If the plan changes during the trip — a meeting is cancelled, the stay lengthens — holding the current information is better than continuing with the old letter. For the company too, keeping a copy of these papers is the only concrete record in a later inspection.