Finland Student Permit: the EUR 9,600 Rule 2026

1. What you must have, and on which day

The requirement is not an average over the year. It is a balance on the day the application is submitted. For studies lasting one year or longer that balance is EUR 9,600. For studies shorter than a year it is EUR 800 for each month of the permit, so a five-month exchange means EUR 4,000.

EUR 800 a month is the figure Migri uses for accommodation, food and everything else a month costs. It is not a target to aim at loosely; it is the number the decision is measured against, and a balance below it on the day of submission is the most common reason a student application is refused.

On a first residence permit you cannot cover this requirement with work. You may work once you hold the permit, but future earnings do not count towards the first decision. On an extension application the rule changes and work does count.

2. The bank statement Migri actually asks for

A screenshot of a balance is not a bank statement. Migri asks for a statement covering the past six months, and for a family application it states plainly that a balance certificate alone is not enough. The six months are there so the account can be read as a history rather than a photograph.

The statement has to identify itself. Migri names the fields it must show: the account holder's name, the name of the bank and the currency. For a family application the account number and the balance are named as well, together with all transactions from the past six months.

3. Whose account the money must be in

The money must be in your own bank account, in your personal use only. This is the point most refusals turn on, and it is not a formality: an account you can point to but not use is not money at your disposal.

The account does not have to be Finnish. It can be in any country as long as you can use it in Finland, which means you must be able to withdraw from it once you are here. For an extension application Migri says plainly that a deposit in a Finnish bank account is the easiest and most reliable way to show the funds.

There is one exception to the own-account rule. If you are under 18 or an exchange student, the account may be a joint account shared with your guardian, and the statement must then include a statement of your right to access it.

4. Money that came from your parents or a sponsor

A sponsorship agreement is not accepted. Migri names relatives, friends and employers, and says the money must be in your own bank account. A signed undertaking that someone will support you carries no weight on its own, however genuine it is.

Transferred money is a different matter and is allowed. If the money reached you from your parents or another sponsor, Migri may ask for documents on where it came from, and names two examples: a tax certificate, or a bank statement showing the sponsor's assets. Prepare those before you are asked rather than after.

This is why the six-month window matters in practice. A balance that appears in a single transfer shortly before the application invites exactly that question about origin, and answering it late costs weeks.

5. A grant or scholarship is subtracted, not added

If a state, an organisation or an educational institution has awarded you a grant or scholarship for living costs, it counts towards the requirement and you attach the grant decision to the application.

Migri gives the arithmetic in its own example. You come for one year and receive a grant of EUR 2,000 towards living costs. You then attach a bank statement showing EUR 7,600, because EUR 9,600 minus EUR 2,000 is EUR 7,600.

A scholarship that covers tuition is a separate document and does not reduce the living requirement. For that you attach a certificate issued by your educational institution, and you still need the living funds in full.

6. Free accommodation lowers the monthly figure

The EUR 800 assumes you are paying for a place to live. If your educational institution provides free accommodation, the requirement drops to EUR 400 a month. If it provides free accommodation and free meals, it drops to EUR 270 a month.

This is not something Migri infers from your programme. You attach a certificate from the institution stating the benefits it offers, and the lower figure applies from that document.

7. Tuition is separate money

Living funds may not be used to pay the tuition fee. The two amounts sit side by side and both have to be there.

If you have already paid the fee, attach the proof of payment and show the living funds on top. If you will pay it after applying, the money for the first year's tuition must already be in your bank account on the day you submit the application, in addition to the living funds. That is a larger balance than most applicants plan for.

8. Bringing a spouse or children

A student's spouse, registered partner and children under 18 can apply for a permit on family ties. The family's requirement is calculated for the first year and covers you, the student sponsor and the children together.

The figures below are for the Helsinki metropolitan area. Elsewhere in Finland the required income for family members is 10 to 15 per cent lower, because housing costs less.

Migri's own example: a family in the Helsinki metropolitan area made up of one adult student, another adult and two children under 18 needs EUR 2,500 a month in total. On top of that the student must show the money for the next term's or year's tuition, or evidence that it is coming.

One timing point that surprises families. Migri prioritises students' own applications so that studies can start on time, which means a family member may not receive a decision at the same time as the student.

9. If the money is your spouse's

Where a family application is secured with a spouse's or cohabiting partner's savings, Migri assesses whether that person has enough not only to support the family but also to pay their own institution's tuition fee for the next term or academic year.

So the proof is two-sided. If the spouse has already paid the next term's tuition, attach the proof of payment. If not, attach proof that the money to pay it is there.

10. The extension year works differently

On an extension you may secure your resources with work, which is the single biggest change from the first application. Attach a bank statement, and your employment contract if you are employed.

You do not need to attach payslips or benefit certificates. Migri receives salary and benefit information from the Incomes Register directly, and asks for more only if it needs it.

The work itself stays bounded. A student permit allows paid employment in any field at an average of 30 hours a week; some weeks may go over as long as the average across the year holds, and the studies must still progress at a normal pace.

11. Before you press send

Read this list against your own file rather than against your memory of it.