Study in Finland: choosing a programme and the student residence permit

What Migri actually decides

A student permit is not granted on the strength of an admission letter. Migri decides these questions separately, and the application fails on the weakest one.

• Is the study place one that qualifies: studies leading to a degree or a vocational qualification, exchange studies, or another well-founded basis Migri accepts?
• Does the programme require presence in Finland? A mainly online or distance programme does not qualify, and the permit is not issued for completing basic education.
• Are the means of support secured at the required level, from funds in the applicant's own account and available for personal use?
• Is the first-year tuition fee paid, or are separate funds held for it on top of the living-cost funds?
• Does the insurance meet the cover and deductible rules for the length of the studies?
• Is the applicant's identity reliably established, and does the passport cover the period applied for?
• For an extension: have the studies actually progressed?

Choosing the programme comes before the permit

Education consulting starts with the programme, because the programme decides whether a permit is possible at all. As a rule the studies must lead to a degree or a vocational qualification, or be exchange studies; other studies can qualify where Migri accepts a well-founded reason.

A programme delivered mainly as online or distance learning that does not require presence in Finland is not a basis for a student residence permit, and the permit is not issued for completing basic education. Checking this against the actual curriculum before you accept a place avoids the most expensive mistake in this process.

A permit or B permit, and why it matters

A student taking a higher-education degree receives a continuous A permit. Students on other degree or vocational routes, and exchange students, generally receive a temporary B permit. The distinction is worth understanding before the programme is chosen, because it affects the residence history that accumulates, whether family members can receive continuous permits, and later permanent-residence planning.

A qualifying study place is required

For a student residence permit, the applicant must normally have been accepted to a Finnish educational institution for studies leading to a degree or vocational qualification, or have another well-founded study basis accepted by Migri.

2026 income requirement

Migri requires at least EUR 800 per month for living costs. If studies last one year or longer, the applicant must normally have EUR 9,600 available for the first year when the application is submitted. The funds must be in the applicant's own account and available for personal use.

Tuition fee is separate from living costs

If tuition has not yet been paid, the applicant must also have enough money to pay the first-year tuition fee in addition to the living-cost funds. Money reserved for living costs cannot be counted again as tuition-fee funds. Scholarships and documented support from the educational institution can affect the calculation under Migri's rules.

Insurance and documents

For studies lasting under two years, private insurance must cover medical expenses up to at least EUR 120,000. For studies lasting at least two years, it must cover pharmaceutical expenses up to at least EUR 40,000. The deductible may not exceed EUR 300 and the insurance must be valid on arrival. For studies longer than a year the cover must run for at least one uninterrupted year, without the 90-day-per-trip restriction of an ordinary travel policy. A valid Kela card, EHIC or UK GHIC can remove the need for separate private insurance.

A private person's guarantee of support is not accepted on its own. A grant or scholarship from a state, an organisation or the educational institution can be counted towards living funds when it is documented.

• Valid passport
• Certificate of admission
• Bank statement from the applicant's own account covering the previous six months
• Proof of a paid tuition fee, or separate funds for the first-year fee
• Insurance meeting the EUR 120,000 / EUR 40,000 cover and EUR 300 deductible rules
• Scholarship or institutional-support evidence where applicable

Right to work during studies

A person holding a residence permit for studies may generally work in paid employment in any field for an average of up to 30 hours per week over the year. Migri also expresses this as roughly 120 hours a month or 1,560 hours a year. Some weeks can be full-time as long as the annual average holds.

A traineeship or thesis work that belongs to the degree from the outset and carries credits can fall outside the 30-hour limit, while ordinary work registered as a traineeship afterwards may still count towards it. Both the student and the employer are responsible for staying within the limit. Employment does not replace the first-permit income requirement at the time of filing.

After graduation

A student who completes a degree in Finland can apply for a residence permit to look for work or start a business for up to two years. It can be used as one period or in up to three parts of at least six months each, with the last part ending within three years of the start of the first part. This permit carries an unrestricted right to work. An extended student permit, by contrast, is applied for in Finland, and for an extension income from work can be counted while the study basis and the progress of studies are still assessed.

The order of steps, and where each one happens

• 1. Check the programme against the permit rules before accepting the place. This is the cheapest step and the one that prevents the most expensive mistake.
• 2. Accept the study place and obtain the certificate of admission.
• 3. Arrange the funds in the applicant's own account, and the insurance that meets the cover and deductible rules. Both have to be in place before filing, not promised.
• 4. File the application in Enter Finland and pay the fee there.
• 5. Prove your identity at a Finnish mission or an external service provider. The processing time is counted from when identity has been proved.
• 6. Migri processes the application and may send a request for further information with a binding deadline.
• 7. Decision. A D visa can be requested with an eligible first application, so travel need not wait for the residence permit card.
• 8. After arrival: DVV for the personal identity code and municipality of residence, then Vero for a tax card before any work starts, then the bank. A student permit allows paid work from the moment the permit is granted, within the average 30-hour weekly limit.

How long it takes

The law sets a maximum processing time of 3 months for first and extended residence permits for studies. Migri publishes its own current estimates and states that where processing has not begun within the shorter published estimate, the longer estimate applies to that case. The clock starts when identity has been proved, not when the fee is paid. Student permits are not a Fast Track category. ENB does not promise a decision date, and a term start date is not a deadline Migri is bound by.

• Makes a case slower: funds that arrived in the account days before filing with no six-month history behind them, insurance that has to be replaced, an unpaid tuition fee with no separate funds, or a late identity appointment.
• Makes a case slower and is often overlooked: a scholarship or institutional support that is described but not documented.

What goes wrong

• The programme does not qualify - most often because it is delivered mainly online.
• The funds are below EUR 800 a month for the period applied for, or are in someone else's account.
• Living-cost funds are counted twice, once as living costs and again as the tuition fee.
• The insurance does not meet the EUR 120,000 or EUR 40,000 cover rules, or has a deductible above EUR 300, or lapses on arrival.
• A private person's guarantee of support is offered in place of funds, which is not accepted on its own.
• Expected work income is offered in place of the first-permit funds requirement.
• On an extension, studies have not progressed and no explanation is given.
• The average 30-hour weekly limit is exceeded, which is the student's and the employer's shared responsibility and surfaces later in payroll data.

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, and it cannot be extended once it has passed.

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

A first student permit is applied for from abroad, so a refusal does not interrupt a right to stay in Finland. In practice the realistic route is often a corrected new application for the next intake rather than an appeal - a new application is a new fee, and the funds and insurance evidence is what usually has to change.

What this costs

Migri's 2026 processing fee for a first student residence permit is EUR 600 online and EUR 750 on paper. That fee is Migri's, is paid to Migri and is separate from anything ENB charges. ENB does not publish a fixed student-permit package; this work is billed as case-specific consulting at EUR 120 per hour excluding VAT, or under a written fixed scope agreed in advance.

If a decision is negative and you want the refusal reviewed, that is a separate service: ENB's published fee for an appeal review after a Migri decision is EUR 1,000 excluding VAT. All ENB fees exclude Finnish VAT, where the standard rate is 25.5%.

• Migri first student permit, filed online: EUR 600
• Migri first student permit, filed on paper: EUR 750
• ENB case-specific consulting: EUR 120 per hour excluding VAT
• ENB appeal review after a Migri decision: EUR 1,000 excluding VAT

What ENB delivers

• Programme and permit-route check against the actual curriculum
• Permit timing and A/B classification review
• Funding, bank-statement and tuition evidence review
• Insurance review against the cover and deductible rules
• Document checklist and Enter Finland file structure
• Risk review before filing and support with additional-information requests

What this service does not include

• ENB is not an authority, does not decide applications and holds no delegated power from Migri; no outcome is promised, predicted or described as likely
• It is not an admission service and does not place you on a programme
• It is not a promise that Migri will grant the permit; the decision is Migri's
• Expected future work income cannot be used in place of the first-permit funds requirement
• It does not arrange housing, insurance products or bank accounts on your behalf