Immigration to Finland

The people of finland speak Finnish, which is spoken by around 5 million people worldwide. Finnish is the offiical language not only of Finland but also of the European Union. Finland is home to many high-tech companies dealing with new-age, future technologies such as cyber security, AI, new space, quantum, health, biotech, industries etc. Finland attracts and invites skilled professionals from around the world, especially from US & UK. In 2024, Finland is on a lookout for international workers in healthcare and elderly care. The education industry of Finland is also looking forward to invite 15000 international students this year. It aims to increase the work based immigration to 30000 individuals per year starting 2024.

The Following Factors Speak For An Immigration To Finland

Finland is known as mini paradise. Finland is popular for its natural beauty and cleanliness, fresh air. People can enjoy one of the highest standards of living on the earth. People are healthier in Finland compared to the rest of the earth.

Traveling information

You do not need a visa if you are citizen of a Nordic Country or an EU Member state or United States of America. You also do not need a visa if you are staying in Finland for less than 90 days within a frame of 180 days period. The passport should be valid at least for three months after the trip. This ensures you are eligible to return to the home country when your visit is done. Likewise no visa is required if you are a citizen of a visa-free country and you have valid passport or a comparable travel document.

Finland has 27 airports; five of them have regular international flight services. Helsinki-Vantaa International Airport is the main gateway. In the northernmost area Ivalo airport is in Lapland which is approximately 250 kilometers above from the Arctic Circle. Finnair is one of the most sustainable airlines in the world.

Finland has different types of visas depending on the travel purpose you have. If you are planning to visit Finland for study or work and reside permanently, then it is necessary to apply for a different Finnish Schengen Visas accordingly. For Tourist visa the processing time will be at least 15 – 20 days from application. For more information visit: schengenvisainfo.com

Visa –  For longer stay in Finland

Schengen Countries

If your visa is from Schengen area country, it allows you to travel to other Schengen countries as well. You need a valid residence permit from one of those Schengen countries. It is equivalent to a visa. You may need a national visa to visit a Non-Schengen Country. Finland is also a Schengen Country.

European Union (EU) Citizen

You do not need a visa if you are citizen of a Nordic Country or an EU Member state or a citizen of a visa free country, similarly if you have a valid passport or a comparable travel document. It is required to obtain a residence permit to stay more than that amount of time. Finland is a EU country since 1 January 1995.

Non EU Citizens

Residence Permits: First you have to apply for a residence permit from the Finnish diplomatic mission in your country or from the diplomatic mission of a Schengen Country representing Finland. Applications for residence permit can be submitted by online or manually in Finland. First permit is granted for 1 year, unless you apply for a shorter period of time.

Residence Permit is also needed for a Self Employed Person in Finland. Finnish Immigration Service can make a decision on your residence permit application. Before applying for the residence permit, you should enter the business in the Trade Register handled by the Finnish Patent and Registration Office.

If a family member is already in Finland: If you want to move to live in Finland with your family member, you need a residence permit. Permit can be granted on the basis of family ties. The person residing in Finland is intended to be as a sponsor.

If you are married or have a registered partnership with a Finnish citizen, you may apply for a residence permit on that basis also on the basis of guardianship, children and other family relations.

Cohabitation with a Finnish Citizen: If your cohabiting partner is a Finnish citizen who stays in Finland or want to move to Finland, you may apply for a residence permit for yourself on the basis of family ties. Permit may be granted on the basis of following points:

• When you have cohabited with your partner for minimum 2 years, present the proof of your cohabitation like rental agreement
• If you have joint custody of a child with your partner, in this case the above give point will not apply

Granting a residence permit also depends on some other compelling reasons. For more information please visit: migri.fi

Permits for Students: If you are a student and your studies take more than 90 days in Finland then you need a residence permit for your studies. If you want to stay in Finland for less than 90 days, you still need a visa. During the entire period of validity of your residence permit, you must have sufficient means for living in Finland. You are allowed to work in Finland but restrictions apply.

If you are a European Union citizen or equivalent person you will not need a residence permit for Finland.

How to immigrate to Finland

Foreigners can apply for a residence permit at the Finnish embassy in their home country. However, if you find a job while visiting Finland on tourist visa, it is possible to submit your application directly at a local police service point in Finland.

Finland has a very good economy, everyone from any country wants to migrate to Finland. You can also apply for a permanent residence permit online through the Enter Finland service. After applying you should visit a service point of the Finnish Immigration Service to submit your identification and the original copies of the application appendices.

After living for 4 years in Finland and passing the language test, you are eligible to apply to get the Finnish Citizenship directly.

Tourist can stay in Finland upto 90 days without obtaining a visa or residence permit. Citizens of European Union, Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway as well as Switzerland also don’t need a residence permit to stay in Finland more than 90 days. The only thing is that they have to register their right of residence.

People

Finnish people are a Baltic Finnic ethnic group naïve to Finland. These people are divided into smaller regional groups that span several countries adjacent to Finland, both those who are native to these counties as well as those who have resettled.

Finland is on high place in the global economy, and international trade is the third of GDP. According to the recent survey, population below poverty line is 15.6%.  Finland culture is combination of indigenous heritage. Sauna is popular with common Nordic and European Culture. Country’s national languages are Uralic Finnish, German Swedish, Swedish speaking people are found in the coastal area in the south, southwest and west in Aland Island.

According to a report of Encyclopedia Britannica (2018), Finnish speaking people are 87.9%, Swedish are 5.2%, and Russian 1.4%, Estonian 0.9% and 4.6% are other language speaking people in Finland. Relation between the various language groups in Finland is good.  Christianity has the highest percentage in Finland. Population in urban areas are increasing steadily because of increased industrialization compared to rural areas.

Finland is a happy country with number of policies for welfare, mutual trust, freedom and equality. In recent years Finland has earned the most stable, the freest and the safest by many international bodies.  Finnish people are warm and sincere. They are open and friendly. People are talkative and hospitable.

Work permit, Job offers, unemployment rate, economy

If you want to work for less than 3 months from a country whose citizens required having a visa, you must have to apply for a seasonal work from a Finnish Immigration service for a seasonal work residence permit.

It is a bit hard for the foreigners to get a job in Finland, But if it is a job in IT and engineering field than it is relatively easy. It is easier to get a job if Finnish or you speak Finnish, comparing to a foreigner. Popular jobs in Finland are Accounting, Nursing, Teaching and Programming and Web Designing.

Electronics, machinery, vehicles and other engineered metal products, forest industry and chemical industry are the largest industries in Finland. Reason behind it is that Finland has a good amount of resources of timber, several minerals and freshwater.

Finland has highly free-market and largely industrialized economy with GDP per capita, as high as of Austria and Netherland, slightly high than Belgium and Germany. But now according to THE RESEARCH INSTITUTE of the Finnish Economy (Elta) has downgraded its growth outlook for Finland for 2019-2020. The eurozone economy is projected to expand by only one per cent in 2019 and 0.9 per cent in 2020 as a result of the economic slowdown in Germany and political tumult in the United Kingdom.

Renting and buying of real estates for foreigners

From January 2020, buyers from outside the EU and EEA countries need permission from the Finnish Ministry of Defence to buy real estate in Finland. However, a permit is not necessary when buying shares in a housing company, which is now most apartments, are owned in Finland.

Rough cost for buying a single family home is going for 2.5 hundred thousand euro to 5 hundred thousand euro and larger homes costs 7.5 hundred thousand euro to 8.5 hundred thousand euro. Monthly rent for a furnished studio in expensive area approximately costs 1,200 Euro and monthly rent in normal area will costs approx 746 Euro. Utilities for a month like heating, electricity, gas for 1 person will cost approx 70 euro.

Climate

The warmest annual average temperature in Southern Finland is 6.5˚C (43.7˚F). Mostly temperature is cooler in most of the months in Finland. The lowest temperature recorded is -51.5˚C (-60.7˚F) in January. In the month of July temperature goes till 37.2˚C. The annual average temperature is relatively high in the southwestern part of the country (5.0 to 7.5˚C or 41.0 to 45.5˚F), with quite mild winters and warm summers, and low in the northeastern part of Lapland (0 to -4˚C or 32 to 25˚F).

Languages

The main official languages of Finland are Finnish and Swedish. Finnish is the language of the majority, 87.3% of the population in 2019. Swedish is the main language of 5.2% of the population in 2019, Russian 1.48%, English 0.40%. Several official languages are also spoken in Finland such as three variants of Sami, Romani, Finnish Sign Language and Karelian.

English is widely spoken in Finland, though not quite as frequent as the other Scandinavian countries. Less than three quarters of Finns report being able to speak English fluently.

Traffic

Public transport works well in Finland. Anywhere, within the country, it’s easy to travel by bus or train. Many cities have airports; one can travel by air also. Finland has 24 airports & the largest is Helsinki-Vantaa Airport. Roads are generally in good condition in Finland with less traffic jams unlike other countries.

Buying and maintaining a car is very expensive. Driving license is essential to drive a car in Finland. Also motorcycle license is needed to ride a motorcycle. For more information visit : infofinland.fi

Currency

Currency used in Finland is Finnish EURO like 15 other countries in Europe. Finland adopted Euro in the year 2002. A euro note comes in denominations like €5, €10, €20, €50, €100, €200, €500, etc and coins in €1, €2, 1c, 2c, 5c, 10c, 20c, and 50c cents.

Payment Transaction

Online banking is the most popular way used by more than 4.5 million people in the market. Transactions can be done by cash or by card in Finland.

Cost of living in Finland

Average living cost in Finnish Cities (without apartment rent) is between approx 700-900 Euro/month. It also depends on the area in which you want to stay. Most expensive city in Finland is its capital Helsinki. While Laaperanta, Pori and Tampere are known as affordable cities for students.

Apartment Rent

Rent or share a flat costs between 450-700 Euro/month, or at least 900 Euro for a studio or one-bed apartment. Cost may vary depending on how close the apartment is to the city centre & how big the city is.

Taxes

Taxation in Finland is carried out by the State of Finland, mainly through the Finnish Tax Administration, an agency of the Ministry of Finance. Collected taxes are distributed to the Government, municipalities, church and the Social Insurance Institution, Kela.

Finnish income tax includes the income tax dependable on the net salary, employee unemployment payment and employer unemployment payment. The tax rate increasing rapidly at 13 ke/year (from 25% to 48%) and 29 ke/year to 55% and eventually reaches 67% at 83 ke/year, while decreases very little.

Note: Ke = Cost of Equity.

There are different types of taxes in Finland such as: Corporate tax, Indirect income tax, Property Tax, Vat and excise tax, Church tax, Pension fees, etc.

Health Insurance

Health insurance in Finland is free as it is funded by the tax system. Health insurance is good for all residents in Finland, no matter what the financial situation is. The residents of the country can have health care and insurance and Finnish insurance covers all residents under a universal policy. National Health Insurance or NHI is the national health insurance provided to Finnish residence and is monitored by the municipal governments of each territory.

European Union Residents: Temporary visitors living in Finland may or may not have access to their healthcare systems. This depends on where the international is from and those international students, who are from the European Union are eligible to health insurance coverage while in Finland.

Non European Students: In Finland International students and the European Union needs to deal with health insurance coverage differently. International students from outside Finland do not have access to the national health insurance in Finland but they must contract a policy under a private insurance company. International students required to get health insurance that covers international travel and living in Finland.

Important addresses

Helsinki (headquarters): Finnish Institute of Occupational Health
P.O. Box 40
FI-00032 TYÖTERVEYSLAITOS
Finland

Helsinki: Finnish Institute of Occupational Health
Topeliuksenkatu 41 b
00250 Helsinki,
Finland

Tampere: Finnish Institute of Occupational Health
FI-33032 TYÖTERVEYSLAITOS
Finland

Helsinki: Finnish Institute of Occupational Health
Arinatie 3 A
00370 Helsinki,
Finland

Tampere: Finnish Institute of Occupational Health
Uimalankatu 1 (Hippostalo)
33100 Tampere,
Finland

Summary

Finland is a happy country with a good income. It is worth living in Finland because they also have a very good education system & good health care for all. Finland has its natural beauty and cleanliness, fresh air. People can enjoy one of the highest standards of living on the earth. People are healthier in Finland compared to the rest of the earth. Like other countries they also have their problems like pollution, noises, etc., but it is in fewer amounts.