Finland residence permit cost by application type
Finland residence permit cost in 2026: 750 euros online for an employed person's first permit, 230 for an extension, 380 for a permanent permit.
An online application for a first residence permit for an employed person costs 750 euros in 2026, according to the Finnish Immigration Service's (Migri, Maahanmuuttovirasto) processing fees page. The same application on paper costs 950 euros. That 200-euro gap shows that the fee depends on the channel you pick before a single document is reviewed, and no line on the schedule is cheaper on paper.
The fees are laid down by a decree of the Ministry of the Interior. Migri's fee change notice, published on 31 December 2025, set out the increases that took effect in 2026.
First residence permit fees
The permit cost varies by the grounds of the application. Migri's processing fees page lists the full schedule:
| Application type | Online (EUR) | Paper (EUR) |
|---|---|---|
| Employed person (labour market testing possible) | 750 | 950 |
| Specialist, EU Blue Card, researcher, athlete, internship, au pair, working holiday | 530 | 630 |
| Seasonal work | 530 | 630 |
| Seasonal work certificate | 200 | 300 |
| Start-up entrepreneur | 650 | 800 |
| Other entrepreneur | 750 | 900 |
| Studies | 600 | 750 |
| Minor applicant | 400 | 430 |
A specialist applying online pays 530 euros while an employed person pays 750 euros, a difference of 220 euros for what is, from the applicant's side, the same act of filling in a form. The grounds selected in the Enter Finland e-service determine which line applies, so the grounds are worth checking before paying.
Students pay 600 euros online in 2026, up from 450 euros in 2025 according to the fee change notice. Entrepreneurs other than start-ups and employed persons now share the same 750-euro online fee, after a 2025 entrepreneur fee of 550 euros that was 40 euros below the employed person's 590 euros.
Extended, permanent and other permit fees
Once a first permit is granted, the next application is an extension, and the fee structure changes. The processing fees page lists the following:
| Application type | Online (EUR) | Paper (EUR) |
|---|---|---|
| Extended permit | 230 | 430 |
| Extended permit (international protection) | 53 | 53 |
| Permanent residence (P permit) | 380 | 600 |
| Permanent residence, minor | 300 | 350 |
| Long-term resident's EU permit (P-EU) | 380 | 600 |
| Long-term resident's EU permit, minor | 300 | 350 |
| EU citizen registration | 53 | 53 |
| Residence card, EU family member | 53 | 53 |
| Replace lost card | 140 | 140 |
| D visa | 95 | 120 |
| Citizenship application | 550 | 650 |
The extended permit at 230 euros online is the least expensive application in the sequence for a third-country worker, and the paper alternative at 430 euros is the widest percentage gap on the schedule. Filing on paper nearly doubles the cost of extending a permit, which is the strongest financial argument for using Enter Finland even when a service-point visit feels simpler.
The 2026 online fee for a permanent residence permit is 380 euros, up from 240 euros the year before, per the fee change notice. On paper the same application went from 350 to 600 euros.
The 2025 to 2026 increases
Migri published the old and new amounts side by side in its fee change notice:
| Application type | 2025 online (EUR) | 2026 online (EUR) | Increase (EUR) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Employed person, first permit | 590 | 750 | 160 |
| Studies, first permit | 450 | 600 | 150 |
| Entrepreneur, first permit | 550 | 750 | 200 |
| Permanent residence | 240 | 380 | 140 |
The entrepreneur's first permit saw the largest jump at 200 euros. The employed person's increase of 160 euros is 40 euros less than the entrepreneur's but lands on an application that was already 40 euros more expensive in 2025.
The notice adds that an application pending by 31 December 2025 at the latest was charged the 2025 fee. The boundary is the date the application became pending.
Payment channels and the processing clock
Migri's processing fees page states that it will not start processing an application until the fee has been paid, and that an unpaid application can expire by decision. That rule turns the fee into a gate: the processing-time estimates Migri publishes mean nothing for an application whose fee is still open.
Three channels exist. Applications filed through Enter Finland are paid with online banking credentials or a Visa or Mastercard credit card. Service points in Finland take cash, Visa, Visa Electron and Mastercard, and under the Anti-Money Laundering Act a cash payment of at least 1,000 euros requires reliable proof of where the money came from. Applications filed abroad are paid as the Finnish mission instructs, so check with the mission in advance.
A second application on corrected grounds means a second fee at the current year's rate, so a rejected employed-person application followed by a fresh online filing costs 1,500 euros in processing fees alone, before any document, translation or travel expense.
The salary floor behind the fee
For a work-based applicant, the permit cost is the smaller number on the bill. Migri's employed person page states that the total gross salary must be at least 1,600 euros per month in 2026, and that salary supplements such as evening and night work supplements are not counted toward it. The 750-euro application fee is under half of one month's minimum gross pay, while the salary requirement must hold for every month the permit covers.
Migri states that salary requirements for work-based permits are based on collective agreements, legislation or statistics, so a sector collective agreement can set a higher threshold. A contract that reaches 1,600 euros only with evening supplements does not clear it once the supplements are stripped out, and a refused application has still used up the fee.
Income thresholds for family-based permits follow a different table. Migri's income requirement page sets the net monthly threshold for one adult at 1,210 euros in the Helsinki metropolitan area (Espoo, Helsinki, Kauniainen, Vantaa), 1,090 euros in other large municipalities and 1,030 euros elsewhere. These are net amounts after tax, distinct from the gross salary floor for employed persons.
The cost of a full permit sequence
A third-country national arriving on a work permit, extending once and then applying for permanent residence pays three fees in sequence. At 2026 rates and filing everything online, the total is 750 plus 230 plus 380 euros, which is 1,360 euros in processing fees across the three applications. On paper the same sequence costs 950 plus 430 plus 600 euros, or 1,980 euros. The online path saves 620 euros over the same three decisions.
Each application is paid at the rate in force when it is filed, and the decree can change between filings, so the total is an estimate at today's prices.
Frequently asked questions
Fee-free applications. Migri's fee list exempts, among others, a first application for international protection or temporary protection and a quota refugee's fixed-term permit. For a victim of human trafficking, the fee is charged and returned if the permit is granted on that basis.
The boundary between fee years. For the 2026 change, applications pending by 31 December 2025 were charged the 2025 fee, and later applications the 2026 fee.
Missed-appointment charge. A booked appointment at a Migri service point that the applicant does not attend and does not cancel carries a 50-euro charge, per the processing fees page.