A family member of a Finnish citizen is allowed to enter Finland without a residence permit applied for in advance. An application for a residence permit must be submitted to the local police of his/her place of residence before the expiry of the said family member’s visa or exemption from visa. The police will decide whether a permit is to be granted. If a first residence permit is being applied for in Finland, the applicant may reside in Finland legally during the processing of the application even if his /her visa or exemption from a visa were to expire.

A marriage certificate must be provided as evidence of marriage, and the marriage must have been registered in Finland. A registration certificate must be submitted concerning registered partnerships. Family members of Finnish citizens are not required to prove that their livelihood is secured, in other words, no clarification is required concerning income or assets.

Family members of Finnish citizens may be granted a continuous residence permit (permit A). A first residence permit is, as a rule, granted for a year.

There are also two ways of applying for a residence permit before entering the country:

If a sponsor living in Finland applies for a residence permit for a family member residing abroad, the family member need not be present when the application is submitted. The personal data of the person for whom application for the residence permit is being made must always be filled in as the applicant on the application form. When a sponsor applies for a permit for a family member, the family member concerned is assumed to be abroad during the submission and processing of the application.

In certain cases your spouse may also be granted a first residence permit when your spouse is applying for it in Finland. This is possible for instance if you and your spouse have co-habited for a minimum period of two years before your spouse enters Finland. Your spouse may also be granted a residence permit applied for in Finland if refusal of a permit were manifestly unreasonable taking all related issues into account.

A marriage certificate must be submitted as evidence of marriage and a registration certificate as evidence of a registered partnership. Proof must also be provided of a secured livelihood for the entire period of stay in Finland by giving the clarification, if you are not a refugee or equivalent person.

Since the applicant is not yet a family member referred to in Finland’s Aliens Act (a marriage has not taken place or the couple have not co-habited in a common household in marriage-like circumstances for two years), a permit may under certain conditions be granted for other special reasons. For instance, it is possible to grant a permit in exceptional cases on the basis of cohabitation, when a foreign national is entering Finland with the intention of getting married.

In order for your partner to be granted a residence permit for the purpose of marrying, the following conditions must be met:

• Your relationship must be of an established nature and have continued for a lengthy period of time.
• You must intend to continue to co-habit in Finland.

Previous co-habitation (evidenced, for instance, by a lease or a housing occupant register extract), pregnancy or some other matter illustrating the established nature of your relationship may be regarded as evidence of the established nature of the relationship. Neither of you must be married elsewhere.

If your partner enters Finland and you get married before your residence permit application is decided, a residence permit may be granted on the basis of marriage, in other words family ties, as long as the other conditions for granting a permit are met. A written notification of the changed circumstances must be submitted for addition to the pending application, and the marriage certificate must be appended to the notification.

A permit may be granted if the person residing in Finland, i.e. the sponsor, is a Finnish citizen or a foreign national who has been granted a residence permit on the basis of refugee status or subsidiary protection, humanitarian protection or temporary protection, and the persons concerned intend to continue a previously established close family life in Finland.

If the close family life of the applicant relative and the relative residing in Finland has already ceased previously for normal family reasons, such as an adult child starting a family life with a spouse of his/her own, a residence permit cannot be granted on the basis of continuation of previously established close family life. Residence permits granted on this basis are intended primarily for situations in which an elderly parent moves to Finland at the same time as an adult child. If a residence permit is not applied for before the adult child has already moved to Finland but after this, the previous interruption of family life must have taken place for a compelling reason such as refugeeism. Even in these cases the condition is that an effort will be made to continue the previous close family life without delay as soon as the adult child has entered Finland and established contact with the relative concerned.

A permit may also be granted if a close relative is completely dependent on the person residing in Finland. Dependence on the sponsor residing in Finland means both physical and mental dependence. Mere financial dependence does not constitute complete dependence. Usually persons in this category are aged parents, adult children and unmarried siblings of an adult person residing in Finland. A residence permit is not usually granted for reasons of poor health or need for care if the applicant can obtain medical treatment or care in his/her home country.

If you appeal to the poor health of your parents when applying for a permit, medical certificates issued by a physician must be appended to the applications.

7. I have a residence permit for Finland on the basis of family ties. May I work and study in Finland?

If you have a residence permit granted on the basis of family ties, you have the right to gainful employment and study without restrictions in Finland.