Arrival in Finland: Practical Information

Financial Aid and Scholarships  | Visa, Residence Permit and Work Permit   | Income Requirements   | Studying and Living Expenses

General

Finland has a dense network of institutions of higher education, with a total of 16 universities (yliopisto) and 25 polytechnics (ammattikorkeakoulu) located around the country. Finnish universities are publicly financed through the Ministry of Education, but they have autonomy  in their internal affairs. Finnish universities do not collect tuition fees, so the cost of studying is relatively low. The new universities act  given in 2009 makes it possible to charge fees from non –European students who are studying in programs taught in foreign languages.  At the University of Tampere the fee system is still under preparation. Student Unions charge small membership fees from graduate students. For postgraduate students, membership in the Student Union is optional. 

As of 1 August 2005 the two-tier degree system was adopted in Finland. The Bachelor's degree is taken before the Master's degree, the Bachelor's degree being calculated to take 3 years and the Master's thereafter 2 years.  

The Master’s degree includes advanced studies in the major subject. A large part of advanced studies consists of the research work for the Master’s thesis. The Master’s degree gives eligibility for postgraduate studies.

Financial Aid and Scholarships

In general, it must be stated that it is rather difficult for a foreign student to obtain a scholarship from Finnish sources.

If you are not a Finnish citizen, you may be entitled to financial aid with education in Finland if

• you are registered as a permanent resident of Finland in the population register system and
• your purpose for residence in Finland is something other than education (for example, work, family ties or return migration).

If you are in Finland for the express purpose of attending school, you are not eligible for financial aid from Finland.

Please see the web pages of the Social Insurance Institution of Finland (KELA) for more information: http://www.kela.fi/in/internet/english.nsf.

The Centre for International Mobility CIMO awards and administers scholarships for young PhD students and researchers. The scholarships are intended to work as start-up finance for young PhD students and researchers, who are yet to be invited to a Finnish university and who do not have a long post-Master’s research career behind them. The extent of the scholarship programmes varies from three (3) months to an academic year. More information available from: cimoinfo@cimo.fi or http://www.studyinfinland.fi/tuition_and_scholarships/cimo_scholarships.

The Finnish Academy offers scholarships and grants for postdoctoral studies. Competition for these is severe, and only very few students succeed in financing their studies on scholarships from Finnish sources.  For more information look at http://www.aka.fi/en-gb/A/.

Note that scholarships may be applied for only after receiving admission to take a postgraduate degree. As a rule, the University does not offer scholarships specifically to international students, except in a few exchange programs.

Visa, Residence Permit and Work Permit

There are two types of permit for entry into Finland: the visa and the residence permit. A visa is granted for a stay lasting a maximum of three months. Persons staying for more than three months must obtain a residence permit before arrival in Finland.

Visa

If you are a foreign national requiring a visa, you must always have one when entering the Schengen area. If you would ordinarily need a visa but have a residence permit valid in one of Schengen countries, you do not need a visa to enter another Schengen country if the intended duration of your stay is less than three months within a half year period (6 months) starting from the day when you first cross the border of the Schengen area.

The Schengen countries have agreed on what countries are free of visa requirements and what countries are under visa obligations. A Schengen visa is applied for from the embassy or consulate of the destination country. If the country from where you are applying for a visa does not have a Finnish embassy or consulate, you must apply for it from a Finnish mission in the nearest country to your own.

Residence permit

If you intend to stay in Finland for longer than 90 days you will need a residence permit. The first residence permit must be applied personally at the Finnish embassy or consulate in the consular district where the applicant has a legal residence. It is a precondition for obtaining a residence permit that the student has valid health insurance cover with a reliable and solvent company or institution.

Foreign students who are non-EU citizens or of a comparable status, must acquire a residence permit if their studies in Finland last for longer than three months.

EU nationals and non-EU nationals with a comparable status (Liechtenstein, Switzerland) do not need a residence permit. However, they must register their stay with the district police department no later than three months after arriving in the country.

Nationals of the other Nordic countries (Sweden, Norway, Denmark, Iceland) can enter Finland without restrictions and stay in the country without a residence permit. They do not need a residence permit for an employed person either.

At present the first residence permit for students costs approximately  250 euro.

For further information on the matters of visa and residence permit please see the websites of the Ministry for Foreign Affairs of Finland:

http://formin.finland.fi/public/default.aspx?nodeid=15716&contentlan=2&culture=en-US and the Finnish Immigration Service: http://www.migri.fi/studying_in_finland

Work permit

Students are permitted to do a limited amount of paid work under a residence permit issued for studies if the work in question is practical training included in the studies or final project work. Part-time employment is also possible, if the working time comes to an average of 25 hours per week at most. There are no limitations on working hours in full-time employment during holidays, specifically the summer and Christmas holidays. In practice, it is quite hard for foreign students to find work in Finland. Therefore, students should not count on finding work as a means to support themselves while in Finland.

For more information, the Finnish Immigration Service: http://www.migri.fi/studying_in_finland 

Income requirements

The granting of a residence permit usually requires that the foreigner's income is secure. The objective of the income requirement is that foreigners living in Finland are able to support themselves economically by their own means. The student should also have a health insurance. The Finnish government does not provide funding for an EU citizen to stay in Finland, nor does it cover expenses for medical care for such a person.

When applying for a residence permit, a financial statement showing that the applicant has at least 500 euro for a month or 6000 euro for a year (academic year 2012-2013) at his/ her disposal will be required. The applicant must show that his or her income is secured either with a scholarship, a grant or other funds with which the student can support him- or herself during the academic year. (For further information please see the link of the Finnish Immigration Service above.)

Studying and Living Expenses

Higher education in Finland is free of charge - universities do not so far collect any tuition fees. For postgraduate students, membership in the Student Union is optional. The Student Union membership fee is 48 euro for postgraduate students for academic year 2012-2013. 

The cost of living in Finland is comparable to the rest of Europe on average. For basic monthly expenses (food, rent, transportation), approximately 700 euro is minimum. Depending on one's personal spending habits, a supplement of 100 -300 euro per month should be planned for.

Tampere District Student Housing Foundation (TOAS) organizes inexpensive student housing and accommodation in Tampere. For more information see: http://www.toas.fi/en.

Books can be borrowed from the Tampere University Library free of charge. The Computer Centre provides students with basic computer and internet services free of charge.