Residence permits and registrations

Residence permit and visa

Students who are NOT citizens of an EU member state, Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway, or Switzerland have to apply for a residence permit if the studies in Finland last for longer than 90 days. If you are staying a maximum of 90 days you might need a visa. You may study in Finland for 90 days without a visa or residence permit if you are a citizen of a visa-free country. For information on visas, please see the website of the Ministry for Foreign Affairs of Finland.

If you are a citizen of an EU country, Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway, or Switzerland, you are not required to have a residence permit for Finland.

Start the application process for the residence permit immediately after receiving the acceptance letter from Haaga-Helia. The process might take several weeks. If you submit an incomplete application, the processing time becomes even longer, so please read carefully all the instructions.

Residence permit for studies

Mobility notification

If you have a valid residence permit for studies issued by another EU Member State and you will study at Haaga-Helia  via student exchange programme (Erasmus+, Nordplus, or bilateral), you do not have to apply for a residence permit to Finland. Instead, you should make a mobility notification to Finland.

Please make sure that you submit all the required documents. If something is missing, the Immigration Service will automatically object to your notification and you will have to pay the fee again.

Mobility notification to Finland

EU/EEA citizen's right of residence registration

If you are a citizen of an EU member state, Liechtenstein, or Switzerland you do not need a residence permit to stay in Finland. You can stay and work freely in Finland for up to three months. You need to have a valid identity card or passport. If your stay lasts for more than three months you have to register your right of residence. You are recommended to register AFTER arrival in Finland.

Finnish Immigration Service  Register your right of residence

Finnish personal identity code

All international students who do not have a Finnish personal identity code have to apply for it before their arrival or register at the local registry office after their arrival to Finland to apply for one.

Students who have to apply for a residence permit/visa (i.e. non-EU/non-EEA citizens) before their arrival in Finland should ask to be registered in the Finnish Population Information System when they apply for their first residence permit. This way you can receive a Finnish personal identity code at the same time as they are issued with the permit. 

Please note that not all nationalities will be able to get the identity code when applying for a residence permit/visa. In this case, you should apply for the code after your arrival in Finland.

How to apply for the Finnish personal identity code

You have to apply for the personal identity code from the local Digital and Population Data Services Agency (DVV) of the city where you are living in Finland.

Before visiting your local DVV, fill in the Registration information of a foreigner form. Remember to take with you the Registration information of a foreigner form and your following documents when you return the application to your local registry:

• passport (or other ID)
• Haaga-Helia certificate of attendance

Please note that it can take approximately 4 weeks to get the code. After you have received the personal identification code, remember to inform it to International Services. Universities are obliged to collect the code for administrative purposes. You also need it if you wish to apply for the electronic student union card. The International Office will instruct you on how to inform the code. For security reasons, do not inform the code to us by email.

For residence permit holders, the code (your birth date + xxxx, e.g. 29.10.1990 - xxxx) will be marked on your residence permit card.

Service locations