Finland digital nomad visa & residency (2026)

An Aliens Act amendment lengthened the continuous-residence requirement and tightened income and language/integration conditions for a permanent permit, making the long-term residency path harder for foreign workers and entrepreneurs. It signals a broader government tightening of migration policy affecting all residence-based routes.

Aliens Act amendments gave workers only three months (six for specialists or those resident over two years) to find a new job before their work permit can be withdrawn, plus a 14-day employer notification duty. It materially reduced job-loss security for permit-holding remote/onsite workers.

Finland transposed the recast EU Blue Card Directive, lowering the salary threshold to the national average (≈€3,638/month in 2024), shortening the in-country stay before EU mobility to 12 months, and adding unemployment grace periods. It widened the highly-skilled route relevant to mobile knowledge workers.

The Finnish Government submitted its proposal to align national law with the revised EU Blue Card Directive for highly skilled non-EU workers. It set up the May 2024 reform that eased salary and mobility requirements.

Finland introduced a national D visa (valid 100 days) and automated fast-track processing capping decisions at two weeks for specialists, start-up entrepreneurs and their families. It was a flagship measure to attract skilled and entrepreneurial migrants and let them enter before collecting their permit card.

A new residence permit for innovative start-up founders took effect, requiring a positive business assessment from the newly created Business Finland before Migri decides. It opened a dedicated, growth-oriented entrepreneurial route for non-EU founders, distinct from the standard self-employed/entrepreneur permit.

The Aliens Act became the foundational framework governing entry, residence and employment of non-citizens, including the employed-person and entrepreneur residence permits (Chapter 5) that remain the basis for working in Finland today. All later digital-nomad-relevant routes are amendments to this Act.

Under standing Migri guidance there is no Finnish digital nomad visa: a residence permit cannot be granted on the basis of remote work for a foreign employer, though holders of a permit on other grounds may work remotely. Non-EU remote workers must instead use the entrepreneur/self-employed or start-up permit, while EU/EEA citizens register after 90 days and may work freely.