Govt to tighten residence permit criteria for Int´l students´ family

The four-party alliance government led by Kansallinen Kokoomus (National Coalition Party-NCP) on Thursday submitted a proposal to parliament to bring amendments to the law with the view to tighten criteria for family reunion of the international students.

According to the proposal, the family of an international student be able to apply for a residence permit only after the student has been in Finland for one year, said the Ministry of Economic Affairs and Employment in a press release.

Currently, the student’s family members can apply for a residence permit at the same time as the student.

A report by the Ministry of Economic Affairs and Employment showed that students' income challenges are often caused by misleading advertising by foreign educational agents on employment opportunities in Finland. Students have also fallen into debt due to high agency fees.

The students would have a reasonable idea of the financial resources required for a family to live in Finland during the one year, said the government in the proposal.

“Students coming to Finland must have a genuine ability to pursue their studies, to get by with their own financial resources and to build their future here. Through these legislative amendments, we will ensure that international students have the necessary prerequisites to do so”, said Minister of Employment Matias Marttinen in the press release.

The government also proposed clarifications to the requirement for sufficient financial resources. The amount of required income in euros would be defined in an act and laid down in a decree.

This would ensure that students have a realistic idea of the cost of living in Finland and help the authorities determine the student’s financial resources during the permit consideration.

The amount of required income would be reviewed every three years.

Language skills would be assessed before entry

The government proposed to add a language proficiency requirement to the residence permit for studies.

In this way, a residence permit could be denied in the absence of language skills, without imposing an additional burden on educational institutions or applicants with sufficient language skills.

According to the report, some students have been found to have inadequate skills in English or another language of study, which makes it difficult to complete their studies.

Some students have also primarily used the residence permit for studies as a means to gain access to the Finnish or EU labour market, said the government.

The government proposed that the denial criteria of the Aliens Act apply to upper secondary students and all their family members.

The act and amendments are scheduled to enter into force on 5 April 2027. The application of the one-year waiting period for family reunification would begin at that time. Other amendments would become applicable in October 2027.

Earlier in January 2026, the government has taken an initiative to enhance post-decision monitoring of study-based residence permit to check whether international students receive social assistance.

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In January 2025, the government has proposed stiffen criteria for getting permanent residence permit in Finland.

The government in early March, 2024 took the initiative to stiffen the criteria for getting permanent residence permit in Finland.

In July 2024, the parliament passed the government proposal to bring legislative amendments extending the period of residence required for Finnish citizenship to eight years from five years.

On June 16, 2023, leaders of the ruling parties announced the programme, which included tougher immigration, residence and citizenship laws.

The government tightened the immigration policy despite strong protest by different groups.

Separate demonstrations were held in Helsinki on June 27, 2023 and June 18,2023 protesting against the immigration policy taken by the government.

Several hundreds of people went on demonstrations in Helsinki in August, 2023 protesting against the move.