International students create innovations and bring growth to Finland

In recent years, the number of foreign students and their families has grown in Finland. Approximately 37,000 international higher education students were studying in Finland with a residence permit for studies in 2024.

Finland needs economic growth and more working-age people with higher education. During their studies, international students are able to integrate into Finnish society, and most of them find employment in Finland after graduation. Active support measures and incentives can help grow their number further. International experts can increase innovativeness of Finnish workplaces and they bring international networks with them.

As many as two out of three of international higher education students would like to stay and work in Finland after graduation, but currently only just over half succeed in finding employment. International higher education students therefore already offer significant potential for the Finnish labour market, and more of them could stay.

While the share of employed graduates has remained stable, the overall increase in student numbers means that more international graduates are now working in Finland. More than 60 per cent of those who find work are employed in specialist-level positions.

Solutions for integrating international students into the labour market are promoted together with companies, cities, higher education institutions, central government and student organisations. Best practices for strengthening students’ links to the world of work should be shared. 

These include:

• practical training during studies
• more tailored language training and use of technology supporting multilingual life at workplaces
• new and extended meeting points for connecting international students with SMEs/start-ups
• encouragement of entrepreneurship
• support for career development of students’ spouses
• improved receptiveness of society and working life

Statistics and data from ex-post supervision at the Finnish Immigration Service show that most international higher education students in Finland are progressing in their studies better than average and can live here without significant difficulty. However, some of them face challenges, including income difficulties, and the challenges are most severe among students with families.

According to a report by the Ministry of Economic Affairs and Employment, underlying the financial difficulties students face is often misleading advertising by foreign educational agents regarding opportunities for employment, for example. The expensive agency fees have also led to the indebtedness of some students, which may put them in a vulnerable position and increase the risk of labour exploitation.

Finland’s weak economic and employment situation also affects international higher education students. Work that can be performed while enrolled in studies is not necessarily available, which may also make it more difficult to make ends meet. The improvement in Finland’s economic situation is also expected to improve students' income and employment.

A condition for the residence permit for studies is that students have sufficient resources to support themselves in Finland throughout their studies. Applicants must present an account of how they will financially secure their stay in Finland.

The Government is preparing a number of changes to prevent income difficulties and students ending up in a vulnerable position:

• Going forward, the family of an international student would be able to apply for a residence permit in Finland only after the student has been in Finland for one year. In this way, the student would have a realistic idea of the income level required for living in Finland in advance. 
• The income requirement for students would be clarified and provisions on the required income in euros would be laid down in an act and decree.
• A language proficiency requirement would be added to the residence permit for studies in order to prevent abuse in cases where the student’s language skills are not sufficient for studying in Finland.
• Furthermore, the grounds for denial of the Aliens Act would apply to upper secondary students and all their family members. This would make it easier to monitor the granting of permits and combat any challenges in advance.

The ministerial working group on internal security and administration of justice made the decisions on the need for legislative amendments in December 2025 based on an official report.

The Government proposes amendments to improve the supervision of residence permits of students and their income. In future, a residence permit of a foreign student could be cancelled more easily if the student resorted to social assistance in Finland. As is the case now, an overall consideration would be carried out before the permit was cancelled.

A residence permit for studies requires sufficient financial resources. Resorting to social assistance may indicate income challenges, in which case cancelling the permit may, under the current rules, be considered. In future, however, receiving social assistance would be a specific ground for cancelling the permit. In other words, drawing social assistance even once would, as a rule, lead to permit cancellation. 

The change is based on the Government Programme.

Students may apply for social assistance and, if the conditions are met, draw it as a last-resort benefit. However, if a student draws social assistance, their residence permit could be cancelled. An individual overall consideration would always be carried out before the cancellation of the permit, as is the case now.

Automated post-decision monitoring would be used by the Finnish Immigration Service to determine whether a student receives social assistance from Kela. An overall consideration would be carried out in each case before the permit was cancelled.

As part of its automated post-decision monitoring, the Finnish Immigration Service processed over 37,000 residence permits between September 2023 and December 2025. A student had applied for social assistance in 333 cases, which means that they account for a very small part of the total number of international students.

Foreign education agents make misleading claims about e.g. employment opportunities in Finland and charge high fees for their services. This has caused students to have unrealistic expectations concerning employment and indebtedness even before arriving in Finland.

The Government is looking into the use of these agents to only allow such agents to operate who are in a contractual relationship with higher education institutions. This would mean compiling a list of agents used by the education institutions and creating common rules for recruitment. A working group led by the Ministry of Education and Culture is responsible for reporting on agents.

The changes would apply to higher education and upper secondary students arriving in Finland from outside the EU and EEA countries.

The grounds for denial of the Aliens Act would apply to upper secondary students and all their family members.

The changes have been prepared in two separate projects, which will enter into force at different times.

The proposal for the amendments to resorting to social assistance was submitted to Parliament on 30 April 2026. The changes would enter into force in autumn 2026.

Changes to rules on bringing the student’s family to Finland, income requirement, language proficiency requirement and grounds for denial are scheduled to be sent out for comments in summer 2026. The government proposal would be submitted during the spring session 2026 and it would enter into force during 2027.