On April 30, 2026, the government announced two proposed legislative packages to address the income difficulties faced by some international students in Finland.
The first package would allow the authorities to cancel more easily the residence permit of a non-EU/EEA national student in higher or upper secondary education if the student resorted to social assistance in Finland even once. This is expected to reduce the number of people applying for social assistance. The changes would enter into force in autumn 2026.
Automated post-decision monitoring would be used by the Finnish Immigration Service to determine whether a student receives social assistance. 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.
In addition to this proposal, the government is preparing a second package of legislation to help international students avoid experiencing income difficulties.
- The family of a 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 study 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 government is scheduled to send the second legislative package for public consultation in spring 2026 and it would enter into force during 2027.
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