How to get a student visa for Finland

Finland is one of the developed countries with a very high level of science. This country allows international students to get a visa for themselves and their companions (at the same time) and enter Finland together. Another advantage of Finland is that universities in Finland will guarantee that they find a job for students if they study in special fields of study such as mechanical engineering or manufacturing engineering. You can apply to study at Finnish universities that teaches in English, and if you meet the following conditions, you can study at these universities even without having an English language certificate.

If Your native English speaker (your mother tongue is English).

If you have taken language courses before the start of your studies in Finland.

If you have previously studied at English-speaking universities such as European, American, Australian and Canadian universities.

 Note that if you have one of the conditions mentioned above, you can study for a bachelor’s and master’s degree without having a language certificate, but to study for a PhD degree, you must have an IELTS language certificate with a score of 7.

Applicants who want to get a student visa to study for a master’s or PhD degree in Finland can apply for a scholarship in some fields of study. The most popular master’s degree scholarships are from the Universities of Helsinki and Oulu, which are awarded to students if they meet some certain requirements. For example, in order for the Oulu university to award scholarships to students, students must present a bachelor’s degree which they obtained from a Finnish university and their degrees must be in Swedish and Finnish. Other general requirements for getting scholarships from these universities are presenting a very strong resume, having a high grade point average and having a language certificate with a high score. Most PhD students can apply for a scholarship in Finland. For example, the EDUFI scholarship is only for doctoral studies, and PhD students can apply for this scholarship if they meet the necessary requirements. This scholarship is awarded to students for 3 to 12 months and students will receive about 1500 Euros per month. But the important point is that students can not apply for a scholarship in Finland from the beginning, and they should first get admitted to a university in Finland and then apply for a student visa, and after entering this country and the university they can apply for scholarships.

People usually want to know about the cost of studying and living in Finland before applying for a student visa. Since the fall of 2017 and from September, universities in Finland charge tuition fees from international and non-EU students. On average, depending on the field of study and the type of university the cost of studying for a bachelor’s degree varies from 8 to 12 thousand Euros per year, and for a master’s degree it varies from 10 to 18 thousand Euros per year, but doctoral studies in Finland are free.

In the table below, we have mentioned the amount of tuition fees for different universities in Finland.

Once applicants have obtained a student visa in Finland and entered this country, one of the most important things for them is the possibility of working in this country while studying. EU students do no need to get a part-time student work permit in Finland and can work indefinitely, but their work should not interfere with their education. Non-European students can also work part-time for a specified amount of time if they sign an employment contract with an employer. After obtaining a student visa in Finland Students can work for up to 10 hours a week, and knowing Finnish and Swedish is often required to find a job. For the master’s degree, students can work up to 20 hours per week if they find a part-time job. PhD students are allowed to work up to 25 hours a week, but in general, you should keep it in mind that the cost of studying and living is higher than the income of students, and students by working can only cover some parts of these expenses. In the early years of education students can work in restaurants or work in shops.

One of the most important issues for married students is the possibility of having family members with them in Finland. Fortunately, people who have a student visa in Finland can apply for family reunification. Students can apply to study in Finland at the same time as their family.

In this part of the article, we will introduce different universities in Finland, because in order to get a student visa in this country, you must first get admitted to a university in Finland, so you need to know what are the rankings of these universities in the world rankings. Finland has an advanced education system and about 8 of the best universities in the world are located in this country. Here you can see top universities in this country along with their rankings.

University of Helsinki

This university is ranked 91st in the world and is located in the city of Helsinki and there are between 3,000 to 4,000 students in this university and has 11 faculties.

• Aalto University

It is ranked 133rd in the world. This university is located in the city of Espoo and about 1,500 students study in this university, about 70% of whom study for master’s and PhD degrees. Most of the courses offered at this university are architecture, art and music courses.

• University of Tampere

It is ranked 201st in the world. This university is located in the city of Tampere. About 10,000 students are studying for a PhD degree in management, economics, and more in this university.

• University of Oulu

It is ranked 251st in the world. This university is located in the city of Oulu. About 1,600 to 1,800 master’s and PhD students are studying medicine and social sciences at this university.

• University of Eastern Finland

It is ranked 301st in the world. This university is located in the city of Joensuu. More than 11,000 students are studying at this university for different college degree levels and in different fields of study, including nursing and medical sciences.

• University of Turku

It is ranked 351st in the world. This university is located in the city of Turku and has more than 2,000 students studying in various fields.

Students who want to get a student visa for Finland can try their luck by presenting the required and valid documents to the embassy. Of course, there is no need to worry, applicants have an 80 to 90 percent chance of getting a visa if they meet the conditions and have the required documents, which is a high figure. Those who succeed in obtaining a visa will first get a temporary visa, after entering Finland and applying to the Finnish Immigration Service they can get a one-year student visa and extend their visa while they are studying in this country. It should be noted that citizens of the EU member states and Iceland, Liechtenstein and Norway do not need to apply for a student visa or residence permit before entering Finland.

Here you can see the required documents for getting a student visa in Finland:

• Presenting a valid passport with a validity of more than 1 year and a copy of it
• Presenting the original birth certificate and the translation of all pages and a copy them
• Presenting two 4 * 6 color photos
• Presenting an IELTS language certificate
• Insurance
• Presenting a lease
• Sufficient financial means and Turnover of bank deposits of at least 10 thousand euros
• Presenting qualifications including high school diploma and college degrees
• Presenting acceptance letter from universities in Finland

Students who want to get a student visa for Finland can try their luck by presenting the required and valid documents to the embassy. Of course, there is no need to worry, applicants have an 80 to 90 percent chance of getting a visa if they meet the conditions and have the required documents, which is a high figure. Those who succeed in obtaining a visa will first get a temporary visa, after entering Finland and applying to the Finnish Immigration Service they can get a one-year student visa and extend their visa while they are studying in this country. It should be noted that citizens of the EU member states and Iceland, Liechtenstein and Norway do not need to apply for a student visa or residence permit before entering Finland.

Here you can see the required documents for getting a student visa in Finland:

• Presenting a valid passport with a validity of more than 1 year and a copy of it
• Presenting the original birth certificate and the translation of all pages and a copy them
• Presenting two 4 * 6 color photos
• Presenting an IELTS language certificate
• Insurance
• Presenting a lease
• Sufficient financial means and Turnover of bank deposits of at least 10 thousand euros
• Presenting qualifications including high school diploma and college degrees
• Presenting acceptance letter from universities in Finland

The main goal of many students who get a student visa for Finland is obtaining a permanent residence permit and citizenship after completing their studies. In most countries, students are allowed to stay for a period of time after their graduation so that they can convert their student visas into a work visa or other types of visas. This period varies in different countries, for example, Austria and Germany allow students to stay for up to 1 year, in countries like Canada and Australia even the education of students earns them some points and after graduation they will have a very good chance of finding a job. In Finland, after graduation students are allowed to stay in this country for 6 months to convert their student visas into work visas. Once a person finds a job in Finland, he or she can get a work permit in this country, and if he or she works for 4 years continuously and pays for taxes, he or she can get a permanent residence permit and then obtain Finnish citizenship.