Any student who submits a residence permit application on or after 1.9.2007 must attach details of their comprehensive health insurance cover to their application. Comprehensive insurance cover means insurance which includes the types of treatment and costs that are covered by municipal health care services and the health insurance system.
It is a precondition for obtaining a residence permit that the student has valid health insurance cover with a reliable and solvent company or institution.
- For studies of less than two years in duration, a student must have private insurance which primarily covers the costs of medical treatment up to 100,000 euros (cost level in 2007).
- Where the duration of the studies is two years or more, a student will usually have a home municipality in Finland and is therefore entitled to municipal health care services. In such cases, it is sufficient for the insurance to primarily cover the cost of medicines (in practice the cover extends to doctor’s fees and costs of treatment and examination), up to 30,000 euros (cost level in 2007).
A student must have insurance cover when applying for a residence permit as without it a residence permit cannot be granted. A residence permit cannot be issued for a period exceeding the period of the insurance cover. |
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| Visa and
residence permits |
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Students
coming from the EU countries do not need
a visa when studying in Finland. Students
coming from other than EU countries need
a visa when they stay less than three months
in Finland (taking an entrance examination,
for example).
EU citizens and the citizens of Iceland,
Liechtenstein, Norway and Switzerland (see
Directorate of Immigration, www.uvi.fi)
do not need a residence permit when studying
in Finland. For a stay longer than three
months period, students from EU countries
need to register their right to reside in
Finland at the local police department.
The criteria for right to reside in Finland
are as follows: the main purpose for residence
in Finland are the full-time studies in
a Finnish higher education institution,
the student is able to support his or her
living in Finland, the student has a valid
health insurance. Students coming from Sweden,
Norway, Denmark or Iceland do not need to
have a clarification on their financing.
Non-EU citizens need a residence permit
when they have been admitted to a higher
education institution and their studies
last longer than three months. The residence
permit is granted for one year at the time.
If the studies take longer than one year,
the extension of the residence permit needs
to be applied every year until the student
has finished the study programme. For readmission
of the residence permit the student must
meet the following criteria: the student
must be a full-time student, the student
must be registered in a higher education
institution, the student has completed the
courses required in the higher education
institution study programme. In addition
to the residence permit, the student must
prove being able to support his or her living
in Finland see Fees and costs. |
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