Are you ready to move to Espoo?

• The Finnish Immigration Service website is the go-to source for information about the process of migrating to Finland.
• Depending on your status and circumstances, the Welcome guide website of International House Helsinki provides personalised instructions to help you tackle the immigration process.
• You can find more information about moving to Finland and moving to Espoo on the InfoFinland website in 12 different languages.

• To apply for a residence permit, you should find a job or find a study programme or start a business. Please check out the information provided by Finnish Immigration Service and InfoFinland.  The Application Finder will help you easily find the right application for your situation.
• You can apply for a residence permit online at Enter Finland or send a printed application to the Finnish Immigration Service.
• When you apply for a residence permit or the registration of your right of residence, we recommend that you simultaneously apply for a Finnish Personal Identity Code. In Finland, you will need a Personal Identity Code when you take care of matters with the public authorities, banks and employers, for example.
• The processing time of applications may vary. Use the Processing Time Checker to check the estimated processing time of your application. Please note that the processing of an application is subject to a fee.

• Finding a job is always a challenge wherever you are. But we have good news: Business Finland, a government-funded organisation bringing growth to Finland, has launched a program called Talent Boost to make Finland more attractive to international talents.
• With over 680 international companies and 48,000 foreign-language speakers (2019), Espoo is a great place for international talents. Otaniemi and Keilaniemi are important technology campuses on the Nordic level, full of professional zeal.
• If you wish to work in Finland, it is good to gain some knowledge of the Finnish way of working. For each month of full-time work, employees in Finland earn at least two days of annual leave. In Finland, every foreigner has the same rights at work as Finnish citizens.
• You may benefit from knowing the index of wage and salary earnings in Finland, provided by Statistics Finland.
• Employment and economic development services offers useful services, even providing tips for finding a job.
• To find a job, you can search for vacancies on company websites, other employment service websites or social media services (for example, Facebook and LinkedIn). Read more about work and enterprise in Espoo on the InfoFinland website.

If you plan to study in Finland, Espoo offers many educational opportunities, such as universities and vocational education:

• Aalto University
• Laurea University of Applied Sciences
• Omnia, the Joint Authority of Education in Espoo Region

Have you have been accepted as a student at an educational institution? Find out how to apply for a residence permit for studies on the website of the Finnish Immigration Service.

• Finland has been ranked among the top of business environments in the world. To better understand how to set up and develop a business in Finland, you can explore Finnish key industries.
• If you want to start your own business in Finland, you might consider applying for a “Finnish startup permit.” Please also check residence permit for entrepreneur .
• You can check out 4 quick steps to set up a business on the Business Finland website.
• To build your network and grow your business, FiBAN (Finnish Business Angels Network) actively links startups with more than 650 business angel members in Finland, the Nordics and the Baltics.
• Espoo Innovation Garden is there to advise high-quality startups on unique ideas, disruptive technologies, funding, talents, workspace and circles of interest. The Launchpad matching platform is an open innovation ecosystem of Espoo Innovation Garden, helping startups to grow into scaleups by connecting them with the right investors and corporations at the right time.
• If you have questions, Business Espoo gives advice on matters such as founding and developing a company, acquiring skilled workers.

• Overview of housing in Espoo
  • In Espoo, urban areas and nature come beautifully together. Espoo is a network city comprising five city centres and several local centres. In order to choose a place to live, why not check out the housing options and services of the City of Espoo in different districts, such as Espoon keskus, Leppävaara, Tapiola, Matinkylä-Olari, Espoonlahti and Finnoo.
  • The map service helps you easily find all early childhood education providers, schools, hospital or health centres and dental clinics.
  • You can find many kinds of homes in Espoo, such as blocks of flats, terraced houses and detached houses. There are more than 131,000 homes of which 52,500 are in detached houses (2019). 
  • In addition, check the city planning website to learn more about areas that are currently being developed. The estimate number of future housing production between 2017 and 2026 are listed in Facts and Figures about Espoo.
• Espoo Housing guide
  • ​Some housing possibilities in Espoo are listed on the InfoFinland website. In Espoo, you can rent a private or city-owned rental apartment or buy a home.
  • Statistics Finland offers a visualisation of average rent levels for non-subsidised apartments.
  • If you are a student, you may obtain a student flat.
  • In addition, Espoo has a variety of hotels for temporary accommodation.
  • If you need support, the City of Espoo offers housing counselling to help you with housing-related problems.

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• Service tokens on the map ​
  • Purple: Daycare
  • Green: School
  • Red: Hospital or health center
  • Turquoise: Dental Clinic
  • Clicking on the color mark will display the name and address of the service.
  • Click the "Maximize map" button to enlarge the map. A large map opens in a new tab.

• The City of Espoo offers a wide range of services, such as services for families with children, health services, social welfare services, child care and education.
• Information on how to bring your family members to Finland is available on the InfoFinland website page Family member.
• If your family member is not a citizen of a Nordic country or an EU member state or the family member of an EU citizen living in Finland, he/she will need to apply for a residence permit. The type of the residence permit depends on your family ties. Please note that there is an income requirement for family members of a person who has been granted a residence permit in Finland.
• If you are moving to Espoo with your children, they can attend comprehensive education. Before moving to Espoo, you may already familiarise yourself with the Finnish education system. In Espoo, learning opportunities in English are provided from early to higher education.
• To learn more about public health care for your children, please consult the InfoFinland website page children’s health.
• Kela, the Social Insurance Institution of Finland , may grant you different benefits while you live in Finland. These for example include the child benefit, child care allowances and child maintenance allowance. Please read more: Kela’s benefits for families with children.

When you move to Espoo you may want to bring some of your belongings, vehicles or pets to your new home.

• Tulli.fi – The official site of Finnish Customs site provides information about bringing your belongings from abroad.
• InfoFinland – Information about moving your personal belongings to Finland.

• The City of Espoo is the first city in Finland to introduce English as a service language in addition to the two official languages, Finnish and Swedish. Finns are well known for their very good English skills.
• Nevertheless, you will feel much more comfortable and be able to expand your networks faster, do basic shopping and get by in the city if you know some basic Finnish. Some Finnish skills will also help you to find a job in Finland.
• Before moving to Finland, you can start to learn Finnish online – learn some basic phrases and with no doubt you will impress Finns and make introductions easier. You can also get familiar with the glossaries of Finnish word list in seven languages – English, Estonian, French, German, Russian, Somali and Swedish – to help out.  Aalto Open Learning also offers introductory Finnish for self-study. InfoFinland website also provides some important sentences in Finnish.

• The Welcome Guide is a step-by-step interactive guide to help you understand the immigration process.
• The Finnish Immigration Service – Everything you need to know about immigration to Finland.
• The Processing Time Checker – a service of the Finnish Immigration Service to check the expected processing time of your application.
• InfoFinland.fi – reliable information about moving to and living in Finland.  
• Business Finland – if you are interested in setting up a business or working in Finland
• Tulli.fi – The official site of Finnish Customs provides information about bringing your belongings from abroad.