Working and living in Finland

Working and living in Finland

Everyday life in Finland

As always when moving to a foreign country to work and live, practicalities arise, as do questions.

Do I need insurance, a working permit or visa? And where do I get them from? What type of housing is available in Helsinki? How does Finland deal with social security? How does taxation work? Are there international schools? 

These and many other questions are answered in the following links:

International House Helsinki (IHH) – IHH was established as a part of the At Work in Finland project. It gathers all foreign labor-related services from different service providers into one. It facilitates counseling services for immigrants, authorities and employers.

Your country’s embassy. The foreign missions serve as an individual country’s representation and are able to aid citizens in issues such as passports, visa applications and more.

Kela – Social Insurance Institution of Finland. Kela is supervised by the Finnish Parliament. This organization is responsible for citizens’ benefits, such as unemployment benefits, students’ study grants, parental allowances and national pensions.

The Finnish Tax Administration gives guidance regarding taxation for businesses and individuals. It offers detailed guidelines on varying situations for internationals working and living in Finland for extended periods of time.

Expat-Finland is a database with information on many issues that might be of interest to someone moving to Finland, including housing, education, employment and events.

The Ministry of Economic Affairs and Employment is responsible for labor legislation, employment and integration. It also promotes and regulates business activities, enterprise financing, the energy market, competition and consumers.

Infopankki.fi is an info bank with the most important information concerning living and working in Finland, available in twelve different languages, including Finnish, Swedish, English, Russian, Estonian and French.


Dig deeper into the Finnish way of life and work.