Stability of the rules stands at zero: four tightenings in two years with no protection for people already living there, including the wait for permanent status raised from four years to six.
Finland applies its own rules exemplarily: work permit decisions arrive faster than the law requires, applications are online, and there are no integration exams for a work permit. But since 2024 the rules themselves have moved in one direction. Citizenship was pushed from 5 to 8 years (from 1 October 2024), permanent residence from 4 to 6 years with language and work history (from 8 January 2026); since 17 December 2025 citizenship applicants must prove sufficient means, and a citizenship test arrives on 1 January 2027. No transitional relief was given to people who had been building up years under the old rules.
Refusals are common: for first work-based permits in 2025 there were 8,384 positive and 3,150 negative decisions, about 27%. Work-based applications fell by roughly a quarter in a year, against a weak economy and high unemployment.
The main pressure on residents comes with job loss. Since 11 June 2025 employers must tell Migri within two weeks that employment has ended. From then you have three months to find new work, six for specialists and people who have held a work permit for over two years; if you do not, Migri starts cancellation. Moving to another sector requires a new permit with a labour market test, except in shortage sectors. A renewal filed on time keeps your right to live and work until the decision.
Family conditions are strong but slow. A spouse may work without restrictions as soon as they get their status, and school is free. A family of four needs about €2,910 a month after tax, 90-95% of the average wage; the law gives the agency up to 9 months for a family permit, and Migri does not publish real waiting times because of backlogs. Banks add friction: they ask for Finnish ID documents, and without them online banking is limited.
The index score ignores nationality. This is what changes for citizens of specific countries.
No visa for up to 90 days within 180, as in the whole Schengen area. To live and work, the same procedure as for everyone else.
EU temporary protection is extended to 4 March 2028. Since 31 July 2026 new applicants must show they left in line with their military obligations; people who already hold the status are not affected.
Since 2025 buying property requires a Defence Ministry permit, which is not granted to citizens of states waging a war of aggression; holders of Finnish permanent residence or EU long-term resident status are exempt. The eastern border with Russia has been closed since 15 December 2023, and a decision of 4 June 2026 keeps it closed until further notice. Migri publishes no ban on residence permits for Russian citizens (our check on 3 August 2026).
The same property purchase ban, with the same exemption for permanent residents. We found no ban on residence permits.
The place interval 20-35 shows where the country lands when the data is nudged and the index is recalculated. One place of difference in the table means nothing; a difference of a league means something.
The thin mark on each bar is the average across 97 countries
The strongest category here is Access to entry: 77 out of 100, against a 97-state average of 65.7. The weakest is Path to citizenship: 53 against 57.1. Above the world average: 5 out of 7.
All 97 states are calculated for one applicant: 35 years old, income of $2,500 and $3,856 a month before tax, passport not counted, the most accessible route that is actually in use.
Your passport, your income and your family do not change the table. They change which of its lines apply to you. A different income makes entry read differently, a family makes the family category read differently, and your passport makes everything read differently.
For a work permit the law allows up to two months; in May 2026 positive decisions took 23 days on average. The clock starts after identity verification, and booking that can take weeks in some countries.
Yes, through the entrepreneur permit or the startup permit with a Business Finland statement. Finland has no digital nomad visa.
A first work permit costs €750 online and €950 on paper since 1 January 2026. Permanent residence is €380 online and €600 on paper.
Yes. If your job ends you have three months to find another, six for specialists and people with over two years on a work permit; otherwise Migri cancels the permit. The rule, in force since June 2025, also applies to permits already issued.
Permanent residence after six years with Finnish or Swedish and a work history, or four for high earners. Citizenship after eight years, or five with B1 language skills; dual citizenship is allowed.
Agencies are fast and fair, but in two years the rules for people already living there were tightened four times without transitional relief. A foreigner with a job is secure while the job lasts; losing it starts a clock measured in months.
97 states, 26 indicators, seven categories, 2,522 scores. Every score has a source and a source class: primary means the texts of laws and government portals; reliable secondary means reports by international organisations, tax reviews by audit firms and specialist legal publications; weak means community posts and single secondary sources. The classes add up to a confidence level for the country, and a country with low confidence gets neither a score nor a place.
Every indicator is scored against a fixed ruler, not against its neighbours. Adding new countries therefore does not move the old ones, and a change in a score means a change in policy and nothing else.
A high place does not mean a good country. It means one thing: the state machine treats newcomers predictably and by the rules. Living there may be expensive, dull or hot; that is not our question.
Checked 01/10/2026. Facts come from the country's index card and official websites.
We make mistakes and we will go on making them: policy changes faster than any database. Our answer is not a pose of infallibility but a visible trail of corrections. Every correction is published: what it was, what it became, the source and the reason for the error. The corrections log opens with the second issue, together with the first block of changes.