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Arrival to Finland

Resi­dence permit

Students coming from coun­tries outside of the Euro­pean Union (and staying for more than 3 months) need a resi­dence permit. Start the resi­dence permit appli­ca­tion process after receiv­ing the deci­sion on the student admis­sion. Step-by-step infor­ma­tion on the resi­dence permit appli­ca­tion process can be found on the Finnish Immi­gra­tion Service website. Get famil­iar with the Guide for students for further information.

In addi­tion to the resi­dence permit, a student from a non-EU country needs to have valid health insur­ance issued by a reli­able company or insti­tu­tion. Non-EU students who are study­ing in Finland in a full-time degree programme for a minimum of two years need health insur­ance that covers medical costs. Read more about the insur­ance require­ments here.

Students accepted to degree-leading studies: If you do not get your resi­dence permit by the begin­ning of the acad­e­mic year you should send to [email protected] the Migri’s confir­ma­tion that your appli­ca­tion has been sent and is under processing. 

Useful infor­ma­tion about moving to Finland and study­ing here:

Instruc­tions about Covid-19

There are no more COVID-related restric­tions for enter­ing Finland.

Karelia UAS is still actively follow­ing the instruc­tions of the author­i­ties and respond­ing to them if the virus situ­a­tion changes.  Check regu­larly Karelia’s Coro­n­ainfo webpage as there you find the latest infor­ma­tion regard­ing coming to campus, masks etc. 

Trav­el­ling to Joensuu

You can travel to Joensuu from Helsinki Airport by train or by domes­tic flight. There are several trains daily from Helsinki to Joensuu (about 440 km north-east of Helsinki). Travel time is 4,5 – 5 hours. Due to railway track main­te­nance, some trains to Joensuu may replaced by buses (only between Kouvola and Joensuu). In that case, the travel time is longer.

Trav­el­ling from Helsinki Airport to Joensuu: Commuter trains P and I operate between Helsinki Airport and Helsinki city centre. 

1) Take commuter train P to Tikkurila. (Please note: commuter train I do NOT go via Tikkurila!)
2) Trans­fer to Inter­city or Pendolino train going to Joensuu at Tikkurila railway station (Joensuu is the last destination).

How to travel from Helsinki City Centre to Joensuu : Take the Inter­city or Pendolino train from the main railway station directly to Joensuu. 

Where to buy train tickets? 

  • In advance from the VR (Finnish rail­ways) website OR VR Matkalla App OR 
    • from the ticket vending machine at the airport, Helsinki main railway station or Tikkurila railway station, or 
    • from any R-kioski, for example at the airport or Tikkurila railway station

Buying online several weeks before the trip is the cheap­est option. If you buy just before the trip, the price is much higher. It is NOT possi­ble to buy a ticket from the conduc­tor on the train. 

Domes­tic flights
Finnair flies 1-2 times a day between Helsinki and Joensuu. Travel time is 50-60 minutes.
The Joensuu airport is located about 11 km from the city centre. There is a bus/minibus connec­tion from the airport to the city centre after each flight. Airport infor­ma­tion.

Long-distance buses
You can check the timeta­bles and buy tickets from the Matkahuolto website. Buses from Helsinki leave from the Kamppi bus termi­nal once a day. Travel time is 6 hours and 15 minutes.