First wave of people who have fled the war in Ukraine may qualify for Kela-paid pensions starting in spring 2026

In spring 2026, many who have fled the war in Ukraine will have lived in Finland long enough to meet the three-year permanent residence requirement that applies to Kela-paid pensions. Those who meet this condition and who are at least 65 years old can get benefits from Kela. However, Kela cannot grant a pension before the three-year residence requirement has been met.

Kela will assess if a customer is living in Finland permanently on a case-by-case basis. The three-year period does not start from the day the customer arrives in Finland or the day they are granted a municipality of residence (kotikunta). Kela will usually consider a customer to be living permanently in Finland starting from the day when they have lived in Finland for one year. When assessing if a customer is living here permanently, Kela will take into account, for example, how long they have stayed in Finland, their family ties and work in Finland and whether they have a permanent address in Finland. In some situations, Kela can also take the time a customer has lived in another EU or EEA country, Switzerland or the United Kingdom into account when calculating if the customer meets the three-year permanent residence requirement.

More information available on our website at kela.fi

We have published an article on the pension rights of people who have fled the war in Ukraine that is aimed at our integration-related partner organisations and customers. The article provides more detailed information on how the residence requirement is calculated, who can apply for pensions and what supporting documents are required when applying. We will also publish an abbreviated, printable PDF version of the article in Ukrainian and in Russian in the near future, which will be available alongside the article.

We will update our page on the benefits available to those who have fled the war in Ukraine with information on pensions. Visit the page for up-to-date information on Kela benefits for Ukrainians.