The general rule is that the Fulbright Commission may award an extension of a grant for a period not to exceed three months for a grantee to complete a project. Extensions beyond this period are not possible under the current guidelines of the U.S. Department of State. The Fulbright Finland Foundation reviews your extension request and provides official approval for the Fulbright status extensions. Your extended stay in Finland can be one of the following:
- Unfunded Fulbright Status Extensions
This means that your official Fulbright term is prolonged, you receive an extension document to your Fulbright Finland Foundation Grant Authorization, and your ASPE benefit is prolonged for the time of the extension. You will need to have a personal funding plan for the extension period.
- Funded Fulbright Status Extensions
Funded Fulbright status extensions are rare. The Foundation currently has very limited funding for extensions. However, in some cases, the host institution has been able to offer funding for the extension, or the Foundation and the host university have jointly been able to fund the extension of a sponsored (hyphenated) grant.
- Extension Without Fulbright Status
This means that you would stay in Finland without Fulbright status. You would need to arrange insurance for the extension period and provide proof of funding, particularly if you are required to extend your residence permit.
How to Proceed?
If you are interested in extending your stay in Finland, contact your program coordinator at the Foundation well in advance to allow time for the possible residence permit application process and the Foundation's decision.
Please send to your program coordinator the following information:
- A very brief and concise impact statement of your Fulbright term in Finland (please explain how successful your grant term in Finland has been up to now and especially what kind of impact you can say that your visit has had so far, why Fulbright is important to you personally; please write only a few sentences)
- Reasons and plans for extension (what would you concretely do during the extension)
- Information on whether your host has agreed to extend your visit (and provide housing for you for the extended time in case you are a scholar grantee)
- Requested time of the extension (exact dates)
- Plans for funding the extended period of time in Finland
After we have received this information from you, we will contact the Finnish Immigration Service to make sure whether you need to apply for an extension of the residence permit or not. We will also inform our U.S. program partner of the planned extension and determine any documentation required for your extension.
