These registration instructions are for new bachelor’s and master’s degree students starting their studies at UEF. If you are an exchange student, here you can find the registration instructions for exchange students.

The academic year at the University of Eastern Finland officially begins on 1 August and ends on 31 July. The autumn semester courses will begin from 1 September 2025 and the spring semester courses from 7 January 2026.

Contents

Read all of the instructions on this page carefully. On this page you can find information on the following subjects:

• New bachelor’s and master’s degree students’ registration period
• Registration as being present as a new degree student
• Registration as being absent as a new degree student
• Statutory reasons for registering as being absent
• If you fail to register or you register as absent without a statutory reason
• Student Union membership is mandatory for bachelor’s and master’s degree students
• Activating your UEF user account for the university’s information systems
• Remember to pay the healthcare fee for students in higher education
• Apply for a Finnish personal identity code
• How to get a student card
• Student and Learning Services’ customer service contact information

New bachelor’s and master’s degree students’ registration period

As a first year bachelor’s or master’s degree student, you must register as being present for the whole academic year, unless you have legal grounds for registering as absent. See chapter below: Registration as being absent as a new degree student.

If your acceptance at the University of Eastern Finland was conditional (e.g., tuition fee, degree certificate), you must meet the condition for your acceptance before your registration can be completed. Additionally, you must sign and return your Student agreement before you can register. If you have questions regarding this, please contact your programme coordinator.

The registration period starts on 1 June. Online registration ends on 22 August and registration in person on campus ends on 15 September. For students whose study right starts in the spring semester, the registration period ends 15 January.

You can register either remotely or in person at the Student and Learning Services’ customer service desk.

Registration as being present as a new degree student

If you are obligated to pay tuition (only citizens outside the EU/EEA/Switzerland studying in an international degree programme), you must pay the tuition fee before you can register as being present. Here you can find further information on tuition fees.

Registration

To register as present, you must pay the Student Union membership fee and fill out the registration form.

You can register as present either online or in person on campus.

Register online

• Log into My Studyinfo with the same confirmation link that you used to confirm your study place. Proceed to register in the Oili registration service. Register as present (i.e. attending). The registration period in the Oili registration service is open from 1 June to 22 August for students whose studies start in the autumn semester and 1 November to 15 January for students whose studies start in the spring semester.
• Pay the Student Union membership fee online through the Oili registration service.
• Fill out the online registration form (opens in a new tab).
  • If you are unable to fill out the online form, please contact the Student and Learning Services’ customer service (contact information at the bottom of the page), and we will send you the registration form as a word document.
• After you have submitted the registration form, you will receive an invitation to be strongly identified by the UEF Digital Services. Follow the instructions to get you UEF account working. NOTE! Don’t worry if you do not receive the invitation immediately after sending the registration form. It might take several days or some weeks before we are able to handle your registration and send you the invitation.

OR

Register in person on campus

• If you cannot register online and your study right starts in the autumn semester, you can register in person at the Student and Learning Services’ customer service desk (contact information at the bottom of the page) no later than 15 September.
• If your study right starts in the spring semester and you want to register in person at the Student and Learning Services’ customer service desk (contact information at the bottom of the page), you must do so by 15 January.
• Pay the Student Union membership fee. You can find the payment instructions in the chapter ‘Student Union membership for new bachelor’s and master’s degree students’ below. Bring the receipt for the payment to the Student and Learning Services’ customer service desk (contact information at the bottom of the page).
• Fill out the registration form in person at the Student and Learning Services’ customer service desk.
• Bring your ID to the Student and Learning Services’ customer service desk (contact information at the bottom of the page).

You must register as being present even if you cannot travel to Finland and start your studies.

Registration as being absent as a new degree student

Students registering as being absent will not take any courses or sit any exams during the semester/academic year in question.  Students who have registered as being absent will not pay the Student Union membership fee and thus are not entitled to any student benefits. Students registering as being absent must register within the registration period. First-year students may only register as being absent if they have a statutory reason for registering as being absent.

To register as being absent:

1. Log into My Studyinfo with the same confirmation link that you used to confirm your study place.
2. Proceed to register in the Oili registration service.
3. If you are unable to register in the Oili registration service, you can register as being absent by contacting the Student and Learning Services’ customer service by email (contact information at the bottom of the page).

Statutory reasons for registering as being absent

According to the Universities Act, a first-year degree student may only register as absent for the academic year if they have one of the following statutory reasons:

1. service under the Conscription Act (1438/2007), Non-Military Service Act (1446/2007), or Act on Women’s Voluntary Military Service (194/1995);
2. the student requires leave from their studies in order to take care of their child following birth or adoption;
3. the student cannot begin studies due to being incapacitated by personal illness or injury. (In this case, it should be made clear in your document that this entails incapacity for the entire semester or academic year.)

If you register as absent, you must prove the legal grounds for your absence. Documents proving that you have a statutory reason for absence must be sent via email or postal mail to the Student and Learning Services’ customer service (contact information below) by 30 September for the autumn semester and 31 January for the spring semester.

NOTE! If you do not have one of the three reasons defined in the Universities Act as stated above, you must register as being present for your first year.

If you fail to register or you register as absent without a statutory reason

• If you do not register for the academic year within the registration period as being present or absent, you will lose your right to study.
• If you register as being absent for your first year but do not prove you have a statutory reason for registering as absent by the deadline, you will lose your right to study.
• If you register as being absent for your first year but do not have a statutory reason for registering as absent, you will lose your right to study.

If you lose your right to study and later wish to start your studies, you must apply for having your study right reinstated. To have your study right reinstated, you must pay a handling fee (50 euros) and fill out a form. Here you can find the instructions for having your study right reinstated.

Student Union membership is mandatory for bachelor’s and master’s degree students

Student Union (ISYY) membership is mandatory for bachelor’s and master’s degree students who register as being present. Information on ISYY membership benefits (opens in a new tab).

The Student Union membership fee is 73 € for the full academic year / 36 € for the autumn semester / 37 € for the spring semester.

• If you register online through the Oili registration service, you pay the Student Union membership fee with a credit card upon registration.

OR

• If you register in person on campus, you can pay the fee in advance into the Student Union bank account using the payment details below or with a credit card or cash at the Student Union offices (opens in a new tab). Please note that the 50 € banknote is the largest banknote they accept. You need to pay the fee before your registration can be accepted.

NOTE! You are responsible for any possible transfer fees or service fees your bank may charge!

Payment details:

Recipient: Student Union of the University of Eastern Finland
Recipient’s address: Yliopistonranta 15, FI-70211 Kuopio, Finland
Bank name: Osuuspankki/OP Bank/Pohjola Bank Pl
Bank address: Koskikatu 9, FI-80100 Joensuu, Finland
IBAN: FI37 5770 0520 2461 63
BIC/SWIFT: OKOYFIHH
Message: Student’s name and date of birth (dd/mm/yyyy)
Fee: 73 € (full academic year) / 36 € (autumn semester only) / 37 € (spring semester only)

Activating your UEF user account for the university’s information systems

All UEF students must have a UEF user account. The user account is needed to log in to the university’s electronic information systems, to use your UEF email account and to sign up for courses and exams electronically.

Here you can find the instructions for receiving a UEF username.

Here you can find further information on activating your UEF account (opens in a new tab).

NOTE! Your UEF account will only start working when:

• you have registered as present
• your study right has started
• you have activated the account
• you have been strongly identified and
• you have registered as an MFA user.

If you have any questions regarding activating your account, please contact the Digital Services (opens in a new tab).

Remember to pay the healthcare fee for students in higher education

All bachelor’s and master’s degree students who are registered as being present in a Finnish institute of higher learning are entitled to use the services of the Finnish Student Health Service (FSHS) (opens in a new tab) and must pay the healthcare fee for students in higher education (opens in a new tab) to Kela (the Social Insurance Institution of Finland) by the due date.

You will not be exempted from paying the fee even if you, e.g., do not use the services of the FSHS, do not receive student financial aid or are studying abroad. You must pay the fee even if you are studying remotely and are not based in Finland.

However, you do not have to pay the healthcare fee if you have social security coverage from another EU/EEA country, from Switzerland, or from Great Britain and Northern Ireland. In this case, you must still contact Kela. Despite not paying the fee, you can use the FSHS’s services.

Visit the Kela website for information on how to proceed if you have social security coverage in another EU/EEA country or in Great Britain and Northern Ireland (opens in a new tab).

Kela will not send you a bill for the student healthcare fee. You must pay the fee on your own initiative in the Kela e-service for each academic term. Find out how to pay the student healthcare fee (opens in a new tab) on the Kela website.

The due date for paying the student healthcare fee is determined based on the date on which you register as present, i.e., attending.

On the Kela website you can find information on the healthcare fee and the due dates as well as the payment instructions (opens in a new tab).

Apply for a Finnish personal identity code

International students staying in Finland for longer than three months should obtain a Finnish personal identity code (henkilötunnus in Finnish). The code is the key to transfering data between the university and different services and authorities. For example, the online services of the Finnish Student Health Service, HSL and Studyinfo.fi will not work if you do not have the code in the student register. You also need it for, e.g., opening a bank account, and when you are in contact with different Finnish authorities.

Students from non-EU/ETA countries: When you are granted a residence permit or a residence card or your right of residence is registered by the Finnish Immigration Service, your personal information will in most cases automatically be registered in the Finnish Population Information System. You will also be issued a Finnish personal identity code (opens in a new tab). It is highly recommended you do it early!

If you were not issued a personal identity code together with your residence permit card, in order to get it later, you have to visit the local Digital and Population Data Services Agency offices (opens in a new tab) during the first three months of your stay. Ask to be registered in the Finnish Population Information System – this means that you are issued a personal identity code and your postal address in Joensuu/Kuopio is registered.

After receiving the identity code, it is very important that you inform the Student and Learning Services’ customer service (contact information at the bottom of the page) about it as soon as possible so that we can save it to the student register Peppi. It takes several days after adding the code to Peppi before you are able to use the online services of before mentioned the Finnish Student Health Service, HSL and Studyinfo.fi. So please, do not wait until you actually need to, for example, make appointment with the Finnish Student Health Service to inform us about receiving a Finnish personal identity code, but let us know as soon as you get it. To save the ID code in the student register:

• You can visit our office and present an identity card or another official document that displays the identity code.
• If you are unable to visit our office in person, and/or wish to handle the matter via email, please contact the Student and Learning Services’ customer service and request instructions for sending a picture of your identity card or another document that displays the identity code in an encrypted email message. Wait for instructions before sending the identity code, never send your code in open email.

How to get a student card

Students who have registered as present and have thus paid the Student Union (ISYY) membership fee may order a student card. There are several student card options you can use (Tuudo, Slice or Frank). Most students download a digital student card to their phones, but if you want, you can also order a plastic student card. You can order your student card from Tuudo, Frank or Slice (opens in a new tab).

Before you receive your student card, you can get a meal discount at the campus restaurants with your study certificate which you receive with the confirmation email once your registration is done.

Student and Learning Services’ customer service contact information

If you have any questions regarding registration, please do not hesitate to contact us.

Registration at the university comes under the provisions of the Universities Act (558/2009).