Finnish youths enable to work in Japan temporarily from Aug

Finnish nationals aged between 18 and 30 can work in Japan on a temporary basis in order to fund their travels from August 1, said the Ministry of Economic Affairs and Employment in a press release on Friday.

A new agreement on working holiday arrangements, adopted by the Finnish Parliament last autumn, will make it easier for young people in the partner countries to familiarise themselves with the other country and work on a temporary basis to finance their stay.

The government issued a decree on the entry into force on Friday.

The working holiday agreement allows them to stay and work in the other country for up to one year.

Finland already has working holiday agreements with Australia (2002) and New Zealand (2004).

It is estimated that based on the working holiday agreement, Finnish young people apply for and are granted almost one thousand permits to Australia, while hundreds of permits are granted to New Zealand each year.

The number of applications to Finland from Australia and New Zealand is, however, lower.

The working holiday agreement between Finland and Japan was signed in May 2022 and the government submitted a proposal to the parliament in October, 2022. The Act on bringing the agreement into force was adopted by Parliament in November 2022.

Since then, both countries have taken the necessary measures to launch the arrangement, and the agreement will enter into force on 1 August 2023.

The Finnish Immigration Service processes permits based on a working holiday agreement concerning Finland. When applying for a permit based on a working holiday agreement concerning Japan, the applicant should turn to the Japanese authorities.