Govt moves to hike income limit for work-based residence permit

The right-wing four-party alliance government has started the initiative with the view to hike the income limit requirement from the existing 1331 euros to 1600 euros to get a Finnish residence permit on basis of employment.

The Ministry of Economic Affairs and Employment has begun preparations to amend laws relating to income limits for work-based residence permits, said the ministry in a press release on Tuesday.

Simultaneously, the Ministry will examine the appropriate levels and impacts of income limits.

An income limit of EUR 1,600 would be set for the residence permit for an employed person, in accordance with Kansallinen Kokoomus (National Coalition Party-NCP) led alliance government´s programme.

“The Government promotes immigration and the factors that help Finland attract and retain foreign labour in many ways. At the same time, we must ensure that the people coming to work in Finland receive a salary that supports them. This will also help combat labour exploitation,” said Minister of Employment Arto Satonen.

According to preliminary estimates, the income limit of EUR 1,600 would primarily affect some part-time employees whose income would fall below it.

The government is scheduled to submit the proposal for public consultation in autumn 2023.

The proposal would be submitted to Parliament in early spring 2024 and the amendments would enter into force during 2024.

The government took the moves amid protests across the country.

On August 25, several hundreds of people went on demonstrations in Helsinki in protest at the move of the four-party alliance right wing government of tightening the immigration policy.

Separate demonstrations were also held in Helsinki on June 27 and June 18 protesting against the immigration policy taken by the government.

Earlier on June 16, leaders of the four parties announced the programme, which included tougher immigration, residence and citizenship laws.

According to the programme, Finland’s annual refugee quota will be reduced to 500 people from the existing 1,050.

The government will amend the requirements to obtain a permanent residence permit and citizenship in future and it will be possible to obtain a permanent residence permit based on six years of residence subject to certain requirements in addition to the current requirements.

The additional requirements are sufficient language skills demonstrated in a language test, a two-year work history without recourse to unemployment security or social assistance other than for a very short period, and a stricter integrity requirement.

Rejected asylum applicants will be prevented from switching to a work-related immigration procedure. It will be possible to remove a person refused asylum from the country even if they have obtained a job during the asylum process.

The income limit for a residence permit for an employed person will be raised to sector-specific minimums of the collective agreement, but to no less than 1,600 euros a month from the existing 1331 euros.

Three other components of the alliance government are radical rightist Perussuomalaiset (Finns Party), Suomenruotsalainenkansanpuolue (Swedish People’s Party of Finland-RKP) and SuomenKristillisdemokraatit (Christian Democrats of Finland-CD).