Work-based residence permits on the rise

The number of residence permits issued to employed people has been growing for the last four years and it seems the growth will continue thanks to the recovering economy.

Last year, the number of work-based residence permits grew by one third from the level of 2013 and 2014, said an official press release on Tuesday referring to a new Migration Review.

Smooth permit procedures play a significant role in attracting international talents and workers to Finland.

The review discusses labour migration developments in the light of statistics, the latest legislative changes that have facilitated work permit processes, the progress made in reforming the Common European Asylum System by the EU, and the latest trends in the asylum situation.

The focus of the government’s migration policy has shifted to promotion of labour migration. The government in its new Migration Policy Programme published in January 2018 outlined the measures for promoting labour migration. At the same time, the number of new asylum seekers in 2017-2018 has fallen to a fraction of what it was in 2015-2016.

“At the same time, we are preparing to transfer the permit procedures which are based on simple register checks to a fully automated decision-making process. The Tax Administration, for example, has used an automated tax-decision process already for years,” said Minister of the Interior Kai Mykkänen.

A new type of residence permit was introduced for startup or growth entrepreneurs in April 2018. The legislative changes concerning intra-corporate transferees and seasonal workers also entered into force at the beginning of the year.

If the recent legislative proposal on students and researchers is adopted, residence permits for students and researchers will be extended and steps will be taken to encourage job seeking and entrepreneurship. The reform to the Blue Card Directive concerning highly qualified workers is also in progress at the EU level.

“Additional efforts will be made to streamline the work permit process in order to succeed in the competition for international talents and workers. E-services provided by the Finnish Immigration Service are a good example of an innovative approach to improving the efficiency of activities,” said Mykkänen.

In Finland, the submission of a new asylum application after receiving a final decision on the previous application became a new trend among the asylum seekers last year. In early 2018, such applications accounted for more than half of all asylum applications made in Finland.