The Ministry of Economic Affairs and Employment announced on Thursday that a new law affecting holders of work-based residence permits will come into effect on 11 June 2025.
The controversial legislation would put permit holders at risk of deportation if they fail to secure new employment within a specified timeframe.
Starting this summer, employees in Finland holding a work-based residence permit will have three months to find new employment if they lose their current job. If they fail to secure a new position within that timeframe and have no other valid grounds to remain in Finland, their residence permit may be cancelled.
Following a considerable amount of criticism of the proposal during a consultation round, the bill now includes an exception for so-called specialists, who will have six months to find new work.
Specialists are defined as experts in highly skilled jobs that require special expertise and have a monthly salary of at least 3,827 euros.
Last August, the ministry held an open consultation in English to present the government’s proposal and encourage public discussion. However, the feedback had no impact on the final decision, according to authorities.
"The hearings were on a general level and didn't particularly impact the wording of the law. The matter is a political one, and the politicians take the final decision. Of course, the suggestions we heard have made their way into the material in other parts of the proposal, which expands on how this ruling will affect people," Jarmo Tiukkanen, Senior Ministerial Adviser, Ministry of Economic Affairs and Employment, told Yle News.
Tiukkanen also noted that the law is in line with an EU directive on permits for third-country nationals to reside and work in the territory of a member state.
The directive states that "unemployment alone shall not be grounds for withdrawing a single permit, provided the total period of unemployment does not exceed three months during the permit’s validity, or six months if the third-country national has held the permit for more than two years."
6-month exceptions
According to the ministry statement, the job-seeking period will be extended to six months for certain groups: specialists (including EU Blue Card holders), individuals who have lived in Finland for more than two years with a work-based permit, middle and top-level managers, and seconded specialists and managers transferring within a company.
According to the ministry, the reform will "strengthen the link between work and work-based residence permits and make the monitoring of permits more systematic."
Under the current law, it is already possible to cancel a residence permit when an employment relationship ends. However, there have been no regulations governing the time within which unemployment could lead to cancellation of a permit, and no systematic monitoring has taken place.
Employer obliged to notify authorities
The ministry's statement also highlighted an employers’ obligation to notify the Finnish Immigration Service (Migri) if the employment of a person holding a work-based residence permit in Finland ends prematurely. Employers are required to submit this notification within 14 days of the employment termination.
However, notifications are not required for the end of casual or temporary work performed alongside the main employment linked to the residence permit.
According to the ministry's statement, the government will also issue a decree on national labour shortage sectors in June 2025. In future, the holder of a work-based residence permit could, under the same permit, switch to another sector that has been verified as one of Finland's designated labour shortage sectors.
Until now, the holder of such a residence permit has been able to change employers within the same sector, but not switch to another sector without a new residence permit.
Last August, Finland's then Minister of Employment Arto Satonen (NCP) confirmed that the government will move forward with the controversial three-month law. During the public consultation period, nearly all of the responses opposed the government's proposed three- or six-month deadline for foreign workers.
Number of jobseekers soaring
The new ruling is estimated to affect 50,000 foreigners in Finland.
According to the Employment Bulletin of the Development and Administrative Services Centre (KEHA Centre) published on Thursday, the number of unemployed jobseekers increased by 37,900 from April last year. The number of new vacancies reported in April was 41,800 -- 14,300 fewer than in April last year.
According to the labour ministry, the KEHA Centre is responsible for the Employment Service Statistics from March this year.
4.51pm: Added Tiukkanen comment, other details.
6.06pm: Added jobseeking figures.
