Work permit services

 

TE Office’s work permit services will be transferred to the Finnish Immigration Service as of 1 January 2025

As of 1 January 2025, the Finnish Immigration Service is responsible for all matters related to residence permits for employed persons. The Finnish Immigration Service also receives notifications of employees recruited from outside the EU/EEA area as of 1 January 2025. The aim is to improve the customer experience and streamline the processing process. This change is part of the TE Services reform.

Take care of matters regarding residence permits for employed persons quickly in the Enter Finland service also in the future

Submit further clarifications, fill in the terms of employment, follow the processing of the application, and report a new employee recruited from outside the EU/EEA area in Enter Finland. As an employer, you can speed up the processing of matters by using Enter Finland.

If using Enter Finland is not possible, send the information by letter as of 1 January 2025 to PO Box 10, FI-00086 Maahanmuuttovirasto or by encrypted email using the Finnish Immigration Service’s Securemail service.

 

Pause in processing of work-based permits in January 2025

The decision-making on certain residence permit applications will be on pause from 1 to 8 January 2025. The processing pause concerns the residence permit for an employed person and the residence permits for seasonal work where the permit period is at least 6 months. The decision-making on first and extended permits will be on pause.

If your current permit is about to expire and you need an extended permit, please submit an application as soon as possible.

The pause does not affect the submission of residence permit applications: Applications can be submitted normally through the online service Enter Finland  even during the break.

New employee announcement form on Enter Finland for Employers as of 31 October 2024, old announcements to be deleted

The employee announcement form in the Enter Finland for Employers service will be updated. As of 31 October, there will be a new and simplified employee announcement form, making it quicker and easier for employers to submit the announcement. You must submit an employee announcement if you are employing a person from outside the EU/EEA countries.

Read more

Advisory services as of 1 January 2025

 

Welcome to the national website of the TE Office’s work permit services. Here, you will find information on how the TE Office processes a residence permit application for an employed person and what the employer must do at different stages of the application process. You will also find information on when and how to submit an employee announcement as an employer.

If you are hiring an employee who is not a citizen of an EU country, Liechtenstein, Switzerland, Iceland or Norway, the employee will usually need to apply for a residence permit when moving to Finland.

The employee must have a job ready before they can apply for a residence permit for an employed person. The employee must apply for the residence permit themselves. However, you can advise them on choosing the right application form. Please check the Finnish Immigration Service’s website to make sure that the employee is using the correct form.

The Finnish Immigration Service's instruction video on how to apply for the right residence permit.

What do the partial decision of TE Services and the decision of the Finnish Immigration Service mean?

The TE Office will consider a partial decision for a residence permit application for an employed person and a seasonal work residence permit lasting for 6–9 months when the employee is coming to Finland to work for a Finnish employer or an employer operating in Finland. A residence permit is issued for the specific vocational field to which the work belongs.

See all work-based applications on the Finnish Immigration Service's ‘Residence permit applications on the basis of work’ page.

A residence permit for an employed person is issued in two stages: The TE Office makes a partial decision on a residence permit application for an employed person, and the Finnish Immigration Service, in turn, makes the final decision.

The partial decision of the TE Office is based on an overall consideration, that is, the TE Office assesses the availability of labour in the sector in question, the terms of employment, the employer's and employee's prerequisites, and the employee's income from the work.

Appealing the decision

If the applicant or employer is not satisfied with the decision of the Finnish Immigration Service, they can appeal to the Administrative Court. The appeal can be made either by the applicant or by the employer.

The employer may only appeal a partial decision of the TE Office. If the employer intends to appeal the employee's residence permit decision, the employer must have a written power of attorney issued by the employee for this purpose. Instructions on how to appeal are provided as an appendix to the decision of the Finnish Immigration Service.

Employer's guide

Employer's instructions on Migri's website.

Familiarize yourself with the employee announcement and residence permit process and responsibilities of the parties.

te-updated 14.11.2024