I Want to Go to Finland, What Should I Do? HOW to Go to Finland for Business

 Before getting a residence permit, you need to find a job in Finland. Once you find a job , you can apply for a residence permit. To work, you usually need either a residence permit with work justification or any other residence permit that allows you to do income-generating work. The type of work you will do will be effective in determining the type of permit to be obtained.

If you cannot work with or without a residence permit with any other justification, you need a residence permit with work justification. You do not need to obtain a residence permit with work justification for all jobs. You can check what type of residence permit you need on the Immigration Office’s websites.

For example, those who do the following jobs must obtain a residence permit with work justification:

• cooks
• cleaners
• domestic helpers or babysitters

The Immigration Office decides whether to grant you a residence permit. This permit also requires a partial decision from the Business and Livelihoods Bureau.

Other residence permits that allow you to do paid work require you to have a residence permit for certain jobs, even if you do not need a residence permit for business reasons to do some jobs. These jobs include, for example:

• management-level duties of a startup
• tasks requiring special expertise
• researcher duties
• Tasks in the field of science, culture and art
• work practice (internship).

The Immigration Office decides whether you will receive a residence permit or not. The permit does not require permission from the Bureau of Jobs and Livelihoods.

If you are coming to Finland to do seasonal work, you must have a seasonal worker residence permit. The duration of seasonal work can be a maximum of 9 months. For example, the following are seasonal jobs:

• Agriculture
• forest maintenance works
• festival works

If you are coming from a visa-required country to work for less than three months, you must obtain a seasonal work visa from the Finnish representative office. If your job will last longer than three months, obtain a seasonal business residence permit from the Immigration Office.

If you have received a residence permit in Finland for any other reason, for example based on family ties, you have the right to work in Finland. In such a case, you do not need to get additional permission to work. You can check whether you have the right to work in Finland by looking at your residence permit card and residence permit decision.

If you have completed an academic degree or research in Finland, you can apply for a residence permit to look for work. The permit is granted for a maximum of two years. The permit application must be made within five years at the latest after the end of the permit given to the student or research assistant.

If you find a job in Finland, apply for a residence permit for students who completed their studies in Finland. You can apply for this permit even if you left Finland after graduation. You must have a signed employment contract to receive the permit.

If you are granted a residence permit on the basis that you have completed your degree, you can work in the sector you want. Normally, this right is not included in residence permits issued on the basis of work.

You must apply for your first residence permit before arriving in Finland.

You can apply for a permit online via the Enter Finland service. After applying, you need to go to the nearest Finnish representative office to prove your identity and present the original application attachments. After applying online, you must go to the representative office within three months. Your application process will only start when you go to the representative office. Generally, you need to make an appointment for representation in advance.

Don’t forget to check your Enter Finland account regularly. If additional clarifications are needed for your application, a notification will be sent to your account.

If you cannot apply online or do not know how to do so, you can take the written application form and its attachments to the Finnish representative office. You can print the application form from the websites of the Immigration Office.

Handling of residence permit application is subject to a fee. You must pay this fee when submitting your residence permit application.

The role of the employer in the residence permit process

To apply for a residence permit for work reasons, the TEM054 form filled and signed by the employer is required. The employer can provide information about the job and his company through the Enter Finland service and directly follow how the application is progressing. The employer may also pay the processing fee on behalf of the employee. Ask your employer if the employer uses the Enter Finland service.

Please note that the employer cannot apply for a residence permit on your behalf, but can only complete your application on his/her behalf in the Enter Finland service.

If you have applied for a residence permit for the first time and your application has not yet been processed and a decision has been made, you do not have the right to work. If you have applied for a residence permit outside Finland, you cannot come to Finland without being granted a residence permit.

Expert’s residence permit application

If you come to Finland as an employee with specialist status, you can apply through the fast-track process. The processing time for an application made through express processing is a maximum of two weeks. Specialist workers are, for example, IT specialists and workers who have completed a higher academic degree and come to Finland for a specialized profession.

In order for your application to be processed quickly, you must submit the application electronically via the Enter Finland service. You must also pay the application fee through the Enter Finland service. After applying, you must verify your identity by going to the nearest Finnish representative office abroad within five business days following the application.

Even if you have not yet received your residence permit card, you can come to Finland as soon as a positive decision is made on your permit application. Your residence permit card can also be sent to Finland. However, if you do not yet have a residence permit card, you may need a visa to enter Finland.

If you need a Finnish visa, you can apply for a D-type visa. With a D-type visa, you can come to Finland even without a residence permit card, as soon as a positive decision is made on your residence permit application. Apply for a D-type visa through Enter Finland at the same time as applying for a residence permit. If you come from a visa-exempt country, you do not need a D-type visa.

You can find more detailed information about permits and D-type visas for specialist workers on the website of the Finnish Immigration Service.

Finnish identification number

If you get a residence permit in Finland, you will be automatically registered in the population information system. You will also be given a Finnish identity number.

When you move to Finland, you must register as a resident at the nearest service center of the Population and Digital Data Agency. For more information, read the InfoFinland  page Registering as a Resident  .

Regardless of which country you are a citizen of, in some cases you can work in Finland without a residence permit. However, if you need a visa to enter Finland, you must have it to work. You can work in Finland without a residence permit in the following jobs, as shown in the examples below:

• You are coming to Finland under an invitation or contract as an interpreter (translator), teacher, expert or sports referee for a period of no more than three months.
• You are a permanent employee of a company operating in another EU/EEA state and are coming to Finland on a temporary basis for procurement or subcontracting work and your work will last for a maximum of three months.
• If you have applied for asylum in Finland and have an unexpired travel document that gives you the right to cross the border, you can work without a residence permit if three months have passed since you applied for asylum.
• If you have applied for asylum in Finland and you do not have an expired travel document that gives you the right to cross the border, you can work without a residence permit if six months have passed since you applied for asylum.

You can check whether you can work in Finland without a residence permit on the Immigration Office’s website.

On the InfoFinland  page Jobs in Finland  you will find detailed information on how to find a job in Finland.  You can find additional information for employees and entrepreneurs on the InfoFinland  pages Business and Entrepreneurship .

”To Finland for Business” guide

Suomi.fi has guidance for those moving to Finland for work. This guide covers what you need to do when moving to Finland for work.

Source:Infofinland