Three-month/six-month unemployment rule to enter into force in June 2025

In future, an employee working in Finland with a work-based residence permit will have three months to find a new job if the employment relationship ends prematurely. If the holder of the permit does not find new work and there are no other grounds for staying in Finland, the permit will be cancelled.

The job seeking period will be six months instead of three months:

• for specialists (including EU Blue Card holders),
• for all those who have lived in Finland for longer than two years with a work-based residence permit,
• for those in the middle or top management of a company, and
• for seconded specialists and managers moving within a company.

In future, employers will be required to notify the Finnish Immigration Service if the employment relationship of a person residing in Finland with a work-based residence permit ends prematurely. The employer should submit the notification within 14 days of the end of the employment relationship. The simplest and quickest way of submitting the notification is by using the e-service of Enter Finland.

More flexibility to seek work in labour shortage sectors

In future, the holder of a residence permit for an employed person could, under the same permit, switch to another sector that has been verified as a labour shortage sector throughout Finland. Until now, the holder of a residence permit for an employed person has been able to change employers within the same sector, but not switch to another sector without a new residence permit.

More information

Three-month/six-month unemployment rule to enter into force in June 2025 (tem.fi)