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. This change is part of the TE Services reform.
Until January, applications for a residence permit for an employed person and applications for a residence permit for seasonal work that exceeds 6 months have been processed in two stages: The TE Office has first issued a partial decision before forwarding the application to the Finnish Immigration Service for further processing.
As of 1 January 2025, the Finnish Immigration Service will inspect and assess all the requirements for work-based residence permits all at once. The reorganisation of responsibilities aims to enhance the customer experience and to ensure an even more seamless process.
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.