The Aliens Act will change on 11 June – residence permits for employed persons will be affected
Parliament has passed amendments to the Aliens Act that concern residence permits issued for employed persons. The amendments will enter into force on 11 June 2025. This information leaflet describes the content of the legislative change.
Protection period after your employment relationship ends
The protection period is intended for finding a new job when you have a residence permit for an employed person and you become jobless as your employment relationship ends. If you become jobless, the process of cancelling your residence permit will not begin during the protection period.
The duration of the protection period depends on how long you have had a residence permit on the basis of employment and the job that was the basis for your being granted your residence permit.
If your residence permit granted on the basis of employment expires before the protection period ends and you have not found a new job, you must leave Finland.
You will have six months to find a new job if you have been issued
- a residence permit for a specialist
- a residence permit for a person working in top or middle management
- a residence permit for a specialist or manager with intra-corporate transferee permit (ICT permit)
- an EU Blue Card or
- you have held some other type of residence permit issued on the basis of employment for at least two years.
You will have three months to find a new job if, for example, you have had one of the following permits for less than two years:
- a residence permit for an employed person
- a residence permit on the basis of research completed in Finland
- a residence permit for a person with a degree completed in Finland or
- a residence permit for an athlete.
See the End of employment page for all permit types which have a three-month protection period.
The right to work granted by a residence permit for an employed person will be expanded
Before the legislative change, a residence permit for an employed person only granted the right to work in the specific sectors for which the residence permit was issued. If you have a valid residence permit for an employed person, from 11 June on you can also apply for work in fields defined as sectors affected by national labour shortage. To browse the sectors with a labour shortage, see the Labour Force Barometer website (tyovoimabarometri.fi).
Read more about the sectors with a labour shortage from the news article published on the Job Market Finland service: The new decree provides flexibility for holders of residence permit for an employed person in job searching and wants to facilitate the supply of labor (työmarkkinatori.fi).
Read more
Updated on 12 June 2025 at 13.22: Added the link to the news article published on the Job Market Finland service, which includes a list of labour shortage sectors produced by the Ministry of Economic Affairs and Employment, the KEHA Centre and the ELY Centres.
