Are you temporarily working in duties central to the security of supply? Your right to work will change as of 1 November 2020

As of 9 April 2020, it has been possible to work in Finland in fields critical to the security of supply with all residence permits based on work or studies. This temporary exception to the right to work will end on 31 October 2020.

As of the beginning of November, you can no longer change your professional field or your employer from the ones mentioned in your residence permit to another field or employer without applying for an extended permit. 

You can read more in the press release of the Ministry of Economic Affairs and Employment: Temporary extension to foreign workers’ right to work to expire in October

If you continue to work in the professional field for which you have a residence permit, this is what you should do:

If you return from the field related to the security of supply to your former employment, and the residence permit or extended permit that you were granted for your former professional field or employer is still valid, you do not need to do anything. 

If your permit is about to expire, you should apply for an extended permit for the professional field or employer that you will be working for as of 1 November 2020. Remember to apply for an extended permit before your previous permit expires. 

If you continue to work in the field related to the security of supply, this is what you should do:

If you already have a permit for the field related to the security of supply in question, you do not need to do anything. If your residence permit is about to expire, you should apply for an extended permit before your previous permit expires.

If you want to continue to work in duties central to the security of supply but do not have a residence permit for the professional field in question, you should apply for a new extended permit for the work in question. 

Please note that if your previous residence permit was granted for another professional field, your right to work in the field related to the security of supply will be interrupted on 31 October 2020. Your right to work in the field related to the security of supply will begin again as soon as you have received a positive decision on your application for an extended permit. 

Extended permit without having to visit a service point: identify yourself in Enter Finland

Remember to apply for an extended permit in the online service Enter Finland before your previous permit expires. By doing this, you can make sure that you are residing in Finland legally, and you will be able to work during the processing of your application in the professional field for which your previous permit was granted. You can only apply for an extended permit if you are in Finland.

Start using strong electronic identification in the online service Enter Finland. Strong electronic identification means that you sign in to the service using, for example, your Finnish online banking credentials. When you are using strong identification, 

• you may not need to visit a service point.
• Enter Finland will tell you whether you need to book an appointment for proving your identity at a service point or not. 

You can read more about strong electronic identification at migri.fi/identification. 

We are currently experiencing backlogs in booking appointments at our service points. We recommend that you use strong identification. 

More information

Up-to-date information about the effects of the coronavirus outbreak on our customers can be found at migri.fi/coronavirus.