Asylum seeker: Your right to work will be temporarily extended if you are working in the field of agriculture, forestry, horticulture or fisheries

The legislation governing an asylum seeker’s right to work has been temporarily amended as of 29 June 2020. The act will remain in force until 31 October 2020. The amendment will temporarily extend an asylum seeker’s right to work in fields that offer seasonal work.

The amendment applies to work in fields offering seasonal work, i.e. in tasks in agriculture, forestry, horticulture or fisheries. Such tasks include, inter alia:

• Working in agriculture, such as crop production, animal feed production and farm animal care.
• Horticultural work on fields and in greenhouses.
• Professional fishing and fish farming.
• Foodstuff processing that takes place at farms
• Forestation and sowing, work at forest nurseries and the tasks of felling, pruning, bucking up and measuring trees and forest haulage.

What has changed?

• If you have applied for international protection before the law entered into force on 29/6/2020, you will immediately receive the right to work in the fields of agriculture, forestry, horticulture and fisheries. You do not have to wait for three or six months before you can start work in these fields. 
• Your right to work in the fields of agriculture, forestry, horticulture and fisheries will continue as long as you are eligible to receive reception services. This means that your right to work will not end once your asylum application has been rejected and the decision becomes enforceable, i.e. you can be removed from the country according to law. 
• You can prove your right to work in the fields of agriculture, forestry, horticulture and fisheries to your employer by presenting a valid reception centre customer card.

The amendment does not apply to all asylum seekers 

The amendment does not apply to you if your situation is one of the following:

• You do not work in the field of agriculture, forestry, horticulture or fisheries.
• You have applied for asylum or submitted a renewal application after the law entered into force on 29/6/2020.
• Please note that your right to work will not be resumed if it has already expired due to an enforceable decision to remove you from the country before the entry into force of the law on 29/6/2020.

If the amendment does not apply to you, you can find more about an asylum seeker’s right to work on our website: migri.fi/en/asylum-seeker-s-right-to-work.

You can prove your right to work in seasonal work by presenting your reception centre customer card when the amendment is in force. 

It is the responsibility of the employer to ensure that the employee has the right to work in Finland. You have the responsibility to inform your employer immediately if your right to work ends. 

If you gain employment in the agriculture, forestry, horticulture or fisheries sector, you should request a new customer card at the reception centre. During the period of validity of the law, you can prove your right to work in the fields of agriculture, forestry, horticulture or fisheries by presenting your valid reception centre customer card. The card will be valid until 31/10/2020. The card will also feature a sticker that indicates that you have the right to work in the fields of agriculture, forestry, horticulture or fisheries. The sticker will read: Kausityö 2020 and migri.fi/tyo-oikeus.