The Finnish Immigration Service will no longer issue certificates on an asylum seeker’s right to work

From now on, the employer can verify the right to work by phone

The Finnish Immigration Service will no longer issue written certificates that give asylum seekers’ right to work. This is because the Finnish Immigration Service wishes to serve its customers, both employers and asylum seekers wanting to work, faster and more efficient than before.

The number of asylum seekers increased almost tenfold last year and there were also significantly more requests for certificates on the right to work. The processing of requests now takes up to several months.

The Finnish Immigration Service has sought for solutions to eliminate the backlog and has decided to no longer issue written certificates. In the future, an employer who wants to hire an asylum seeker residing in Finland can verify that the person has the right to work by calling a phone number established by the agency for this purpose.

The backlog of certificate requests will be eliminated during the summer

The law does not require the agency to issue certificates on the right to work. This has been a supplementary service offered by the Finnish Immigration Service which was introduced when the number of applicants was low. We then found that issuing a written certificate was the best way to serve the employers.

We will quickly process all the requests we have received up to now and the existing backlog will be eliminated during the summer. However, after 8 July 2016 the Finnish Immigration Service will no longer accept new written request for certificates.

Asylum seekers have the right to start working either three or six months after applying for asylum

An asylum seeker’s right to work is based on the law. He or she does not need to apply for it separately. If the employment is continuous, the asylum seeker can apply for a residence permit based on employment.

The employer has the responsibility to verify that the foreign national he or she has employed has the right to work. From time to time, the employer has to check if the asylum seeker’s right to work still is valid.

The asylum seeker also has the responsibility to make sure that he or she does not work without having the right to work – he or she has to inform the employer if the right to work has expired. Both the employee and the employer can be punished for working without the right to work.

The right to work is valid until the decision on the asylum application is final. The application is final, when the Administrative Court or the Supreme Administrative Court has given its decision or the Supreme Administrative Court has not granted leave to appeal. For example:

• If the Finnish Immigration Service makes a negative decision on an asylum application, the applicant has the right to work during the processing of a potential appeal.
• If the Finnish Immigration Service makes a positive decision on an asylum application, the applicant is granted a residence permit, which almost always includes the right to work.

An asylum seeker has the right to work when it has been three or six months since he or she submitted the application for asylum, if the matter has not already been lawfully decided.

• The limit is three months if the asylum seeker presented a passport or other travel document to the authorities when he or she submitted the application for asylum.
• The limit is six months if the asylum seeker did not present a travel document.

The new phone number

+358 295 433 155, serves employers starting from 11 July 2016.

The service hours are from Monday to Friday between 9 and 12.

Further information for the media

Esko Repo, Director of Asylum Unit
tel. +358 295 430 431, firstname.lastname@migri.fi