Start date of work observed in the processing of seasonal work applications

We process seasonal workers' applications in the order they have been submitted. However, we will take note of the start date of the work.

We aim to process applications made to the same employer at the same time. The legal processing time for seasonal work applications is three months.  

It is easy follow the processing of the application online:  

• When seasonal workers apply for a permit in Enter Finland, they can follow the progress of the processing of the application in the online service.
• If seasonal workers apply for a residence permit for seasonal work, they can ask Kamu chatbot about the processing status of their application on the Migri.fi website. Kamu will check the progress of the application among other submitted applications with the same case type and processing basis. More information on the processing status function can be found at migri.fi/chat1.

• We update the processing status of seasonal work applications every week with a customer bulletin on the queue situation. The bulletin is published on our website at migri.fi/customer-bulletins.  

We can only communicate the decision to the applicant. In Enter Finland for Employers, a seasonal worker's employer can see when a decision has been made on the application, even though he cannot access the actual decision. 

Exceptionally, we do not respond to status inquiries concerning seasonal work applications 

If there are no problems with the processing of the application, we will not respond to any inquiries concerning the status of the application. The Finnish Immigration Service receives dozens of status inquiries every day, and responding to them takes a lot of time away from making decisions. 

By this practice we want to ensure that the seasonal workers can start their work on time. 

Using Enter Finland speeds up the processing of the application

Seasonal workers should apply for a seasonal work permit well in advance in Enter Finland, as filing the application online is faster and cheaper. The processing fee for an application submitted in Enter Finland is EUR 75, while the processing fee for a paper application is EUR 175. The application instructions are available on our website at: migri.fi/seasonal-work. 

The employer can supplement the employee's application in the Enter Finland for Employers  online service. This will shorten the processing time of the application, and the employee will receive a decision faster. 

More information about Enter Finland for employers of seasonal workers can be found in the customer bulletin: Employer: Will your company have seasonal workers? You can speed up the decision-making in Enter Finland 

For more information

Customer instructions prepared in different languages and links to customer bulletins can be found at migri.fi/instructions-for-seasonal-workers.

A page targeted to employers of seasonal workers can be found on the Finnish Immigration Service's website at migri.fi/for-employers-of-seasonal-workers.

Our website provides information on the effects of the coronavirus epidemic on the processing of applications: migri.fi/en/coronavirus. 

Language versions

• (ru) При рассмотрении заявлений о сезонной работе учитывается дата начала работы
• (ukr) При обробці заявок на сезонні роботи враховується дата початку роботи

A version in Ukrainian will be added later.

Updated 16.3.2021: A translation to Ukrainian added to the language versions.