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Checklist for seasonal workers

Publication date 15.1.2019 13.06
Press release

If you are coming to Finland for seasonal work from a non-EU country, you will need a permit for it.

Summer jobs on berry farms or in agriculture, for example, are considered seasonal work. (List of seasonal jobs)

Which permit you need depends on how long you will be doing seasonal work in Finland

If you are going to work for less than three months:

If you are going to work for three to six months

  • Apply for a residence permit for seasonal work.
  • Submit your application in the e-service Enter Finland and visit a Finnish mission (embassy or consulate) to prove your identity. If you cannot use the e-service, submit a paper application at a Finnish mission.

If you are going to work for six to nine months

  • Apply for a residence permit for seasonal work.
  • Submit your application in the e-service Enter Finland and visit a Finnish mission (embassy or consulate) abroad to prove your identity. If you cannot use the e-service, submit a paper application at a Finnish mission.
  • The application will be processed in two stages. First, an Employment and Economic Development Office makes a partial decision on the application. After this, the Finnish Immigration Service will process the application and make a decision.

You do not need a residence permit or a certificate for seasonal work, if you are a citizen of an EU Member State, Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway or Switzerland.

Apply in the e-service Enter Finland

Apply for a residence permit for seasonal work or for a certificate for seasonal work in Enter Finland.

Applying in the e-service Enter Finland is easy:

  • The service will guide you to the right permit.
  • The service will calculate how long you have been doing seasonal work during the last 12 months, based on the data you feed into it. The maximum length of seasonal work is nine months.
  • If you apply for a certificate for seasonal work, you do not need to visit a Finnish mission to prove your identity.

Your employer can create their own user account in Enter Finland. If you wish, you can give your employer permission to use Enter Finland in matters concerning your seasonal work permit. If you do this, your employer can, for instance, add attachments to your application.

If you are unable to use the e-service, you can submit a paper application.

Make sure you send all the necessary attachments

If something is missing from your application, the processing of your application may be delayed. Please read the application instructions carefully before submitting your application. Remember to check that you have included all the necessary attachments.

Please note the following:

  • Your employer must always fill in the application form TY6_plus. The form must be attached to your application. The form contains basic information about the employer, the employee and the terms of employment.
  • The processing fee must be paid.

Follow the processing of your application in Enter Finland and on our website

You can follow the processing of your application in Enter Finland.

In addition, information about the processing queue will be published on the website of the Finnish Immigration Service. In high season, we will publish weekly updates about the queue of applications.

Need help? See the Frequently Asked Questions page

You can find answers to most questions about seasonal work on the website Migri.fi.

You will find answers to frequently asked questions in English, Finnish, Swedish, Ukrainian and Russian. See the Frequently Asked Questions page

Read more about seasonal work and see the application instructions.

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