Asylum seeker’s right to work and study

When you are an asylum seeker:

You are allowed to be in gainful employment only when your right to work is valid. Gainful employment means work for which you are paid wages or salary.
You may apply for a student place and accept the place if this is not against the rules and regulations of the educational institution in question.

Please note that receiving a student place or finding a job does not mean that you will be allowed to stay in Finland. When we process your asylum application, we examine your right to receive international protection.

Contents of this page:

When does the right to work begin?
When may the right to work end?
Different forms of work
Residence permit on the basis of work, business or studies
Employer’s obligation to verify the right to work

When does the right to work begin?

Your right to work will begin either 3 or 6 months after the police or the border authorities have registered your application for international protection.

Your right to work begins after 3 months if you have presented a valid and authenticated passport or other travel document to the authorities
Your right to work begins after 6 months if you have not presented a travel document.

An asylum seeker’s right to work is unrestricted, meaning that you may work in any field.

When you get a job, you must check that your right to work has begun and that it is still valid.

When you receive a decision, the decision will state whether you have the right to work or whether the right to work is still valid.
If you are unsure of your right to work, you can ask about your right to work by email.

Note the following situations:

If you have received a decision on being required to leave for another EU Member State, you do not have the right to work.
If your application is referred to the accelerated procedure, your right to work depends on why the application has been referred to that procedure.
If you make a subsequent application, your right to work begins 3 or 6 months after the police or the border authorities have registered your subsequent application.

When may the right to work end?

Notify your employer immediately if your right to work ends. You may be committing a crime or an offence if you work without having the right to work.

If you receive a negative decision on your asylum application

If you receive a negative decision, your right to work continues during the appeal period. In the normal procedure, the appeal period is 30 days from the day when you are served with the decision of the Finnish Immigration Service.

If you appeal against the decision of the Finnish Immigration Service to an administrative court, your right to work continues until you are served with the decision issue by the administrative court.

If the administrative court rejects your appeal as far as it concerns international protection, your right to work ends on the day when the decision issued by the administrative court is served on you.
If the administrative court overturns the decision issued by the Finnish Immigration Service and returns your matter to the Finnish Immigration Service for renewed consideration, your right to work continues at least until the Finnish Immigration Service issues a new decision. The new decision will state if you have the right to work.
If the administrative court rejects your appeal as far as it concerns international protection but returns the matter to the Finnish Immigration Service for some other reason, your right to work ends on the day when the decision issued by the administrative court is served on you.

If your application is referred to the accelerated procedure

If you have a valid right to work and your application is referred to the accelerated procedure, your right to work will be withdrawn.

Different forms of work

Internship

You must have a valid right to work if you wish do an internship for which you get paid.

If you do not have a valid right to work, you can work without pay if your unpaid work is, for example:

an unpaid internship that is part of your studies or your training arranged by employment and economic development services
voluntary work organised by non-governmental organisations and associations.

Note that under Finnish law, unpaid internships are allowed only when the internship is part of a person’s studies or part of training arranged by employment and economic development services. For other internships and work, the employer must always pay you a salary. Unpaid internships also involve a risk of labour exploitation.

Apprenticeship agreement

Apprenticeship agreement means that an employer provides an employee with practical, on-the-job training leading to a vocation. The apprenticeship agreement is a fixed-term employment contract, and the employee is paid a salary or some other form of compensation during the apprenticeship. Your right to work must be valid the entire time your apprenticeship agreement is valid.

You cannot work as a freelancer or light entrepreneur

To work as a freelancer or light entrepreneur (‘kevytyrittäjä’ in Finnish), you must have a valid residence permit or a municipality of residence in Finland.

You are considered to be a light entrepreneur if:

you employ yourself and perform entrepreneurial activities
you provide services or sell products to your own customers through a platform company or an invoicing service company.
- Such companies include, for example, Freska, Uber, Wolt, Ukko and Free.

Residence permit on the basis of work, business or studies

If you have applied for asylum in Finland and your application is being processed or you have received a negative decision

You cannot be issued with a residence permit on the basis of work, entrepreneurship or studies while you reside in Finland as an asylum seeker. This applies to all asylum seekers in Finland, regardless of when the application has been made or when the negative decision has been issued.

If you apply for a residence permit on the basis of work or studies while you reside in Finland, the Finnish Immigration Service will issue a decision on considering your application inadmissible.

If you wish to apply for a residence permit in Finland on the basis work, entrepreneurship or studies, you need to leave Finland and apply for the permit at the relevant Finnish mission (embassy or consulate) abroad. Read more about applying for a residence permit on the basis of work or entrepreneurship or studies.

If you have been granted a residence permit in Finland on the basis of your asylum application or if you hold a residence permit on some other grounds

If you have been issued with a residence permit in Finland on the basis of your asylum application or you hold a residence permit on some other grounds, you can apply for an extended permit on the basis of work or studies. In this case, the fact that you have applied for asylum in Finland before has no effect.

Employer’s obligation to verify the right to work

Employers must verify that their foreign workers have the right to work in Finland. If an employer deliberately or through negligence employs a person who does not have the right to work, the employer may be committing an offence or a crime.

An asylum seeker’s right to work is based on the provisions of the Aliens Act, and an asylum seeker does not need a separate certificate of their right to work. The employer can check an employee’s right to work by email free of charge.

The occupational safety and health authorities in Finland monitor that employers comply with their obligation to verify a foreign employee’s right to work: The right to work must be verified (tyosuojelu.fi). If you have questions about these matters, contact the authorities responsible for them.