Working for a new employer while your seasonal work permit is valid

If you want to do seasonal work for an employer who is not registered in your seasonal work permit, you must apply for the addition of the employer to your permit. If you do not apply for the addition of a new employer to your permit, you do not have the right to work for any other employers than those whose names have been marked on your seasonal work permit.

The term 'seasonal work permit' refers to a seasonal work visa, a certificate for seasonal work or a residence permit for seasonal work. 

A new employer can be added only for the duration of your seasonal work permit, not for a period exceeding that.

• If your work for the new employer will last longer than your current seasonal work permit is valid, you must apply for a new permit. In that case, you cannot start working for the new employer before you receive a positive decision on your new permit application.

You can only apply for the addition of a new employer when you have a valid seasonal work permit (a visa for seasonal work, a certificate for seasonal work or a residence permit for seasonal work). You cannot apply for the addition of a new employer if you have been granted some other residence permit on the basis of work. Read more on the page Applications.

How to apply for the addition of a new employer

If you applied for your current certificate for seasonal work or residence permit for seasonal work online in Enter Finland, apply for the addition of a new employer in Enter Finland as well.

You should apply for the addition of a new employer with a paper application if:

• you have applied for your current certificate for seasonal work or residence permit for seasonal work with a paper application, or
• you have arrived in Finland with a seasonal work visa.

This is what you should do to apply in Enter Finland:

This is what you should do to apply on paper:

When does the right to work begin?

You do not need to visit a service point of the Finnish Immigration Service to prove your identity. You can start working for the new employer when:

• you have submitted your application online in Enter Finland and included all the necessary information in the application, or
• when your application has reached the Finnish Immigration Service

and all the following requirements are met:

1. You have added to your application the supplement form TY6_plus, filled in by your employer, and the form has been signed by a person who has the authority to sign on behalf of the company.
2. You have paid the correct processing fee in Enter Finland, or a receipt of the paid processing fee has been added to your application. The receipt must show your name and that the fee has been paid into the bank account of the Finnish Immigration Service.
3. Your work consists of  seasonal work in an employment relationship in a professional field covered by the Seasonal Workers Act for an employer established in Finland. 
4. The professional field in which you are working remains the same, if you have a valid residence permit for seasonal work which requires a partial decision and the period for which the new employer will be added exceeds 6 months. Check your partial decision to see the professional field for which your residence permit has been issued.
5. It is possible to add a new employer. In other words, you have a seasonal work permit which is valid at the time you apply for the addition of a new employer, and you are applying for the addition of a new employer for a time period when your seasonal work permit is still valid.

The right to work begins when the abovementioned requirements are met. It is not possible to print out a certificate of a pending application when you have applied for the addition of a new employer.

If you have a residence permit for seasonal work that is valid for 6–9 months and your new job takes 6–9 months

You can apply for the addition of a new employer only if your new job is in the same professional field for which your currently valid residence permit for seasonal work was issued. Check your partial decision to see for which professional field your residence permit for seasonal work has been issued. If you plan to work in a different field than your current residence permit is granted for, you must apply for a new residence permit.

If you have a valid certificate for seasonal work or a residence permit for seasonal work that is valid for 3–6 months, you can apply for the addition of a new employer even if the new job is in a different professional field. The new job must be seasonal work.

Amendments to the Seasonal Workers Act on 17 June 2021

You can work for a new employer during the validity of your seasonal work permit if you apply for the addition of the new employer to your seasonal work permit. 

In addition, the amendments have brought along the following changes:

• Employers are able to notify authorities of the terms of employment for several seasonal workers at one time.
  • If the same terms of employment apply to several seasonal workers, employers will only need to submit the terms once via the online service Enter Finland for Employers. Read the instructions on how to submit the terms of employment for several employees at the same time.   
• Seasonal workers returning to work for a previous employer
  • A seasonal worker will not need to fill in all the sections on the application form when he or she returns to work for a previous employer. Please read the instructions for seasonal workers returning to work for a previous employer.

Watch a video about the amendments to the Seasonal Workers Act (duration approximately 25 minutes, in Finnish with subtitling in Finnish and Swedish).