Seasonal work

The duration of your work will affect which seasonal work permit you need to apply for

If you are going to work for less than 3 months:

• If you need a visa to enter Finland, apply for a seasonal work visa at a Finnish mission (embassy or consulate). For more information about seasonal workers’ visas, see the website of the Ministry for Foreign Affairs (um.fi). 
• If you are coming from a country whose citizens are not required to have a visa, apply for a certificate for seasonal work from the Finnish Immigration Service. The certificate for seasonal work proves your right to work. For your stay in Finland to be legal, you also need to have enough visa-free days left for the whole validity period of your certificate. A certificate for seasonal work does not extend your visa-free stay in Finland.
• If you are in an employment relationship in order to pick wild berries, you need to apply for a residence permit for an employed person (the 'TTOL' permit). Employment relationship means that you have an employer with whom you have a contract concerning your work and salary. 

If you are going to work for 3 to 6 months:

Apply for a residence permit for seasonal work from the Finnish Immigration Service.

If you are going to work for 6 to 9 months:

• Apply for a residence permit for seasonal work from the Finnish Immigration Service.
• In this case, your application will be processed in two stages. First, the Employment and Economic Development Office issues a partial decision. Then the Finnish Immigration Service processes the application and decides on the permit.
• The duration of your employment relationship will determine how long your permit is valid.

How to add a new employer to your seasonal work permit:

If you want to add a new employer of seasonal workers to your valid seasonal work permit, you can apply for the addition of a new employer. Read more about the addition of a new employer.

You do not need a seasonal work permit if:

• you are a citizen of a visa-free country and are coming to Finland for seasonal work as a picker of wild berries for no more than 90 days and the work is not done in an employment relationship. However, if you have signed an employment contract regarding the picking of wild berries, apply for a residence permit for an employed person (‘TTOL’).
• you are a citizen of an EU Member State or Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway or Switzerland. You may work in Finland without a residence permit. However, you need to register your right of residence if you stay in Finland for longer than 3 months. 
• you are a British citizen, you have resided in Finland before 31 December 2020 and your residence has been of permanent nature. If you have arrived in Finland on 1 January 2021 or after that date, you must apply for a permit for seasonal work.

You cannot get a seasonal work permit if:

• you are a freelancer and have not signed an employment contract with a company that operates in Finland;
• you live permanently in another EU Member State or in Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway or Switzerland; 
• you are a posted worker;
• you are coming to Finland to pick wild berries; or
• your employment contract is valid until further notice.

Right to work

You cannot start working before you get a seasonal work permit. For more information about the right to work, see the page Certificate for seasonal work or Residence permit for seasonal work.

Social security and healthcare services for seasonal workers in Finland

As a seasonal worker, you are not automatically entitled to use public healthcare in Finland. You need to submit a separate application to the Social Insurance Institution of Finland (Kela) regarding the right to social security coverage and healthcare in Finland. Read more about seasonal workers’ rights on the website of Kela (kela.fi).

The processing situation of applications for seasonal work permits

We process applications for seasonal work in the order in which they have been submitted. However, we take into account the starting date of the employment in the processing if the application has been submitted in good time before the start date of your employment. We try to process applications submitted for the same employer at the same time. Please wait patiently for the decision. As all applications for seasonal work permits are considered urgent, no requests to expedite are taken into account.

During the high season for seasonal work, the processing situation of seasonal work applications is updated every Tuesday. The high season begins in March.

Requests for certificates for seasonal work

• By 15 July, 1 597 requests for a certificate for seasonal work have been submitted during the year 2024.
• There are currently no requests waiting to be processed.

Application for a residence permit for seasonal work (duration 3 to 9 months)

• By 15 July 2024, approximately 1 248 applications for a residence permit for seasonal work have been submitted during the year 2024.
• There are currently no applications waiting to be processed.

Are you an employer of seasonal workers?

Read the instructions for employers of seasonal workers.