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The Finnish authorities have announced that the country has decided to cut the processing time of residence permit applications filed by foreigners who have accepted a job in the country.
Revealing the new rules, the Finnish Immigration Service said that the processing time of work-based permits has now been cut down to around a month.
The same stressed that all pending applications would be processed according to the new law, even if they were lodged before this particular law entered into force, SchengenVisaInfo.com reports.
According to the Finnish authorities, apart from cutting the processing time of work-based residence permits, the country has also automated the process. Applicants, as well as employers, will now be required to use online services to apply for a residence permit.
“The amendment stems from a more extensive concept aiming to cut the processing time of work-based permits down to an average of one month. The new provisions also enable the more extensive use of automation. For quick processing, the applicant and the employer should primarily use online services for the application process,” the statement of the Finnish Immigration Service reads.
Moreover, the Immigration Service stressed that the period of validity of a travel document would no longer affect the duration of the permit. This means that as long as a foreign worker has a valid document, the authorities will make a decision on their application.
While the rules have been eased for foreign workers applying for a residence permit, the Finnish authorities emphasised that the employer will now have more responsibilities.
The Finnish Immigration Service explains that the employer will have to check the professional skills of the employee, meaning that the employee will not be required to submit as many documents to the Immigration Service as before
“The processing of the application will not start until the employer has filled in terms of employment and any other employer-related attachments in the residence permit application based on work,” the Finnish Immigration Service highlighted.
The number of residence permit applications has significantly increased in the recent year in Finland, and the majority of them are filed for work and study purposes.
Last year, Finland made the highest number of positive decisions for residence permits filed for work permits – a total of 16,081 decisions.
Regarding the processing time, it has been revealed that it had become considerably shorter compared to the previous years, especially to 2019, when it took around 110 days for a work-based residence permit application to be processed.
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