The Finnish Immigration system has just recently said that it expects to continue receiving a high number of residence permit applications by foreign students as well as employees this year and next year.
According to the Immigration Service of Finland, the country will see an increase in residence permit application volumes as demand for foreign labour is increasing.
Following a record number of applications that were submitted last year, the number of first work-based residence permit applications is expected to reach 19,000 and 21,500 in 2023 and 2024, respectively, SchengenVisaInfo.com reports.
Such a high volume, according to the Immigration Service, reflects global economic fluctuations, action plans designed to support employment-based immigration, and the prevailing labour market conditions in Finland, among others.
“Many industries and businesses are facing serious labour shortages. Meanwhile, the working-age population is shrinking. As a result, the increased need and demand for foreign labour is set to continue in the future,” the Director of Development at the Finnish Immigration Service, Johannes Hirvelä, said.
In addition to the above-mentioned, Finland forecasts the number of residence permit applications submitted by students to remain high too in 2023 and 2024.
Data show that last year Finland registered a record number of first residence permit applications filed by students – 9,855. Such a high number was “estimated to result from students who had begun their studies remotely or deferred the start of their course due to the coronavirus pandemic moving to Finland in 2022”.
Even though the application volumes from students are forecasted to decrease slightly in 2023 and 2023, the Finnish Immigration Service has said that they are still expected to remain at a historically high level.
The authorities expect to receive around 8,500 residence permit applications by students in 2023 and 9,000 applications in 2024.
As for applications for temporary protection and asylum, the Finnish authorities have said that they expect to register a decrease. According to the Immigration Service, Finland will register somewhere between 20,000 and 30,000 applications for temporary protection from Ukrainians this year.
As for 2024, the authorities have said that they expect to see 10,000 to 15,000 temporary protection applicants arriving in Finland in 2024.
Regarding asylum seekers, the Immigration Service said that they expect to receive between 3,500 and 4,500 first-time asylum seekers arriving in Finland in both years, 2023 and 2024. The main countries of origin of asylum seekers are to arrive in Finland this year, and in 2024 are forecasted to be Afghanistan, Somalia, and Syria.
Source: Schengen Visa
