HELSINKI – The authorities in Finland are chalking out a plan to grant permanent residency to international students who complete master’s degree in the country.
Finland’s Minister of Employment, Arto Satonen said on Wednesday that a new regulation is being prepared that would grant permanent residency to those who have completed a master’s degree in Finland and passed a Finnish or Swedish language exam.
The announcement was made as fresh figures released by the government confirmed that nearly half of the students who complete the master’s degree prefer to move out of Finland.
“It is crucial that we find ways to retain these individuals,” Satonen said while highlighting steps needed to accelerate work-based immigration in the coming years.
“Finland is indeed an attractive place for study and work,” Satonen stated.
As far as the statistics are concerned, the figures released by the Ministry of Economic Affairs and Employment show a slightly higher demand from abroad to study in Finland as well as a surge in seasonal work, cleaning, industry, and health and care services.
In the first half of this year, merely around 9,000 people have applied for first-time work-based residence permits, compared to 8,800 people during the same period last year.
On the other hand, the number of applicants for work-based residence permit renewals also increased slightly. In the first half of 2024, roughly 11,700 people applied for extensions, compared with almost 9,400 a year earlier.
Interestingly, there were also more applications for student residence permits than before. For instance, in the first half of this year, aspiring foreign students submitted nearly 7,000 applications, compared to merely over 6,700 a year earlier.
It is noteworthy that while other countries including the United Kingdom, Australia, and Canada are discouraging international students from coming to the country through strict policies, Finland is planning to relax the rules for students to gain permanent residency in the country.
