The big dispute over work-related immigration: The Ministry proposes a tightening of the income limit, a settlement is sought at Säätytalo

One of the most difficult issues in government negotiations is how to reconcile the positions of different parties regarding work-related immigration.

Wednesday was the 16th day of the government negotiations. Stina Virkamäki/the government office kansliajuha.ristamaki@iltalehti.fi Yesterday at 21:00

The Ministry of Labor and the Economy (TEM) has prepared its own proposal for opening the node of the government negotiations.

TEM proposes that the income limit for a work-based immigrant could be 1,500 euros per month. Currently, the gross salary required for a residence permit is at least 1,331 euros per month, or the salary according to the collective agreement.

Basic Finns have demanded that the income limit be raised to 3,000 euros.

Suggestion: the minimum could be raised to 1,500 euros/month; could especially exclude part-time employment from the scope of the permit. Since there is a large need for labor in low-wage sectors, the income limit should not be set too high from the point of view of the need for labor availability, the Ministry of Labor and Economy states in a memo.

According to information from Iltalehti, an attempt would be made to set the income limit compromise in the government negotiations at around 2,000 euros. However, the negotiations are in their infancy: immigration is a big entity and the PS, which demands significant pressure on it, is guaranteed to strain the negotiations.

TEM does not propose any changes to the residence permit requirements for so-called special skills. For them, the current required income limit is 3473 euros per month. According to the ministry, “there is no room for withdrawal”, according to it, the matter is critical in terms of R&D activity and the conditions for growth. Nor does TEM see room for tightening the residence permit requirements for researchers.

The current limits for student residence permits are that if you stay in Finland for one year or longer, you must have 6720 euros in your account, if you stay for less than a year, you must have 560 EUR per month.

Proposal: the limit could be raised to 700 euros/month; however, not a very effective way to regulate immigration, but a better way would be to raise tuition fees, which could also be used to create an incentive (e.g. the student would get part of the fee back as tax breaks after getting a job in Finland), TEM's memo outlines.

The current income limit required for a residence permit for entrepreneurs, excluding growth entrepreneurs, is 1000 euros per month. The ministry would apply extortion to this as well.

Proposal: increase to the same as the employee's residence permit, i.e. 1500 eur/month → would probably produce somewhat more negative decisions, but mainly for entrepreneurs who are concerned about the conditions of operation anyway; would also lead to shorter extension permits for those who are at the risk limits in terms of livelihood.

Limits of family reunification

The TEM background memo takes a family with two adults and two children as an example of family reunification. The prerequisite for reunification for such a family is a net income of 2,600 euros, where, in addition to wages and other income, certain social benefits are taken into account, for example child allowance and housing allowance.

– Raising income limits or ignoring social security benefits would have a negative effect, especially in low-wage sectors immigration of professionals; In the health and social security sector, which is critical in terms of the labor shortage, the current income limits have already been identified as a significant challenge to Finland's attractiveness, TEM's memo states.

According to the memo, “ethically sustainable international recruitment is difficult to implement if the family cannot be included due to income limits”. instead of getting talented people to stay permanently in Finland.

– The very high income limits for family reunification also make international cooperation promoting recruitment more difficult. In discussions with India and other countries of origin, it has emerged how important it is to also secure the entry and integration of family members in e.g. social security recruitments, but also in other professions, and the countries require the theme to be included in bilateral kv. to contracts concerning recruitment, TEM's background memorandum states.

TEM's background memorandum has been delivered to government negotiators. Iltalehti received it through a request for information. Helsingin Sanomat also reported on the information in the memo on Wednesday.