In its informal meeting on 29 May, the Finnish Government revised the maximum number of seasonal workers needed for harvesting by agricultural and horticultural enterprises. The Government decided that in addition to the entry of 4,500 seasonal workers, on which a decision was made earlier, a further 4,500 seasonal workers from third countries can come to Finland to meet the needs in primary production starting on 1 June.
Seasonal workers from non-EU-countries are allowed to enter the country provided that they have the necessary permits for entry into the country and for working, and that their employer has filled in the form justifying the necessity of their entry into the country.
The majority of seasonal workers’ permits are processed by the Finnish Immigration Service, which also makes the decisions on the permits. The final decision on entry into the country is made by the Border Guard. People arriving in Finland are still required to stay in quarantine-like conditions for 14 days.
The Finnish Immigration Service is continuing the processing of pending permit applications. Applications are processed in an order based on the date of start of seasonal work, which is recorded in the original application. It is estimated that in addition to the seasonal workers from abroad, several thousands of Finnish workers will be needed.