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SEASONAL WORK VISA OF FINLAND

A seasonal work visa for Finland provides a chance for foreign workers to get a residence permit of 3, 6 months, or 9 months. Applicants from around the world are eligible to apply for this visa stream without any specific requirements.

The agricultural and tourism sectors in Finland have a great number of opportunities for short-term work especially in the summer season. Here we will break down all requirements, application processes, and job-finding options.

In this Article:

Country Profile

Finland is one of the most beautiful lands in Northern Europe surrounded by Sweden, Norway, and Russia. Its capital ‘Helsinki’ is considered one of the best international cities for tourism.

It is a country with low temperatures (minus 20 is considered in most parts of the country as normal) and a long winter season. In some parts of Finland for instance,e in Rovaniemi the summer has 2 months of complete days without nights and 2 months of winter with nights without days. The currency is Euro and the total population is 5.584 million.

What is a seasonal work visa in Finland?

Seasonal work means a type of work in the agricultural and tourism sectors at a certain time of the year. And if you want to come from abroad to do this work in Finland, you will be getting a maximum of nine months in the time of 12 months.

Furthermore, you must apply for a seasonal work visa if you choose and get a job from one of the following works (these sectors are according to Government of Finland 1 § and are issued by Minister of Labor Jari Lindström in effect from 01 Jan 2018):

Agricultural Sector

CodeOccupation
A 01Crop and animal production and related service activities, except A 017 Hunting and related service activities
A 02100Forestry
A 02300Gathering of wild-growing non-wood products

Examples of work that counts as seasonal work by the government decree mentioned above:

Occupation
Picking of garden berries
Picking wild berries
Raising and care of dairy cattle
Employment at a fur farm
Work associated with forestry and silviculture
Gathering of cones for seed production
Work associated with accommodation or restaurants provided that the company’s activities are seasonal
Work as a tourist guide or wilderness guide
Work as a ski instructor

Tourism

*CodeOccupations
H 50102Coastal passenger water transport
H 50300Inland passenger water transport
IAccommodation and food service activities
N 79120Tour operator activities
N 79900Other reservation services and related activities
R 90020Support activities for performing arts
R 93210Activities of amusement parks and theme parks
R 93291Skiing center activities
* The alphabets such as R, N, H, and I and digits such as 79120 are the jobs codes issued by the government of Finland, Minister of Labor.

Types of Seasonal Work Visa

You can have a seasonal job in Finland for no longer than nine months during twelve months. There are 3 types of seasonal work visas in Finland:

Less than 3 months

In this case, if you are from outside of the European Union, you should apply for this visa at the Finnish Embassy. If you are from the European Union then you can start working only by having a seasonal work certificate.

Work duration of 3 to 6 months

For this duration of work, you will have to apply for a proper ‘work permit’ from the Finish Immigration Service.

Work duration of 6 to 9 months

If your employer wants you to work with him for 6 to 9 months, then you will have to apply for a work permit to Finish Immigration Service and the visa application will be done in 2 phases:

  • First, the Employment and Economic Development Office issues a partial decision.
  • Then the Finnish Immigration Service processes the application and decides on the permit. You do not need to do anything in this case as you will directly apply for your work permit from Finish Immigration Service.

* In case you want to apply for a longer than 9-month work visa in Finland, then you should apply for a work visa for an employed person (TTOL) with the visa from OLE_TY1. If you are applying for a residence permit for a period longer than six months, your employer must establish if there is an available labor force in Finland or within the EU/EEA for the work in question.

Seasonal Visa Fee

Depending on the length of your residence permit and the mode of application, the visa fees are:

Method3 to 6 months9 months
Electronic ApplicationEuro 350Euro 400
Paper ApplicationEuro 550Euro 600
*Once your residence permit is expired the extension fees will be Euro 190 for either online or on-paper application.

Processing Times

Online applications take less time with an average of one month whereas paper applications can take up to 2 to 3 months. For extension of residence permit, the processing time reaches up to 3 months. This is just the estimated duration, the processing can go longer.

Who can apply?

In general, anyone can apply for this residence permit and there are no special requirements. Even the Finish Immigration Service states no specific language requirements or experience etc.

One with even low qualification levels can also apply for this visa category. But still one must have entry-level work experience in the required field. You must follow the following conditions to apply for a residence permit:

  • Your work is seasonal, takes place in a certain field, and lasts for 3–9 months. Jobs in forestry, crop production, or festivals are examples of seasonal work that requires a residence permit.
  • You must have a job contract or a binding job offer from your employer in Finland. You must confirm with your employer before applying for the residence permit. If you want to work with more than one employer, you will have to submit all work contracts.
  • You must also have accommodation in Finland. In most cases, the employers offer this but if they do not, then they can also help finding it somewhere near to your duty place.

Residence Permit Extension

The good thing is that once your residence permit is going to expires, you can have it extended provided that you have a contract for more work in Finland. You must submit the extension of your residence permit application well before time. This seems sometimes complicated and only valid for the first visa duration of 6 months. The Finish Immigration Service does not provide info on it is also possible after the expiry of a nine-month visa.

Family Sponsorship

You can not unfortunately bring your family with you while you are on this visa.

Salary Levels

If there is no collective agreement in your sector, your gross income must amount at least to 1,430 euros per month in 2025.

Required Documents for Visa

The following documents are required to apply for the visa:

  • A valid passport with a validity of a minimum 3 months after the expiry of your residence permit
  • A passport-sized photograph (see photo specimen here)
  • Colored copies of passport data pages plus any other pages with entries and notes.
  • Supplement form, filled in, and signed by your employer
  • In case you are not a national of the country you are staying in, proof of valid visa must be attached.
  • Original job contract from your employee
  • Salmonella certificate (if you are a restaurant worker or your duties include food preparation or packaging)
  • If you are going to work with your employer for more than 6 months, you must also get these documents:
  • Certificate of paid taxes or certificate of tax debts
  • Certificates from an insurance company on the employer’s statutory insurance premiums regarding
  • TyEL insurance; accident and group life insurance; and unemployment insurance
  • Report on recruitment of labor force from the Finnish labor market and the labor market within the EU/EEA
  • Any documents showing your work experience in the past
  • Documents of qualification (optional)
  • Language proficiency English or Finish (optional)

How to apply for the Finnish seasonal work permit?

There are two ways to apply for a work permit for seasonal work:

On paper

If you do not have online access, then you can apply on paper by filling in the seasonal work visa application form. You can download the form here. Once it is done filling, take it to your nearest Finish Embassy or Consulate with all above mentioned required documents. You will have to pay the visa fees there too.

Online through e-service Enter Finland

Applying online is easy. You can fill in your application online on this official portal and attach your document which is mentioned above. You must have all of your documents in scanned form so that they can be attached online during the application filling process.

You can either pay the visa fees online through a credit card or at the selected Finish Embassy. Once you have filled in the visa application and have uploaded all the required attachments, you can visit the Finish Embassy in your country to prove your identity, with all the above-mentioned documents in original. Once it is all done, you will have to wait until you receive your visa to fly to Finland.

How to find seasonal work visa jobs in Finland?

There is no direct way to get a seasonal worker job in particular but you can do it in two ways. You can contact the related seasonal work companies, employers, or sectors to apply directly for a job. Or choose an easy way to search it through third-party job searching portals below (click each link to open):

 Finland Job and Visa Kit