19.12.2022 at 06.45
Performance audit

Work-based immigration – Effectiveness and customer orientation of the immigration administration and recruitment of foreign labour in the health and social services sector

Follow-up completed: 09.01.2026

The authorities responsible for work-based immigration should focus on streamlining the permit processes of not only specialists but also employees and entrepreneurs as well as their family members and on the customer orientation of the permit system. To achieve the goals of work-based immigration the authorities should work more closely together and improve immigrants’ language proficiency and professional competence.

Download report: Audit Report 13/2022: Work-based immigration – Effectiveness and customer orientation of the immigration administration and recruitment of foreign labour in the health and social services sector PDF 868 KB

The audit looked into authorities’ actions and administrative processes associated with work-based immigration. A particular aim was examining if the processes are efficient and customer oriented and if cooperation between the authorities is effective.

Finland’s population and the number of employed can only increase through immigration. Since 2003, Finnish Government Programmes have referred to promoting work-based immigration as a means of improving the demographic dependency ratio, bolstering the economy and alleviating the situation in sectors suffering from labour shortages.

The transfer of the administration of work-based immigration to the Ministry of Economic Affairs and Employment has resulted in goal-oriented efforts to develop the work permit processes. Permits for specialists and growth entrepreneurs are processed within two weeks set as the target. The Ministry of Economic Affairs and Employment is striving to accelerate the permit process for specialists even further using a fast track service pledge and the national D visa associated with it, which entered into force in June 2022. The audit found, however, that additional administrative measures and an assessment of the cost-benefit ratio are prerequisites for the full introduction of the D visa. According to Finnish missions abroad, only a fraction of the specialists applied for a D visa in the first months after it became available, and no great increase in this share is expected.

While the health and social services sector is affected by a major labour shortage, little or no action has been taken to promote work-based immigration. Permanent practices, knowledge bases and organisation should be created for anticipating competence and labour needs in the health and social services sector. The central and local government and business life should also work together to improve immigrants’ language proficiency and professional competence.

Recommendations of the National Audit Office

The gaps in the knowledge base of work-based immigration be investigated and filled in, ensuring that in the future, data describing the grounds for issuing a residence permit can be combined with other national register data. The authorities responsible for this are the Ministry of Economic Affairs and Employment, the Ministry of the Interior and the Ministry of Finance as well as the Finnish Immigration Service, the Digital and Population Data Services Agency and Statistics Finland as agencies subordinate to them.

Implemented in full or almost in full

Permanent practices, knowledge bases and organisation be created for anticipating competence and labour needs in the health and social services sector. They should be based on the on-going programme for ensuring the adequacy and availability of health and social services personnel and government policies on developing the national foresight system. The authorities responsible for this are the Ministry of Social Affairs and Health, the Ministry of Education and Culture and the Ministry of Economic Affairs and Employment.

Implemented in full or almost in full

The authorities responsible for permit processes invest in streamlining the permit processes not only for specialists but also for employees and entrepreneurs as well as their family members and in developing customer orientation further. The authorities responsible for this are the Ministry of Economic Affairs and Employment, the Ministry of the Interior, the Ministry for Foreign Affairs and the Finnish Immigration Service.

Partially implemented

The Finnish Immigration Service develop its customer service regarding guidance and advice provision for employers and applicants for an employee's residence permit, for example by disseminating information about the agency's upgraded telephone service more efficiently and by assigning a contact person for companies that recruit foreign workers to answer enquiries and provide additional information.

Implemented in full or almost in full

When the Ministry of Social Affairs and Health and the Ministry of Education and Culture assess the need to develop legislation on the recruitment of foreign labour, the ministries should also consider more detailed provisions to be included in the section on language proficiency and the level of language proficiency required in today's health and social services sector tasks.

Partially implemented