The Finnish government has revised its salary requirements for skilled Nigerians and other foreign nationals seeking to work and reside in the country.
In the latest adjustments, foreigners arriving in Finland for work from January 1 will now be required to earn a minimum of 1,600 euros per month.
This increases from the previous 1,399 euros per month minimum income requirement.
A statement from the Finnish Immigration Service (Migri) indicated that the new minimum income limit will apply to all first residence permit applications for employed persons starting January 1, 2025, and to extended permits from April 1, 2025.
The amendments aim to ensure that employees relocating to Finland for work receive a sufficient salary to cover their living expenses.
Tuuli Huhtilainen, Process Owner, who runs the process of residence permits for employed persons and seasonal work, said:
Aside from the changes in salary requirements, the Migr also updated its processing fee.
Smith Stone Walters reports that the residence permit card was previously free of charge for temporary protection.
The processing fee for an online application for a card based on temporary protection is EUR 20, and for a paper application, EUR 40.
The statement said:
According to (Statistics Finland, 2020), after Somalians, Nigerian immigrants are the second-largest group of immigrants from Africa, who were 13,337 as of December 2020.
More Nigerians are also looking to move to the country as it is considered one of the best countries to acquire international tertiary education.
Statistics Finland also reported that In 2017, the largest concentrations of Nigerians exist in Helsinki (962, 0.15%), Espoo (578, 0.21%), Vantaa (399, 0.18%), Tampere (245, 0.11%) and Turku (190, 0.10%). 2,110 of them reside in Uusimaa, where they make up 0.13% of the population, BusinessDay reports.
Ealier, TimesNow.com.ng also reported that the United Kingdom has announced an increase in the salary requirements for the skilled Worker visa route.
The government explained that these salary adjustments aimed to prioritise highly skilled and well-compensated professionals.
The changes mean that Nigerians looking to relocate to the UK for work will have to secure high-paying jobs.
Source: TimesNow.com.ng
