Immigration and immigration policy in Finland

21.04.23

Minister Of The Interior Päivi Räsänen

• The Ministry of the Interior is responsible for internal security and migration.

• The Ministry's vision is: Finland will be the safest country in Europe - a country built on equal treatment and equal opportunity.

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The Main Duties of the Ministry

• to maintain public order and security

• to direct rescue services and oversee their coverage and quality

• to control the border and carry out checks on persons

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The Main Duties of the Ministry

• to deal with matters relating to Finnish citizenship, immigration and asylum

• to promote ethnic equality and good ethnic relations, and prevent racism and ethnic discrimination

• The Office of the Ombudsman for Minorities, the National Discrimination Tribunal and the Advisory Board for Ethnic Relations (ETNO) are also attached to the Ministry

Migration Department

• responsible for drafting legislation on immigration• handles matters relating

– to immigration, refugees, asylum, Finnish citizenship– to returns, emigration and expatriate Finns– to detention under the Aliens Act

• responsible for performance guidance for the Finnish Immigration Service

• represents Finland in immigration matters within the European Union and in the international arena

• coordinates immigration-related work between different administrative branches

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The Government Programme

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Essential actions: • to increase the employment

rate of immigrants• make integration policy

more effective• accelerate the processing

of asylum applications• intensify the prevention of

discrimination.

Finland's national legislation onmigration is affected by the EU's asylum and migration policies. Finland is an active participantin the formulation of these policies

Family reunification: The impact of the changes made in the regulation will be reviewed.

Immigration policy that supportsthe building of a safe andpluralistic Finland, andenhances Finland’s internationalcompetitiveness.

Big change in a short period of time

• Within short period Finland has changed from being a country of net emigration to one of net immigration

• The number of migrants has almost doubled since 2000

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Immigration to Finland

• Today, people’s main motives for moving to Finland are family, work and study

• Foreign nationals account for 3,8 % of the population• Most of the people born abroad were born in Europe

64 %• Foreign language speakers make up 5.3 % of the

population

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Migration in 2008–2012

Number of foreign nationals in 2001–2012

Largest groups by citizenship in 2012• (number of foreign nationals and

their proportion)

Population by native language

Foreign-born people by continent of birth in 2012

First residence permits issued in 2012 by grounds

Residence permit applications submitted in 2012 by grounds

Statistics

• Since 2000, Finland has received 1,500-6,000 asylum seekers annually

• Refugee quota 750 people per year– quota for 2014 was increased by 300

persons

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Top 10 source countries of asylum seekers in 2013

• Iraq 819

• Russia 246

• Somalia 217

• Nigeria 206

• Afghanistan 199

• Iran 167

• Syria 149

• Algeria 82

• Morocco 76

• Kosovo 70• Total number of applicants 3238 Source: Finnish Immigration

Service

Finnish Citizenship

• Finnish citizenship can be acquired by birth, on the basis of parents’ citizenship, on application, or by declaration.

• A person may only be released from Finnish citizenship if he/she is a citizen of a foreign country or acquires the citizenship of a foreign country.

• The applicant must have resided in Finland for an uninterrupted period of five years or a total of seven years after reaching the age of 15, with the last two years without interruption.

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Record number of new Finns• In 2012, a record of 9,518 foreign nationals were granted Finnish

citizenship. It more than doubled from the previous year's figure. In 2013 Finnish citizenship was granted to 9,292 foreign nationals.

• The number of citizenship applications rose by more than 39% in comparison with the previous year.

• A total of 7,865 people submitted a citizenship application in 2012 (2011: 5,632) and in 2013 a total 8,638 applications were made, which was 9,8 % more than in 2012.

• The increase is attributable to the amendments made to the Nationality Act. The period of residence required for acquiring Finnish citizenship was shortened from six to five years.

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Largest groups of applicants for Finnish citizenship in 2011 and 2012

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The Future of immigration 2020 strategy

• One of the key projects of the present Government

• The Strategy was published in June, 2013

• Over 40 stakeholders represented in the working process: the ministries, municipalities, labour market organisations, the church, researcher, other organisations and immigrant communities

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• A short and concise strategy with a realistic focus on the future

• Main issues:

– How to raise the employment rate among immigrants?

– Will migration boost Finland's competitiveness?

– How to foresee and control the migration?

– How to enhance equal opportunities in Finland? How to avoid conflicts?

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Strategy Conclusions 1. Finland is an safe and open country

- mobility is an opportunity- Finland is a responsible member of the international community

2. Everyone can find a role to play- Information and guidance for people in different life situations- recognition of migrants' skills, language training

3. Pluralism is part of everyday life- Immigrants are part of Finnish society- Everyone has a responsilibity to eliminate prejudice

Thank you!

Ministry of the Interior

www.intermin.fi