If your employment ends early while you hold a work-based residence permit in Finland, the Finnish Immigration Service (Maahanmuuttovirasto, Migri) gives you a protection period of three or six months to secure a new position. If you do not find a job and lack other legal grounds to stay, Migri will cancel your permit. However, if your permit expires before the protection period ends, you must leave Finland when the permit expires.

The rule in force since 11 June 2025

The amendments to the Aliens Act on work-based residence permits entered into force on 11 June 2025. Under these provisions, a person holding a work-based permit has three months to find a new job if employment ends prematurely. If no new employment is found and there are no other legal grounds to stay, the permit will be cancelled.

The stated aim of this legislation is to bind work-based permits more closely to employment and to improve supervision of the permits. Before the law was enacted, a permit could already be withdrawn when employment ended, with no time limit set in statute. Since April 2023, however, Migri's administrative practice was not to withdraw permits within a three-month protection period. The statutory rule was enacted following government proposal HE 179/2024 and Parliament's reply EV 33/2025. The EU Single Permit Directive requires a three-month protection period, or six months for a permit held two years or longer, with implementation due by 21 May 2026.

Three months or six months, and who is covered

The length of your job-seeking protection window depends on your permit category and how long you have held it, as outlined in the Migri end of employment rules:

An employed-person (TTOL) permit holder has three months during their first two years of holding the permit, and six months once they have held the permit for at least two years.

The rule applies strictly to work-based permits. It does not apply to permanent residence permits, family-member permits, EU citizens, or international students and researchers. Unemployment affects only fixed-term permits granted specifically for employment; a permanent permit is never affected by the end of a job. In addition, Migri will not withdraw a permit for a short temporary lay-off (lomautus) whose end date is known.

How the period is counted, and the expiry trap

During the three- or six-month protection period, Migri does not start withdrawing your permit, though the period does not protect against withdrawal on other legal grounds. Crucially, the rule does not extend your residence permit for job seeking. Your permit must remain valid during unemployment; if it expires before your protection period runs its course, you must leave Finland when the permit expires.

If you signed a non-compete agreement (kilpailukieltosopimus) and employment ends early, the three- or six-month period begins only when that non-compete agreement ends.

In an example provided by Migri, an individual on a TTOL permit for under two years who became unemployed on 30 April 2025 could face withdrawal consideration after 30 July 2025.

Who has to report the job ending, and what Migri does next

The employer must report to Migri when the employment of a work-based permit holder ends before the permit expires, including if the employee never started work. No report is needed when an ordinary fixed-term contract ends as agreed.

The employer must file the end-of-employment notification in the Enter Finland online portal within 14 days. Employers who fail to report may be fined, with sanctions imposed by the police.

Migri may start to consider withdrawal once the employer submits this report, but never before the protection period has elapsed. Migri conducts an individual assessment and might not need to withdraw the permit. Where a permit may have been obtained through serious abuse, withdrawal proceedings can start without waiting.

Before withdrawing any permit, Migri asks you, and any family member living in Finland, to submit a written statement. If Migri ultimately withdraws the permit and you possess no other right to stay, you are issued a deportation decision and must leave Finland, and an entry ban may follow. Any decision issued by Migri can be appealed to an administrative court (hallinto-oikeus).

Your options — a new job, a new sector, or another ground

While your permit remains valid, you can take up a new job covered by its terms. A TTOL holder may change employer within the same field without obtaining a fresh permit. In addition, since 11 June 2025, a TTOL holder may take work in a national labour shortage sector without needing a new permit, provided the existing permit is valid.

The national labour shortage list is updated yearly. If the list changes during your protection period, you are permitted to take jobs in sectors that are currently on the list or were on the list during your period of unemployment. If you intend to take up work outside your permit's field and outside the recognised shortage sectors, you must secure a new residence permit before starting. You can review vacancies across fields using practical guidance on finding a job in Finland.

If you have another ground for living in Finland, such as family ties, you can apply for a permit under other residence permit conditions. A valid permit held on other grounds preserves your right to remain in the country. Note that while all Finnish residence permits permit study, if your primary purpose for living in Finland changes to studying, you must formally apply for a student residence permit.

A non-EU/EEA citizen must hold a valid residence permit and the right to work in Finland to register with the public employment services (työvoimapalvelut). Registration as an unemployed jobseeker is required before any unemployment support can be paid.

There are two main financial support tracks:

  1. Kela general social security benefit: To receive Kela's general social security benefit (yleistuki), you must be aged 18–64, registered as an unemployed jobseeker, resident permanently in Finland, and ineligible for an earnings-related allowance.
  2. Earnings-related allowance: Claiming an earnings-related allowance (ansiopäiväraha) requires prior membership in an unemployment fund and satisfying a 12-month employment condition accrued during that membership. A calendar month counts toward this condition in full if you earned at least €930. You must be an active fund member during your period of employment; individuals who are not members or who have not worked long enough apply to Kela instead.

Furthermore, when sponsoring family members' permits, required family income cannot rely on social assistance or Kela's general social security benefit, which replaced the labour market subsidy (työmarkkinatuki) and basic unemployment allowance (peruspäiväraha) on 1 May 2026.

What may change next

Further changes to permit protections are under consideration. On 30 April 2026, the Government submitted a proposal to extend the unemployment protection period by three months for victims of exploitation at work, which would grant an overall search window of six or nine months. This remains a legislative proposal and is not yet law.