If the entry of labour migration into the country and employment could be accelerated, the national economy would benefit significantly from the increase of the number of working days and tax revenue. The competitiveness of Finnish companies in attracting labour would also improve.
“The vision of the Finnish Startup Community and our partners is a country where labour migration is wrapped up in two weeks and all services related to the immigration process are available from a single point, with minimal strain on the authorities, companies and the migrants”, states Riikka Pakarinen, CEO at Finnish Startup Community.
Goal to have the world's best immigration process
Migration to Finland is often understood as a process that only requires residence permits from the Finnish Immigration Service, but the experience also includes many other elements, such as registering one’s municipality of residence, opening bank accounts and securing family services, such as daycare. In addition to the two-week service promise, all services required by a labour immigrant should be covered.
The publication of the Finnish Startup Community and its partners presents seven sets of measures, some of which are long-term in nature. For example, one key challenge newcomers face when interacting with authorities and other organisations is that they are asked to provide the same details over and over again. A better immigration process would centrally gather this personal data and make it available to everyone involved in the process. In an ideal situation, for example, a bank could request the electronic transfer of a migrant's personal details in such a way that identifying the customer and allowing the use of banking services would be possible through a remote connection.
Virtual Finland project plays a key role
The continued funding of the Ministry for Foreign Affairs’ Virtual Finland project and the development of its pilot project are essential for the practical implementation of this migrant data collection and authentication. The publication released today from the Finnish Startup Community and its partners strongly recommend that further funding for the Virtual Finland project be secured in the framework and that a pilot be set up on the basis of the project for creating an electronic entry process system and the authorisation of personal data.
“Functional concepts have already been developed under the Virtual Finland project and it would be a shame to see the work go to waste if further funding is not granted. Now is the time to accelerate the project’s development and create practical measures from the concepts”, said Youssef Zad, the Finnish Startup Community’s Chief Economist.
Read more about the suggested measures and associated justifications in the publication from the Finnish Startup Community and its partners: “Smoothing labour migration: one-stop shop principle and two-week promise” (only in Finnish).