The Finnish Ministry of the Interior has prepared a draft bill to tighten up the residence permit for international students. This bill puts university students in an unequal position. In writing the bill, it has again been systematically forgotten that Finland has two higher education institutions, a university of applied sciences and a university.
Under the draft law, an international student who currently holds a degree from a university of applied sciences would not automatically receive the residence permit that international students who have completed their studies at a university would receive in the future.
The bill is incomprehensible and the Student Union of Turku University of Applied Sciences – TUO demands that the bill be amended to make it fair so that all holders of all university degrees would qualify for a permanent residence permit, not just those with a specific lower degree. The proposal should therefore be worded as follows: ’A permanent residence permit could be obtained without a period of residence after studies if they have completed a higher or lower degree in higher education institution Finland and have acquired sufficient Finnish or Swedish language skills (A2)”.
The bill is completely against all our government’s objectives. We need foreign workforce in Finland, but this legislation seeks to exclude a significant number of highly educated people from the automatic residence permit system. It would be more understandable for the labour market if residence permits were granted to university of applied sciences graduates, but not to university graduates. After all, a university of applied sciences provides direct preparation for working life and not just for a future master’s degree. The government of our country is showing genuine contempt for universities of applied sciences if it approves such a bill.
The Student Union of Turku University of Applied Sciences – TUO demands that the bill considers both Finnish higher education institutions.
More information
Olga Hellman
Chair of the board
olga.hellman@opiskelijakunta.net
045 670 5011
Jukka-Pekka Salmela
Advisor of advocacy
jukka.salmela@opiskelijakunta.net
041 312 3874
