Finland has become one of the fastest work-permit systems in Europe: Migri decides first permits in a few weeks when the file is complete, certified employers fill in the terms themselves and their workers fly on a D visa. This page is the route from brief to first working day — who files what, the income rule, the certification criteria and the duties that follow.
Migri's income requirement for a residence permit for an employed person is EUR 1,600 gross a month in 2026, and the collective agreement for your sector — universally binding in Finland — is the real floor: pay is checked against the agreement's wage group for the role, not against the EUR 1,600 line. Up to half of the income may be fringe benefits at their taxable value (housing, meals); shift supplements and overtime do not count towards it. Zero-hours and on-demand contracts do not qualify.
Migri publishes the requirement annually; we fix the wage line per role at the start, in writing, and brief every candidate on gross and net pay, housing cost and shift pattern before they sign — Finland's cost of living surprises nobody who has been told the numbers.
Certification is Migri's trust mark for repeat employers. The criteria: over the past three years at least ten work-based residence permits granted to your employees with your company as a party, of which at least three extensions (hiring someone who already holds a permit does not count); positive equity in each of the last three accounting periods and a positive result in at least one; average turnover of at least EUR 1 million per period; employer obligations met; terms of employment per the collective agreement. Fee EUR 140 online, decision in one to two months, a first certification for two years and extensions for three.
What it buys: your workers apply for a D visa with the permit and arrive one to two weeks earlier; you fill in and submit the terms of employment yourself; Migri drops the separate employer assessment in each individual case and the repeated document sections. A first-time employer of Filipino workers will rarely qualify yet — the ten-permit threshold is built over two or three recruitment rounds, which is one reason to plan the programme, not a single hire.
Since 11 June 2025 an employer must notify Migri in Enter Finland within 14 days when a work-based permit holder's employment ends early; the police sanction a missed notification. The worker then has three months to find new work (six for specialists and for people with more than two years in Finland on a work-based permit), and may take a job in a national labour-shortage sector — practical nurses, nurses and metal-processing process operators are among the examples in the June 2025 decree — without a new permit. In practice this makes retention the employer's main economic interest, and it is why we brief, house and follow up the way we do.
Sourcing from Prime Search's candidate base — 1.5 million followers on Facebook — and practical tests at the Makati facilities: a CNC machinist runs a programme, a welder welds coupons to your WPS, a nurse sits a clinical assessment, a carpenter builds from a drawing. You see the test live and interview the same day. Finnish language preparation (A1–A2 before departure) is arranged in Manila where the role needs it.
Recruitment runs through our own DMW-licensed agency, Prime Search Manpower Agency Inc. in Makati (licence DMW-027-LB-11182024): your company is accredited at the Migrant Workers Office in London, which has jurisdiction for the Nordic countries, the job order is registered with the DMW, and every worker leaves Manila with a verified contract, medical clearance, pre-departure orientation and an Overseas Employment Certificate. Recruitment follows the employer-pays principle: no applicant pays for an interview, a trade test or a place on a shortlist. Your company is the employer from day one; we never employ or lease the workers.
Everything here is subject to the Aliens Act as amended, Migri's income requirement and practice in force, the universally binding collective agreement for the sector and Philippine DMW rules.
Migri. Since 1 January 2025 the Finnish Immigration Service makes the partial decision that the TE Offices used to make — availability of labour for the occupation and region, and compliance of the terms with the collective agreement — and then the residence decision, in one process.
No. Certification shortens and simplifies the process and adds the D visa; non-certified employers use the same permit with the standard document set. Most first-time employers of Filipino workers are not yet certified.
Three to five months in a well-run programme: selection and MWO accreditation in the first six to eight weeks, Migri's decision in weeks once the file is complete, then the embassy appointment, OEC and travel. The Philippine steps and the embassy slot in Manila set the pace more than Migri does.
Not for the permit. Industrial employers hire at English level with Finnish onboarding; care and customer-facing roles need a language plan — see the nurses and care workers guide.
Within the same professional field, generally yes; moving to a different field needs a new permit unless the new job is in a listed shortage sector. The protection period after job loss is three months, six in the cases above.
General information for employers, not legal or migration advice. Rules change; we re-verify before each hire.