Stiffen laws, weak economy reduce immigration to Finland

The number of residence permits applications has been reduced in Finland significantly in 2025, said the Finnish Immigration Service (Migri) in a press release on Friday.

Residence permit applications in most of the categories including work, study and international protection reduced last year compared to the 2024 while the number of applications based on family ties increased slightly.

Ilkka Haahtela, Director General of the Finnish Immigration Service (Migri) said that the economic situation and changes to the immigration laws put impact on the number of immigrants.

The (Migri) received a total of 180,521 applications in 2025, which was 196,003 in 2024.

The agency made a total of 177,890 decisions in 2025 and 80 percent of the decisions were positive and nine percent were negative.

The number of positive decisions also decreased last year compared to 2024. In 2024, 84% of the decisions were positive and 7% were negative.

According to Migri, a total of 11,324 first-time applications were submitted based on employment in 2025 and the number was 25 percent lower than the number of applications in 2024.

“The decrease in work-related immigration is mainly due to the weak development of the Finnish economy in recent years,” said Johannes Hirvelä, Director of Information Services of Migri in the press release, adding that the uncertain future of companies and organizations and high unemployment reduced the demand for foreign labour.

Indian citizens made the highest number of applications for work-based residence permits in 2025, followed by the citizens of Philippines, China, Vietnam and Thailand.

A total of 8,384 positive decisions were made on the first work-based residence permits in 2025, which was 11,103 in 2024 while the number of negative decisions was 3,150, which was 3,494 in 2024.

A total of 13,565 first residence permit applications were submitted on basis of study in 2025, which was 4% less than in 2024.

Bangladeshi students submitted the highest number applications followed by Nepal, Sri Lanka, India and Pakistan.

A total of 10,486 students were granted first residence permits in 2025 and the number was 12,192 in 2024.

The number of applications based on family ties was 23,831 in 2025, which was 23,701 in 2024.

Meanwhile, the number of decisions of deportation increased significantly in 2025.

Migri made 2,774 deportation decisions for people who were in Finland with residence permits in 2025 and the number is 41-percent higher than the previous year.

The agency also deported 3,128 people who had been living in Finland illegally and the number was 2884 in 2024.

“The number of deportation increased due to the changes to the law and intensified follow-up monitoring and an increase number of deportation proposals made by the police,” Hirvelä added.

The four-party alliance government led by the Kansallinen Kokoomus (National Coalition Party-NCP) stiffened criteria for Finnish residence permit and citizenship and amended the respective laws in this regard.