6 firms fined for recruiting immigrants living in Finland illegally

The Finnish Immigration Service (Migri) imposed fines on six companies in this summer for employing foreign nationals residing in Finland illegally, said Migri in a press release on Tuesday.

The fines ranging from 1,250 euros to 37,530 euros were imposed based on the agreements between the employers and the employees.

In some cases, the employers may count the costs for returning the employees who were living in the country illegally.

“The target of the fines is to reduce the attractiveness of illegal immigration and undeclared work,” said Tuuli Huhtilainen from Migri, who is responsible for Managing workflows and policies regarding work-based residence permits and seasonal work in the press release.

The Migri reviewed 10 allegations regarding such employment agreements and imposed penalties on seven. Two of the allegations, however, were against the same employer.

The allegations came from police, the Permit and Supervision Agency, and the Immigration Service's permit processing department.

The largest penalty of EUR 30,000 was imposed on an employer in construction sector who had been doing the practice for a long despite repeated warnings from the authorities.

The company had employed at least four people who were residing in the country illegally and had been working for several years.

The Migri also imposed a penalty of EUR 10,000 on a company operating in the food manufacturing sector.

The company had employed two people who were illegally residing in the country for three years.

The residence permits of the employees, however, were valid at the beginning of the employment.

In addition, the authority imposed a penalty of 5,000 euros on three employers. Two of them operate in the catering industry and one in the ship and floating structure building industry.