Statement to the Ministry of Economic Affairs and Employment on the entry requirements for third-country nationals

According to the Government proposal, the residence permit for third-country researchers as referred to in the Students and Researchers Directive would, in future, be issued for a period of four years or, at most, for the duration of the contract with the educational institution if valid for less than four years.

The Finnish Union of University Professors is in favour of issuing residence permits for longer than the current period. The Union points out that Finland’s research community has also become more international on levels other than just the starting career level. Universities and some research institutes have shifted to a tenure track system for the recruitment of professors (Professorirekrytoinnit, Pekkola et al. 2020). These applicants are more international. Assistant professors and associate professor positions typically have a fixed term of 3-5 years. In view of the above, it would be justified to grant a residence permit for researchers from third countries for a period of five years instead of four years.