Spouses of intercultural families more quickly into working life
Guest post by Elina Helmanen from Familia ry
As a result of increased international mobility, intercultural relationships have become more common. Almost 83,000 intercultural families live in Finland in cohabitation or marriage, where one of the spouses was born in Finland and the other abroad. In addition, more than 10,000 intercultural families live in Finland, where both spouses were born abroad, but in different countries. (Statistics Finland 2021). The number has grown steadily in recent years.
The amount of intercultural families where the other spouse is born in Finland has doubled in past 20 years. The number of families has increased from 2,000 to 3,000 per year.
Migration is a stressful life situation and integration is associated with significant psychosocial change challenges at both the individual and family levels. Employment is one of the most important things to consider when a spouse or family moves to Finland. After moving to Finland for love, the person may have left his or her own career, own networks, family, and friends to start in a new country and live with his or hers spouse. Starting in a new country and being dependent on a Finnish spouse is mentally difficult and strains the relationship, especially if there is no work that waits. Access to the Finnish labor market may not be easy until you know the Finnish language. But even the adequate language skills do not guarantee you employment.
Employment helps to get attached, but more actions are needed
How easily a spouse who has moved to Finland becomes part of Finnish society, how much racism and discrimination a person and his or her family experience in Finland, how a migrant is able to get a job and support his or her family affect how intercultural families want to stay in or come to Finland. It is also important whether the migrant manages to get a job that matches his or her own education and experience. If it is easier to get a job elsewhere, for example in the home country of a spouse who has moved to Finland, moving out of Finland may seem like an attractive idea.
Unemployment in intercultural families also burdens the Finnish spouse. Finnish spouses often experience guilt and powerlessness when a spouse who has moved to the country encounters difficulties in finding employment and integrating to Finland. The relationship is also burdened by the fact that the burden of financial and administrative care is usually borne by the Finnish spouse when the spouse moves to the country or waits for a family-based residence permit. The hopes of raising a family in an uncertain situation might be put aside and planning the life is anyway difficult.
If we want to keep and have intercultural families in Finland, we must pay attention not only to employment but also to the social attitude and structural racism, as well as to the well-being and services of families that are offered. Finnish working life must be diversified, more receptive to people from different backgrounds and allow employment with even weaker language skills.
There is no right to work, no access to employment services and no study leading to a degree
Currently, the government, the Finnish Immigration Service and the general debate are focusing on accelerating the labor migration of highly educated international professionals. Faster action would also be needed for intercultural families awaiting a residence permit. A large part of the family members of intercultural families applies for a permit in their home country and are handling the bureaucracy in the nearest Finnish embassy. However, some of the applicants have come to Finland before and live a well-established family life already here.
Thousands of people apply for a residence permit in Finland every year based on family ties with a Finnish citizen. Over 80 per cent of the first residence permit applications of spouses of Finnish citizens from outside the EU have led to a positive decision and family life in Finland in recent years.
The portion of positive decision to the first residence permit applications of spouses of Finnish citizens from outside the EU has been within 82,2 %-91,9 % in 2015-2021.
It is good that the debate on the problems of the residence permit process comes to the fore. Although spouses of Finnish citizens awaiting a permit decision usually have a permanent address in Finland and the right to apply for a home municipality entry from the Finnish Digital Agency, the situation is difficult in many ways. In these families, where the family is waiting for a spouse's residence permit decision based on family ties in Finland, the spouse waiting for the permit does not have the right to work.
The inability of a person waiting for a residence permit to work and participate in society or in earning a living for their family causes considerable financial distress, in addition to the stress of insecurity. Integration does not start when the waiting person is effectively excluded from work, studies and services and does not have access to society.
From the point of view of society, a migrant spouse cannot start the integration process and cannot work. It is a particularly unpleasant trap when the debate on the need for work-related immigration in Finland is on. We should facilitate situations where work is prevented. In many cases, the residence of these families waiting for a residence permit based on family ties is permanent in Finland, and the permit is most likely granted.
Reduce processing time of the Finnish Immigration Service or allow the right to work
The best solution to the situation is to ensure that the Finnish Immigration Service has sufficient resources for the smooth processing of family permit-based residence permit applications. Processing times often extend beyond 9 months, which is the maximum duration allowed by law for processing a family-based residence permit. If processing were speeded up, the unstable and insecure period would be kept as short as possible and those who moved to the country would be able to begin their integration and employment.
If the processing times are not shortened, solutions for the situation can be sought by changing the law. The Aliens Act does not currently include those families where there is a Finnish spouse waiting for a family-based residence permit among those who have the right to work in Finland without a residence permit. For example, asylum seekers have the right to work after a certain period (3 or 6 months). Legislative change should be considered to enhance integration and safeguard the well-being of families. Opening the right to work and study or integration services would alleviate the situation of those waiting for a family-based residence permit in Finland. As a means, it would also fit into the current need for more foreign experts, when society could potentially make use of their skills earlier. These family members usually already have a permanent address and home municipality entry in Finland and a very high probability of obtaining a positive residence permit decision.
The need for immigration has been recognized. We want more experts in Finland. It would be in Finland's interest for members of intercultural families to choose to settle here and not elsewhere because of our harsh bureaucracy. The sooner a person moves to the beginning of integration, the better for the well-being of individuals and families, for integration and for the national economy.
The author, Elina Helmanen, is the executive director of Familia, an organization for families of intercultural families, who also lives the daily life of an intercultural family. Familia (www.familiary.fi) is a nationwide expert organization for intercultural families, founded in 1988. The organization supports the well-being of intercultural families by providing volunteering and peer activities, information, and counseling. The aim of the organization is to promote the recognition of intercultural families and Finns in society, and to develop legislation and a service system to support intercultural, bilingual and multilingual families.