Finland starts legislative work to implement tougher EU Return Regulation

The Finnish Ministry of the Interior has launched a fast-track legislative project to transpose the European Union’s new Return Regulation into national law. Announced on 10 July 2026, the project will run until March 2027 and will prepare the amendments needed to bring Finland’s Aliens Act and related enforcement legislation into line with the EU Pact on Migration and Asylum. Under the draft outline, the maximum detention period for people subject to a removal order would be lengthened from the current 12 months to the EU ceiling of 18 months. Fixed-term entry bans could be extended from 15 years to 20 years when “serious threats to public order or national security” are involved. The Regulation also allows—but does not oblige—Member States to establish “return hubs” in third countries where return procedures can be completed before re-entry to the EU. Helsinki says it will examine co-operation with neighbouring Nordic countries on this model but stresses that any hubs must respect fundamental rights and the principle of non-refoulement. Finland’s centre-right government argues that a more robust return system is needed to deter irregular migration and to increase public confidence in the immigration system. In 2025 the country issued around 4,200 return decisions but only 38 % resulted in an actual departure. The Interior Ministry believes the new rules—combined with broader information-sharing powers adopted the same day—will raise the effective return rate above 60 % by 2028. For employers, the most immediate consequence is the risk that overstaying workers may face longer detention and longer re-entry bans. Companies have been urged to tighten right-to-work checks and to ensure that end-of-assignment departures are properly documented. Mobility managers should also review pending residence-permit extensions: if an application is ultimately refused and the employee loses the right to remain, removal could happen more quickly once the new rules enter into force in autumn 2026. Although the changes are still at the drafting stage, the Interior Ministry is expected to circulate a consultation package in August. Stakeholders—including employer federations, trade unions and non-governmental organisations—will have just four weeks to comment before the bill is finalised for Parliament in November 2026.