Speaking to the Green League’s party council in Oulu on Saturday, 26 September 2026, parliamentary group chair Oras Tynkkynen delivered a blistering critique of the centre-right government’s four-year drive to tighten Finland’s immigration laws. He argued that successive restrictions—from stricter language and income requirements for permanent residence to caps on humanitarian admissions—have produced “unreasonable human consequences” and risk marginalising Finland on the global talent market. Tynkkynen singled out a recent Social Democratic Party proposal to link social-benefit eligibility to compulsory language studies, calling it “impractical and punitive” given current shortages in publicly funded Finnish-language courses. The speech also warned against following the “Danish path,” where mainstream parties adopt far-right immigration goals, suggesting such a shift ultimately empowers extremist rhetoric without solving labour-market bottlenecks. Although delivered at a party meeting, the intervention comes days before Parliament reconvenes to debate a new Aliens Act amendment that would extend the minimum residence period for permanent permits from four to six years and introduce a points-based salary threshold for expert visas. Coalition MPs have indicated the bill will be fast-tracked with a target implementation date of 1 January 2027. Employers reliant on non-EU staff should monitor the legislative timetable closely. If passed as drafted, the changes would require foreign employees on fixed-term contracts ending in 2027 to meet higher income thresholds when renewing residence status. HR teams are advised to run scenario analyses now, factoring in the proposed €3 000 monthly wage floor for specialists and the retention of Finnish- or Swedish-language proficiency as a prerequisite for long-term stay. Tynkkynen’s comments signal that immigration policy will remain a hot-button issue in Finland’s 2027 general election. Companies may wish to engage with industry associations such as Technology Finland or the Chamber of Commerce to ensure business-mobility concerns are reflected in parliamentary committee hearings.
