Study Leave from the workplace (residence permit)

[vuraldo]

Hello,

I have a work-based residence permit and I am currently working. And it is A residence valid until March 2026. I would like to go on unpaid study leave for a while to study. Normally I have the right to do so by law, but I wonder if it would be a problem for my residence permit. After all, I plan to go back to my job. Does anyone have any experience with this?

Thanks in advance,

[FinlandGirl]

I have a work-based residence permit and I am currently working. And it is A residence valid until March 2026. I would like to go on unpaid study leave for a while to study. Normally I have the right to do so by law, but I wonder if it would be a problem for my residence permit. After all, I plan to go back to my job.

For how long do you want to go on unpaid study leave?

The old text of the law says that your residence permit can be cancelled at any time when you are not working, and this is being amended to clarify that the cancellation will be after 3 months of not working.

[betelgeuse]

I have a work-based residence permit and I am currently working. And it is A residence valid until March 2026. I would like to go on unpaid study leave for a while to study. Normally I have the right to do so by law, but I wonder if it would be a problem for my residence permit. After all, I plan to go back to my job.

For how long do you want to go on unpaid study leave?

The old text of the law says that your residence permit can be cancelled at any time when you are not working, and this is being amended to clarify that the cancellation will be after 3 months of not working.

Opintovapaa means the employment contract does not end so it’s not clear that the three months would apply (termination of employment is probably going to be the trigger). I would email Migri and ask what their interpretation of the current law is.

[FinlandGirl]

I have a work-based residence permit and I am currently working. And it is A residence valid until March 2026. I would like to go on unpaid study leave for a while to study. Normally I have the right to do so by law, but I wonder if it would be a problem for my residence permit. After all, I plan to go back to my job.

For how long do you want to go on unpaid study leave?

The old text of the law says that your residence permit can be cancelled at any time when you are not working, and this is being amended to clarify that the cancellation will be after 3 months of not working.

Opintovapaa means the employment contract does not end so it’s not clear that the three months would apply (termination of employment is probably going to be the trigger).

I was discussing what might be permitted, you are only saying Migri might not get informed by the employer.

Two years of university studies without working on a residence permit on the basis of work can result in cancellation of the residence permit under current law, that won't change.

Regarding your suggestion that Migri might not get informed automatically:

Your argument would also apply to a layoff of indefinite duration, which might last years.
If such a loophole would exist, it would get closed at some point.

The Government will investigate and implement a more effective system for supervising permit conditions.

Implementing automatic monitoring whether salary payments in the incomes register fulfil the income requirements of the granted residence permit should be straightforward, similar to how Migri already automatically monitors study progress of people with a residence permit on the basis of studies.

I would email Migri and ask what their interpretation of the current law is.

Usually that's a good suggestion, but the law already allows cancelling the residence permit if the reason for granting it no longer exists and Migri does not yet know how cancellation will work in practice in 2024 after the legislative changes.

[betelgeuse]

For how long do you want to go on unpaid study leave?

The old text of the law says that your residence permit can be cancelled at any time when you are not working, and this is being amended to clarify that the cancellation will be after 3 months of not working.

Opintovapaa means the employment contract does not end so it’s not clear that the three months would apply (termination of employment is probably going to be the trigger).

I was discussing what might be permitted, you are only saying Migri might not get informed by the employer.

Two years of university studies without working on a residence permit on the basis of work can result in cancellation of the residence permit under current law, that won't change.

The original post does not specify the length. For two year university studies probably the correct approach is switching to a student permit during studies and then back to work when they are over.

Regarding your suggestion that Migri might not get informed automatically:

Your argument would also apply to a layoff of indefinite duration, which might last years.
If such a loophole would exist, it would get closed at some point.

This is the current situation. There's no obligation on anyone to notify Migri and stay continues to be legal.

[FinlandGirl]

Opintovapaa means the employment contract does not end so it’s not clear that the three months would apply (termination of employment is probably going to be the trigger).

I was discussing what might be permitted, you are only saying Migri might not get informed by the employer.

Two years of university studies without working on a residence permit on the basis of work can result in cancellation of the residence permit under current law, that won't change.

The original post does not specify the length.

That's why I started my first reply with:

For how long do you want to go on unpaid study leave?

For two year university studies probably the correct approach is switching to a student permit during studies and then back to work when they are over.

With the updated law clarifying the duration after which a residence permit can be cancelled, 3 months are the safe maximum unless some other rule exists.

Regarding your suggestion that Migri might not get informed automatically:

Your argument would also apply to a layoff of indefinite duration, which might last years.
If such a loophole would exist, it would get closed at some point.

This is the current situation. There's no obligation on anyone to notify Migri and stay continues to be legal.

It stays legal until the residence permit expires or Migri cancels it.

You are quite naive when you believe without notification Migri could not notice that a residence permit should be cancelled.

It is a simple database query to generate a list of IDs of all people on a valid non-permanent residence permit on the basis of employment, and check on November 1st in the Incomes Register which of these people received less than 1200 Euro salary in every month in August, September and October.
Some people might have valid reasons for not working (e.g. parental leave off from their employment), but others might simply no longer fulfil the requirements of their residence permits.

[betelgeuse]

It stays legal until the residence permit expires or Migri cancels it.

You are quite naive when you believe without notification Migri could not notice that a residence permit should be cancelled.

It is a simple database query to generate a list of IDs of all people on a valid non-permanent residence permit on the basis of employment, and check on November 1st in the Incomes Register which of these people received less than 1200 Euro salary in every month in August, September and October.
Some people might have valid reasons for not working (e.g. parental leave off from their employment), but others might simply no longer fulfil the requirements of their residence permits.

Instead of being naive I know how to read Migri web pages that explain their monitoring. They don’t secrectly do something else.

https://migri.fi/en/post-decision-monit ... ce-permits

[FinlandGirl]

It stays legal until the residence permit expires or Migri cancels it.

You are quite naive when you believe without notification Migri could not notice that a residence permit should be cancelled.

It is a simple database query to generate a list of IDs of all people on a valid non-permanent residence permit on the basis of employment, and check on November 1st in the Incomes Register which of these people received less than 1200 Euro salary in every month in August, September and October.
Some people might have valid reasons for not working (e.g. parental leave off from their employment), but others might simply no longer fulfil the requirements of their residence permits.

Instead of being naive I know how to read Migri web pages that explain their monitoring. They don’t secrectly do something else.

https://migri.fi/en/post-decision-monit ... ce-permits

You are talking about today and I am talking about 2024.

The information there already says that Migri initiates a process for withdrawing the residence permit after 3 months of unemployment when they know about it, and adding automated monitoring for that based on the Incomes Register won't start secretly - it will be announced just like the announcement of Migri using the Incomes Register earlier this year or the recent announcement of automatic monitoring of student residence permits.

[vuraldo]

Thank you for the useful conversation. I think it is better not to do this, at least I will wait for some laws to be clarified.