RP application for an entrepreneur - prospects for non-EU applicant in the IT field

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tantrum
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Joined: Sat Mar 26, 2022 6:28 am

RP application for an entrepreneur - prospects for non-EU applicant in the IT field

Post by tantrum » Sat Mar 26, 2022 7:08 am

Hi all. First post here, hope I follow all the etiquette...

I am interested in applying for a residence permit for an entrepreneur - see https://migri.fi/en/entrepreneur

I am a non-EU citizen and non-EU resident. (Also not UK or EFTA if that is relevant.)

From that link -
Freelance work means that you work independently, and usually for several contractors, without having a permanent employment relationship. You are considered a ‘light entrepreneur’, if you employ yourself and perform entrepreneurial activities. You provide services...
This is basically what I have in mind. I have a solo business that works for international organisations in multiple countries doing software development. These are "clients", not employers. (So I send them invoices and they pay me and I handle all pension, tax, social security etc payments. No sick leave, no holiday pay etc.) My idea is to relocate this business to Finland, where I would continue to work with existing clients, and hopefully also find clients in Finland and/or the rest of the EU. I am not selling products - it's purely service-provision/consulting.

I have lived in Europe or its overseas territories for about 13 years, but have no citizenship or long-term residence advantages. I have 20+ years' experience in IT, plus 5 years with my solo business. Each of these 5 years, gross income has been over EUR120K. I have two contracts in place till the end of 2022. I have relevant university qualifications. I took a look at the application form for the RP and it seems OK in terms of my background.

Mother tongue is English. I speak Swedish and German to B2 level, no Finnish.

So the application costs EUR490 and takes 4-6 months to process, according to that link above. But the next link says the processing time for "RP on other grounds" is 14-16 months. https://migri.fi/en/-/updates-in-estima ... -23-3-2022

So, given the cost and the potential processing times, I was hoping to hear if anyone had some feedback on my chances of being approved and if the processing times they state are accurate. Anything from "don't bother" to "yeah, I have a friend who did this and it worked". Thanks in advance for anyone who has tips on this.

I see here only about 30% of applications are approved. https://tilastot.migri.fi/index.html#de ... /2/10?l=en - but it's hard to guess at the quality level of the rejected applications...
Last edited by tantrum on Mon Mar 28, 2022 12:21 am, edited 1 time in total.



RP application for an entrepreneur - prospects for non-EU applicant in the IT field

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rinso
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Re: RP application for an entrepeneur - prospects for non-EU application in IT

Post by rinso » Sat Mar 26, 2022 11:24 am

One of the reasons to approve an RP for an entrepreneur is that he needs to be in Finland to serve his Finnish clients. An online business with international clients lacks that condition. So it might not go as easy as you hope.

inkku
Posts: 922
Joined: Wed Apr 04, 2007 8:26 pm

Re: RP application for an entrepeneur - prospects for non-EU application in IT

Post by inkku » Sat Mar 26, 2022 11:28 am

But didn't they just make changes on these entrepreneurcases? Or was it only for investors?

tantrum
Posts: 12
Joined: Sat Mar 26, 2022 6:28 am

Re: RP application for an entrepeneur - prospects for non-EU application in IT

Post by tantrum » Sun Mar 27, 2022 9:13 am

rinso wrote:
Sat Mar 26, 2022 11:24 am
One of the reasons to approve an RP for an entrepreneur is that he needs to be in Finland to serve his Finnish clients. An online business with international clients lacks that condition. So it might not go as easy as you hope.
I have been comparing several European countries for residence permits along these lines. Several do specify a requirement to have local clients (e.g. Sweden, Germany, Norway), while some do not (e.g. Italy, Luxembourg). As far as I can see, there is no such requirement listed for Finland. That said, maybe it is something they evaluate applications on without explicitly saying it up-front? Generally I have found the migri.fi materials pretty straightforward and well-detailed, so I would be surprised they wouldn't list a disqualifying condition more prominently.

Maybe it has changed recently, as inkku suggested?

At any rate, I did think about trying to get a Finnish client before applying, to improve the quality of the application, but I felt it'd be easier to have Finnish clients once I reside there. Especially given it could take up to 16 months for processing.

Thanks to both of you for replying.

betelgeuse
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Joined: Thu Aug 29, 2013 1:24 am

Re: RP application for an entrepeneur - prospects for non-EU application in IT

Post by betelgeuse » Sun Mar 27, 2022 12:41 pm

rinso wrote:
Sat Mar 26, 2022 11:24 am
One of the reasons to approve an RP for an entrepreneur is that he needs to be in Finland to serve his Finnish clients. An online business with international clients lacks that condition. So it might not go as easy as you hope.
There is no such condition to have Finnish clients. However, Migri does say under employment (so does not automatically apply to entrepreneurs):

"If the company does not require you to reside in Finland, you cannot be granted a residence permit on the basis of work. A residence permit on the basis of work is only granted for such work that requires the employee to reside in Finland. "
tantrum wrote:
Sat Mar 26, 2022 7:08 am
So, given the cost and the potential processing times, I was hoping to hear if anyone had some feedback on my chances of being approved and if the processing times they state are accurate. Anything from "don't bother" to "yeah, I have a friend who did this and it worked". Thanks in advance for anyone who has tips on this.
Your fastest and most certain route would be to have an existing Finnish company employ you and take over the contracts. You could agree to later convert to your own business (if that's something you value). PM me if you are interested since I know some companies that would probably do this.

inkku
Posts: 922
Joined: Wed Apr 04, 2007 8:26 pm

Re: RP application for an entrepeneur - prospects for non-EU application in IT

Post by inkku » Sun Mar 27, 2022 1:42 pm

So what happened to the proposed D-visa?

betelgeuse
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Re: RP application for an entrepeneur - prospects for non-EU application in IT

Post by betelgeuse » Sun Mar 27, 2022 2:01 pm

inkku wrote:
Sun Mar 27, 2022 1:42 pm
So what happened to the proposed D-visa?
"A legislative amendment, which will enter into force in June, will enable the introduction of a long-term visa. A long-term visa is related to work-based immigration and a fast track procedure for entry into the country. In the first phase, a long-term visa can be issued to senior specialists, start-up entrepreneurs and their family members."

https://tem.fi/en/-//10184/long-term-na ... ign-labour

tantrum
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Joined: Sat Mar 26, 2022 6:28 am

Re: RP application for an entrepeneur - prospects for non-EU application in IT

Post by tantrum » Mon Mar 28, 2022 12:09 am

@betelgeuse thanks for the offer to give me some info on companies that might facilitate an employment-based permit. Although it seems that could fall foul of the rule you mentioned about needing to be in Finland for the work in order to get the residence permit? I will send you a PM though, because perhaps there is some kind of hybrid solution that works.

The D-visa will be for employment (specialists) and start-up entrepreneurs. The permit I am seeking is for "light" entrepreneurs, so doesn't fit into either of those categories anyway. That fast track they are talking about for D-visas sure does seem appealing though.

betelgeuse
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Joined: Thu Aug 29, 2013 1:24 am

Re: RP application for an entrepeneur - prospects for non-EU application in IT

Post by betelgeuse » Mon Mar 28, 2022 6:42 pm

tantrum wrote:
Mon Mar 28, 2022 12:09 am
@betelgeuse thanks for the offer to give me some info on companies that might facilitate an employment-based permit. Although it seems that could fall foul of the rule you mentioned about needing to be in Finland for the work in order to get the residence permit? I will send you a PM though, because perhaps there is some kind of hybrid solution that works.
The work in Finland requirement is a not an issue for established companies employing people as they have reasonable grounds to specify that the work will be done in their offices.

Scolix
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Re: RP application for an entrepreneur - prospects for non-EU applicant in the IT field

Post by Scolix » Wed Apr 27, 2022 12:13 am

@tantrum

If you find a solution for your RP application for an entrepreneur, do post it or pm me. I'm also looking for a similar solution.

tantrum
Posts: 12
Joined: Sat Mar 26, 2022 6:28 am

Re: RP application for an entrepreneur - prospects for non-EU applicant in the IT field

Post by tantrum » Mon May 02, 2022 11:08 am

@Scolix and others.

OK, so I kicked off the process and sent in an application.

The first step is that the Centre for Economic Development assesses the applications. As luck would have it, they quickly asked a bunch of follow-up questions, including "why Finland and who are your Finnish clients?". I am not quite sure how you would get any Finnish clients in IT if you say you could not start for 4-6 months plus time to relocate (this is the timeframe stated on the migri website), but maybe there is a way to do it.

Anyway, I will respond with the positive feedback from various potential clients that I have received (along the lines of "your CV looks great, so yeah sure, if you get the permit, let's chat!"). I will post back here when I know if this approach worked or not. One company I contacted was prepared to consider some kind of agreement where they would sign something saying "we have a deal if Tantrum gets the permit", but that is moving slowly and I have to submit my response to the Centre for Economic Development soon.

I was also asked for a very detailed business plan, which I had not prepared for the initial application. A template provided by VASEK (Vaasa Regional Development Council) was really helpful for that.

So, I would say that even though Finland does not explicitly say "do not apply without Finnish clients", it does definitely seem to be something they are looking for. Whether the strong prospect of getting them if I have the permit is enough, I will know eventually. It's a little bit chicken-and-egg for me at the moment (can't get the permit without the clients, can't get the clients without the permit).

It has been quite a lot of work, I'd say. Employment as a specialist seems soooo much easier, but I have existing non-Finnish clients I want to maintain, so it's not really an option for me.

tantrum
Posts: 12
Joined: Sat Mar 26, 2022 6:28 am

Re: RP application for an entrepreneur - prospects for non-EU applicant in the IT field

Post by tantrum » Mon Jun 06, 2022 8:26 am

Just as a final comment in case others come in with a similar question...

I received a positive decision for my application in the end. After my initial application, I needed to clarify who my Finnish clients were, why I needed to be in Finland and submit a detailed business plan. In the end, I made the case that I would be able to get Finnish clients due to my skillset and experience, if the permit were given, plus I shared a list of a bunch of Finnish companies that said they'd be interested in interviewing me if I got the permit (and at least one that was interviewing me regardless) and I explained some particular personal and professional reasons why I wanted to come to Finland. Not sure what got me over the line, but I would say that it is possible to get this permit without Finnish clients, but you have to work pretty hard for it and it would likely be a lot easier to have them lined up first.

The whole process took 2 months (rather than the 4-6 months they said it would) and that included a month where the ball was in my court while I gathered the requested extra information. So it was only in Migri's hands for 1 month and I was impressed with the speed and efficiency of the process, to tell the truth.


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