The Ministry of Economic Affairs and Employment in Finland, the Finnish Immigration Service and the Employment and Economic Development Office (TE Offices) in Finland worked together to improve the processing times of applications for residence permits for employed persons, by introducing the use of automatic systems.

The use of automation assists decision-making processes by checking official registers for pre-existing data, which in the past had to be verified manually for each application. This saves time, diminishes the chance of human error and makes it easier for authorities to identify possible risk cases. 

On average, the processing time for residence permits for employed persons in Finland was 41 days in February 2024. By contrast, in 2023, the process took an average of 77 days. The introduction of automation has in particular sped up the processing time for favourable decisions: in February 2024, on average, first permits were processed in 23 days and extended permits in 21 days. This result also adheres to the Finnish government's processing time goal of 1-month maximum.

Specialists at TE Offices were closely involved in the process of designing the automated system that accelerates partial decisions. On average, TE Offices were able to make a favourable partial decision on first and extended permits within 12 days in February 2024. For comparison, in 2023 this took typically around 44 days. 

According to the Ministry of Economic Affairs and Employment, the Finnish Immigration Service and TE Offices, the close cooperation between the authorities and improved harmonisation of practices and information exchange has been central in speeding up processing and enhancing the quality of permit processing.