In a bid to attract more international students, the Finnish Ministry of Foreign Affairs has announced that it is working on a bill to issue a long-term visa for third-country students and researchers.
The visa named D visa will help promote education and work-based migration in Finland.
Finland’s Minister of the Interior Krista Mikkonen said that the country wants to triple the number of international students enrolled at Finnish universities, which the newly-introduced bill would help achieve.
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Mikkonen added that a D visa issued in connection with a positive residence permit decision would allow an international student to travel to Finland faster than now. This would again help students begin their courses on time and strengthen Finland’s appeal in the international student community.
According to data issued by the Finnish Immigration Services in September 2021, there has been a 141% increase from 2020 in the number of applications submitted by international students for a student residence permit.
The same data revealed that a total of 4,233 third-country nationals applied for a study residence permit in Finland between January and August. Among these, 899 of these applications were filed by Russian students and 504 by Chinese students. The previous year saw 1,756 fewer applications.
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As per a press release of the Ministry of the Interior, the new bill will also allow issuing of a D visa for other emerging needs, for instance, to those who lose their residence card.
This marks the second time that the D visa is being amended. Earlier, the changes were made for growth entrepreneurs, specialists and their family members.
The Ministry of the Interior has been working on the bill since December 15 this year and will continue working on it until June 30, 2022. However, the proposal on the amendments of D visa will be submitted in the spring session of 2022.
Source: Erudera
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