Support for integration

When you move to Finland from another country, you are usually entitled to receive services supporting integration. They are public services that help recently immigrated people. Support is available, for example, for learning the language and finding a job or a place to study.

In Finland, municipalities play an important role in supporting integration. You can move to a municipality freely for reasons such as work or studies.

Municipal advisory services and various associations help with a wide range of issues related to settling in Finland and managing your affairs. Often you need to know how to ask for help. Being proactive is important also in managing your own affairs, learning the language and finding a job or a place to study.

The integration programme describes the integration support services of the municipality

Each municipality has an integration programme, which includes the services that the municipality offers for immigrants to promote integration. These include at least the service needs assessment, an integration plan, guidance and counselling during the integration programme, multilingual civic orientation, integration training, literacy training, and final examination of language proficiency. In addition, the programme may include other training and services that promote acquisition of Finnish or Swedish.

An integration plan will be drafted based on the service needs assessment

The assessment of service needs related to integration and skills will be carried out in the early years of entry, within three years of the date on which the first residence permit, residence card or registration of the right of residence came into force. When assessing service needs related to integration and skills, the municipality or the employment authority assesses the competences, goals and wishes of the immigrant, and their readiness to integrate, work and study.

Based on the information, it is assessed what kind of support the person needs for integration. If necessary, an integration plan will be drawn up for the immigrant. The integration plan will be drawn up no later than three years after the date on which the first residence permit, residence card or registration of the right of residence came into force.

The integration plan includes the services and measures that enable the immigrant to learn Finnish or Swedish and to find, for example, a job or a place of study. The first integration plan will be valid for a maximum of one year and may be extended for another year. In certain cases, the plan may be extended further, for example, if the integration plan could not be implemented as planned due to parental leave or illness.
Individual goals for integration are agreed with the immigrant. The main objective is generally to find employment, or, if employment is not relevant due to a person's life situation, development of working life skills. For those under 25 years of age, the goal is to complete at least upper secondary education.

In order to achieve this goal, the integration plan usually provides for participation in training or other measures, such as a work trial. During the period of validity of the plan, immigrants can be directed to integration training free of charge, for example. The plan also usually involves an obligation to look for and apply for jobs.

During the measures taken in the integration plan, for example, during the integration training period, it is often possible for an immigrant to receive unemployment benefit from Kela. The condition for receiving unemployment benefit is that the immigrant follows the integration plan agreed with them, that is, for example, they participate in the agreed training.

Integration training is a key service promoting integration

Integration training includes Finnish or Swedish language studies, and studies related to Finnish society and working life skills. Integration training usually takes about one year, but the duration, scope and content of the training may vary depending on the needs of each participant. After integration training, the intention is to seek employment or study.

Access to integration training is most likely to be gained in the early stages of integration. At that point it is worth investing in language learning. Later, access to language courses may be more difficult, and free courses may no longer be available.

Before the training begins, students may take a test to assess their language and study skills. Based on the test, they will be directed to appropriate training. Integration training also includes career guidance and one or more on-the-job learning periods. During the on-the-job learning period, students learn more language and strengthen their professional competence in a Finnish workplace.

Integration plan can also include self-motivated studies

In some cases, the integration plan of an immigrant who is seeking employment may include self-motivated studies, that is, studies other than integration training organised by the local employment authority. The condition is that the studies are considered to promote the integration and employment of the immigrant.

Studies and their inclusion in the integration plan must always be agreed with the municipal employment authority before the start of the studies. Self-motivated studies can include literacy education, basic education for adults, preparatory education for upper secondary qualification (TUVA), vocational training or preparatory studies for higher education. It can also be education that qualifies immigrants to work in their profession in Finland. The aim is to design the best possible integration package for each immigrant. Read more on the page Adult education.

Municipalities and associations also offer other support for immigrants

Municipalities also have counselling services for immigrants. The advisory services can help you with managing your own affairs, such as dealing with authorities. Sometimes you can get advice in your first language. Immigrants also receive help and advice from many associations.

Integration services help those moving to Finland, but in the end it’s your own initiative that is needed when settling in a new country, studying a language, and finding a study or job.

You can integrate in Finnish or Swedish

It is possible to integrate into Finland in either Finnish or Swedish. The language in which you should integrate depends on your own situation. In most parts of Finland, the majority of people speak Finnish and most of the jobs are in Finnish. However, some municipalities are bilingual, and in some municipalities the majority speaks Swedish.

Integration in Swedish can be a good choice if you live in a municipality with a large number of Swedish-speaking residents or workplaces, or if you have Swedish-speaking family members and friends. It may be good for the whole family to choose the same language of integration so that parents can, for example, help with their children’s schoolwork.

Swedish is related to, for example, German and English. Therefore, some who already know these languages well may feel that learning Swedish is easier than learning Finnish. Many jobs require both Finnish and Swedish language skills, and sometimes it may be necessary to learn both languages.

The primary language of integration will be agreed upon in the integration plan.

InfoFinland provides municipality-specific information on services supporting integration in some municipalities.

More information on integration services

• Integration into Finland (infofinland.fi) 
  Finnish, Swedish, English, Russian, Estonian, Ukrainian, French, Spanish, Turkish, Chinese, Farsi, Arabic
• Services and integration plan for immigrants (tyomarkkinatori.fi) 
  Finnish, Swedish, English
• Financial assistance during participation in employment promoting services (kela.fi) 
  Finnish, Swedish, English
• The national core curriculum for integration training (pdf, oph.fi)
  • Different language versions available on a page in Finnish (oph.fi) Finnish, Swedish, English, in short: Russian, Arabic, Turkish, Persian, Thai