Group appointments for employee groups

International House Helsinki’s (IHH) group appointment booking service streamlines and speeds up the process for employers recruiting large groups of employees internationally. This group appointment service caters to employers bringing in large groups of employees from abroad to Finland. The service is available in Finnish, Swedish, and English.

Through the group appointment service, employers or their representatives, such as relocation or recruitment companies, can arrange the necessary administrative services for the entire incoming group of workers and their accompanying family members who arrive at the same time. These services may include registering the right of residence for EU citizens, applying for identity cards, registering their municipality of residence, obtaining tax cards, and enrolling in social security. Additionally, family members relocating with workers can register as jobseekers and access advisory and support services.

Workers in construction, installation sites, or shipyards require a tax number. Workers who need a tax number should visit the Helsinki Area Tax Office on Hämeentie instead of the IHH service point.

If a group of employees requires services from only one authority, the employer should directly contact that authority to inquire about the possibility of utilizing the group service.

When can an employer make a group appointment for a group of employees?

Group appointments must be made well in advance, at least one month before the group arrives in Finland.

An employer can schedule a group appointment for a group of workers when the following criteria are met:

• The employees being recruited have been employed in Finland for more than one year.
• All workers being recruited have the same employer.
• The employees’ country of origin or nationality doesn’t need to be the same for all members of the group. However, everyone in the same group must either be citizens of any Nordic country, citizens of any EU country, or citizens of any third country. Group appointments are therefore not suitable, for example, in a situation where one worker is a third-country national and would be joined in the same group by a family member or colleague who is an EU national.
• The workers intend to stay and work in the capital region.
• The group’s size for a single visit is between 15 and 25 people, including family members. Groups larger than this are divided into several visits.

Background information required for booking a group appointment

In order to provide the necessary services, IHH needs the following background information about the group of workers:

• Group size
• Countries of origin and nationalities of group members
• Date of arrival, and start date and duration of the employment contract
• Workplace location (IHH’s group appointment service is aimed at employers in the Helsinki metropolitan area)
• Employer details, including sector and nature of work
• Number of accompanying family members, if any, along with the ages of children, if applicable
• Requirement for registering as an unemployed jobseeker
• Need for school and nursery guidance
• Potential need for interpretation services

To ensure proper protection of employees’ data, IHH will establish an agreement on the processing of personal data with the employer or their representative before confirming the group appointment.

Process of the group appointment

1. Coordination meeting between the employer or employer’s representative and the IHH coordinator. The meeting is to agree on the organisation and the documents needed for the group appointment.
2. The employer or employer’s representative ensures that employees have the documents and application forms needed for the different authority services.
3. An initial briefing may be organised remotely for the workers before they enter the country. The initial briefing will clarify the processes and preparations to be made for arrival in Finland.
4. Upon arrival in Finland, the group of workers will visit IHH simultaneously at a pre-arranged time. In this way, the entire group can have their entry issues dealt with in one visit.