Denmark
Authorities suspend certain applications for internships in the green sector, herdsmen and farm managers
The Danish Agency for International Recruitment and Integration (SIRI) has suspended the case processing of certain applications for a residence and work permit for an internship in the green sector as well as for herdsmen and farm managers.
This applies, in the first instance, to applications for residence and work permits as an intern, as well as for herdsman and farm manager, where the applicant in their current or previous application has stated that they have an education from Uganda, Tanzania, or Kenya.
Applications for a residence and work permit as an accompanying family member to the affected applicant group are also included. This applies as well to applications where the applicant is already staying in Denmark and wants to change their internship host, or wants to apply as a herdsman after the end of their internship.
Background
In February 2026, SIRI implemented a stricter case processing of applications for a residence and work permit for an agricultural internship by applicants from Uganda.
The stricter case processing uncovered conditions, including patterns in grade information as well as other aspects of the submitted educational documents, that gave cause for severe doubt about the authenticity and the contents of the submitted educational documents from applicants with an educational background from Uganda, Tanzania and Kenya, where similar patterns have been observed.
On this basis, SIRI has found it necessary temporarily to suspend the case processing of the affected applications while further clarifications on the area are carried out.
The clarifications are carried out in collaboration with the relevant authorities, including the Danish National ID Centre (NIDC).
SIRI will directly inform the affected applicants about the suspension of their case. Affected applicants do not need to act or contact SIRI. SIRI expects to resume case processing in June 2026. If the timeline changes, SIRI will directly inform the affected applicants.
Finland
Government proposes immigration reforms for international students
On 30 April 2026, the government announced two proposed legislative packages to address the income difficulties faced by some international students in Finland.
The first package would allow the authorities to more easily cancel the residence permit of a non-EU/EEA national student in higher or upper secondary education if the student resorted to social assistance in Finland even once. This is expected to reduce the number of people applying for social assistance. The changes would enter into force in autumn 2026
Automated post-decision monitoring would be used by the Finnish Immigration Service to determine whether a student receives social assistance. An overall consideration would be carried out in each case before the permit was cancelled.
As part of its automated post-decision monitoring, the Finnish Immigration Service processed over 37,000 residence permits between September 2023 and December 2025. A student had applied for social assistance in 333 cases, which means that they account for a very small part of the total number of international students
In addition to this proposal, the government is preparing a second package of legislation to help international students from experiencing income difficulties.
- The family of a student would be able to apply for a residence permit in Finland only after the student has been in Finland for one year. In this way, the student would have a realistic idea of the income level required for living in Finland in advance.
- The income requirement for students would be clarified and provisions on the required income in euros would be laid down in an act and decree.
- A language proficiency requirement would be added to the residence permit for study in order to prevent abuse in cases where the student’s language skills are not sufficient for studying in Finland.
- Furthermore, the grounds for denial of the Aliens Act would apply to upper secondary students and all their family members. This would make it easier to monitor the granting of permits and combat any challenges in advance.
The government is scheduled to send the second legislative package for public consultation in spring 2026 and it would enter into force during 2027.
