Presentation at a EURA-NET meeting in Budapest 16 October 2015.

1. Transformative
characteristics and
impacts of temporary
transnational migration
between Finland and Asia
Mari Korpela, Jaakko Hyytiä, Pirkko Pitkänen

2. Lifestyle
migrants (13)
High skilled
workers (15)
Low skilled
workers (14)
Asylum
seekers (5)
Students
(16)
Spouses (8)
Relatives
(9)
Returnees (6)

3. Career
Reasons for Migration
Company’s
needs
Work
experience
Money
Learning
independence
Adventure
New
experiences
Welfare
state
Free
education
Nature
Safety
Relaxed
lifestyle
Good quality
education

4. Challenges
Slow and complicated residence permit processes
Biometric systems cause an extra challenge
Lack of information on the asylum process
Problems with banking
The unemployment of accompanying spouses
Lifestyle migrants and returnees face problems with Finnish
systems
Socially isolated from local Finnish people
Lack of language skills
Children’s schooling

5. Slow visa and
residence permit
processes
Waste of skills of
migrant spouses
Unrealistic
language skill
requirements
High skilled
migration career-
driven
Finland risks losing out in the competition to attract
the best migrant talent

6. The significance of money
• The seasonal workers came to earn money
• For the high skilled money was not the main motivation
• Frequent communication to native countries with
applications like Facebook, WhatsApp, VoiceOver etc.
 social and cultural contacts remain strong
Financial remittances were not very
significant
Money for personal use (e.g. a house)

7. Rewards
Relatives got a
chance to travel to
Asia
Work
experience
University
degree
Relatives learned
about the
destination countries
New
experiences
Money

8. Future intentions
Stay
Move on
Go back
Lifestyle
migrants want to
continue here
and there

9. What now?
The suitability of integration for temporary migrants?
The integration of spouses is a great challenge
Transnational lifestyle of Finnish citizens and the
reintegration of returnees need to be addressed.
We need more channels for regular migration
The processes for obtaining a residence permit and an
asylum need to be made faster