The cities of Kuopio and Joensuu, the region’s higher education institutions, and the business community are appealing for the preservation of the Finnish Immigration Service’s Kuopio office. The parties have sent a joint letter to the leadership of the Finnish Immigration Service and to national decision-makers, calling for the planned closure to be halted.
As part of central government savings measures, the closure of the Finnish Immigration Service offices in Kuhmo, Kuopio and Lahti has been proposed. According to the signatories of the letter, closing the Kuopio office in particular would make it more difficult for immigrants across a wide area to access services and would weaken the accessibility of Eastern Finland as a whole.
If services were moved, for example, to Lappeenranta, Tampere or Helsinki, travel times and costs would increase significantly. According to the signatories, this could also affect where international talent and students choose to settle in Finland.
The letter emphasizes that immigration, international students and skilled labour are essential to the region’s growth. According to the signatories, well-functioning immigration services support both companies’ recruitment efforts and the internationalization of higher education institutions.
The letter has been signed by Kuopio Mayor Soile Lahti, Joensuu Mayor Jere Penttilä, University of Eastern Finland Rector Tapio Määttä, Savonia University of Applied Sciences Rector Mervi Vidgrén, Karelia University of Applied Sciences Rector Petri Raivo, Kuopio Region Chamber of Commerce CEO Kaija Savolainen, and North Karelia Chamber of Commerce CEO Antti Toivanen.