Finnish and Thai officials have met to strengthen their diplomatic cooperation, including discussions about visa exemptions.
Krongkanit Rakcharoen, the Director-General of Thailand’s Department of European Affairs, has welcomed Jussi Tanner, Finland’s Director-General of Consular Services, and the Finnish Ambassador, Kristiina Kuvaja-Xanthopoulos, to discuss these matters, Schengen.News reports.
More specifically, during the meeting, visa exemption opportunities were discussed, in which case the Thai official asked for Finland’s support on this process.
Thai & Finnish Authorities Promise Better Working Conditions for Thai Berry Pickers
During the meeting, topics about the working conditions of workers were covered, especially for Thai seasonal workers in Finland, including their safety and well-being, as well as preventing human trafficking.
The first group of Thai berry pickers entered Finland by the middle of 2024, and, as the Finnish police confirmed, the first group of Thai berry pickers arrived in the Kainuu region, where they were set to offer their services. During the same year, Finland granted 900 residence permits to these Thai berry pickers.
However, in the beginning, Thai berry pickers had delayed their arrival to Finland as certain conditions had to be met.
This is a complete mystery. We were under the impression that Thais wouldn’t be there because Thailand has been very vigilant in preventing pickers from leaving their country until now.
Thai Nationals Filed Over 270,000 Visa Applications in 2023
Thailand is the ninth-largest country of origin for visa applications in 2023, with a total of 270,504 of those being filed throughout the year.
According to statistics published by SchengenVisaInfo, Thai visa applicants filed visa applications mainly in these four countries: Switzerland, France, Germany, Italy, and Norway.
These countries received 67.5 per cent or 182,661 of all visa applications that Thai applicants filed throughout the year.
On the other hand, countries with the fewest visa requests from Thai applicants are Slovakia, Luxembourg and Poland, receiving 121, 378 and 1,020 visa applications, respectively.
However, when it comes to visa approvals, Austria had the highest rates. Out of 13,208 visa applications that Thai nationals submitted in 2023, 12,859 or 97.5 per cent, were approved compared to 334 that were denied.
Switzerland and Italy also had high approval rates for Thai applicants, while Sweden, Poland and Belgium approved fewer applications – between 82 and 86 per cent.
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