HS Espoo | The restaurateur was shocked by the bureaucracy he faced: it will take a year to get a chef from Pakistan to Espoo, despite a shortage of labor in the sector

Restaurateur Aki Letchulla there is a problem: he has not found a chef. Or has he found, from Pakistan, but then visited the barley.

“I first tried to find a chef through the employment office, but when I couldn’t be found there, I started looking abroad,” Letchu says over the phone.

In October last year, he received information from the authorities that the chef could come to Finland and that the permitting process would take three to four months. The chef must first go to identify himself and fill in the necessary documents at the Finnish Embassy in Abu Dhabi. The time for the embassy in the UAE would be in November.

“I thought that was great, back in November! But then it turned out that the time reservation was for November 2022! ” Letchu says and continues:

“In the media, the Finnish authorities and politicians have reiterated how it is easier to get workers from outside the European Union to Finland.”

Read more: “Goddamn it, you sit at home and watch TV in Arabic” – Said Jaabout explains how he became an international expert in the Finnish labor market

Labor shortages Indeed, the affected official Finland has promised to cut red tape and speed up access to Finland for non-EU workers, among other things. More than a year of waiting for the Abu Dhabi embassy is not a sign of such a state of mind.

“Finland does not have representations in all countries. During the pandemic, travel bans and restrictions have significantly restricted or completely prevented residence permit customers from traveling to Finnish missions ”, Head of Unit Virpi Kankare from the State Department to write in his email. He commented on the general level.

Kankare says that at the beginning of March, new temporary officials handling work-related immigration started in the Ministry for Foreign Affairs and a few missions.

In Aki Letchu, 55, who came to Finland in 1988, has a Pakistani background. He previously had a restaurant on Iso Roobertinkatu in Punavuori, Helsinki. After selling the restaurant rights, he moved from Helsinki to Espoo, on the corners of the shopping center Iso Omena on Matinkylä’s Tynnyritie.

Letchu praises how the new restaurants ’liquor licenses and food licenses came quickly, but then began delays that have continued for five months so far.

“It’s not a bad thing to be reviewed. That’s a great thing. But the bureaucracy has taken a huge amount of time and money from me. I will pay for everything, but the authorities will overthrow the whole process. I have the money, but they have the power. Now the money is out. ”

Letchu says he is not just speaking for himself but for thousands of small entrepreneurs. Decision-makers in Finland have talked about cutting licensing policy and licensing practices as well as bureaucracy. According to Letchu, it has remained the talk.

February at the end, the permits for Letchu’s restaurant were finally in order. But since no chef was found in Finland and the Pakistani chef was left waiting a long time for the Abu Dhabi embassy, ​​the food is still not on fire.

“Everything is ready, but I still can’t open when there’s no cook. I sent all the papers in the world to the authorities, but then it is said that the next time for the embassy in Abu Dhabi is next November. ”

Letchu calculates that it has lost thousands of euros in five months. Not only trying, but also personal life has suffered from the situation.

But Letchu would not be an entrepreneur, especially not a small entrepreneur if he could not try. It requires nerves and humor.

“Even if it hurts, it doesn’t hurt,” Lechu laughs.

“I’m a small entrepreneur, it hurts at heart, but I still have a laugh.”

Letchu stresses that he understands the need for permits, but reiterates that he considers the bureaucracy to be unnecessarily burdensome. He is happy to be able to clear his way “through the storm to the light”.

“I have no income, the restaurant needs to get open. Molds and bacteria start to grow fast. ”