VisaNon-EU workers losing a permit-linked job in the Faroe Islands should contact immigration
Workers should notify immigration, check permission before starting a replacement job and distinguish ordinary unemployment benefits from the fish-factory scheme.
Official announcement date: not established (undated guidance)
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Edited and checked by the VisaWand editorial team
Notify immigration when the job supporting the permit ends
Workers from outside the EU and Nordic countries whose Faroese permission depends on a particular job should contact the Immigration Office when that employment ends. Its FAQ says the office must be informed after job loss because the job-linked permit will be revoked.
The same FAQ requires a new residence-and-work application when a worker finds another job and says the new employment cannot start before the new permit is granted. It does not establish an automatic period of unrestricted job hunting after dismissal. Keep the termination date and the current permit conditions available when contacting the office, and ask how the decision affects the worker’s permitted stay. A new offer alone is not the required approval.
A new position within the same company can also require permission
The Immigration Office’s third-country work page says the permit covers a specific job at a specific company. Its new-permit requirement also applies to a different position within the same company. The application must include the employment contract or offer, with all employment terms stated. The authority assesses whether pay, holidays and notice provisions meet Faroese standards; ordinary full-time work is described as normally forty hours a week.
That page also says holders of certain other statuses, including family reunification, refugee, humanitarian and permanent residence permission, do not need a separate work permit. Identify the actual basis of residence before applying the employer-linked rule to everyone. It further warns that social benefits can negatively affect a work permit and, in some circumstances, lead to revocation affecting the family’s stay. Ask immigration about a proposed payment before assuming an agency’s general assistance information establishes that accepting it is compatible with the permit.
General ALS jobseeker registration is separate from eligibility for money
The unemployment fund ALS requires benefit applicants to establish unemployment, residence, ability to work and availability for work throughout the islands. It identifies an employer’s termination letter or an employee’s resignation letter as evidence that employment has ended. Its general availability rules include being able to begin work promptly and attend meetings, actively applying for jobs and having childcare available where necessary.
The same ALS page says people who receive no unemployment benefits can nevertheless register with its job centre if they have a Faroese personal identification number, or p-tal. Registration therefore does not by itself prove entitlement to payments. Nor should the fund’s general instruction to start an offered job be read as overriding a permit holder’s separate immigration restriction. Ask ALS which category applies and ask immigration whether work is authorised before accepting a start date. ALS publishes telephone 34 95 50 for assistance.
Temporary work-permit holders should check contribution exemptions
The public Working in the Faroe Islands booklet says ordinary work-permit holders cannot access ALS unemployment benefits, while identifying the approved fish-factory FV scheme as an exception. It also describes an automatically deducted unemployment contribution and says temporary permit holders can apply for an exemption for up to one year at a time. Its suggested application includes a copy of the residence-and-work permit and should ideally be made before the first wage payment.
The booklet says immigration will send a dismissal-related letter specifying the departure date. It allows looking for work and applying for another permit before that date, subject to the usual conditions on starting work. Read the actual letter rather than assuming a fixed grace period. The booklet’s one-percent contribution figure and issue date were not established as a current tariff; confirm deductions and exemptions with ALS. Exemption from contributing and entitlement to payments are different questions.
The fish-factory scheme addresses temporary production stoppages
ALS’s FV guidance describes support during temporary inactivity at an approved fish-processing workplace, including a shortage of raw materials. The factory must be approved for the scheme; simply having worked somewhere in the fishing industry does not establish coverage. The worker’s application includes employment details and documented employer confirmation, and payment starts from receipt of the application only if the conditions are met.
For qualifying periods, ALS sends a Vangin notification asking the worker to confirm factory-reported hours and wages. The page gives fourteen days for confirmation, with deductions for late responses, and tells workers to contact ALS about incorrect information. Income from another employer must be registered before final confirmation. This is a process for eligible temporary fish-factory inactivity, not proof that someone whose permit-linked employment has permanently ended can stay, change jobs or receive ordinary unemployment payments without a separate assessment.
