Swedish nail salons selling 'work permits'
Several nail salons in Sweden have been found selling illegal work permits to Vietnamese jobseekers for as much as 140,000 kronor ($22,000) according to a new investigation.
The findings were revealed on the Kaliber programme on Swedish Radio (SR) P1 who posed as Vietnamese people eager to find work in Sweden. They rang eight nail salons across the country enquiring about what was needed in order to find work plus what wages they could expect.
Out of those eight salons, four said they would be interested but would require vast sums of money in order to provide the fake work permit. Prices ranged from 70,000 to 140,000 kronor with a salary of 6,500 kronor ($1000) per month.
Only the Swedish migration board (migrationsverket) can issue work permits to jobseekers. The findings by SR P1 came as a shock to Fredrik Martinsson, a lawyer with the migration board.
"Yes, it's very serious because in my view as it puts out an idea that you can abuse the legislation," he told SR P1.
The investigation found that Swedish migration board have issued a total of 80 work permits in the last three years for people who have come to Sweden to work in a nail salon.
If you don't work full-time then there is a requirement by the migration board that the jobseekers earns a minimum of 13,000 kronor a month. The four nail salons exposed by SR P1 were offering 6,500 per month plus free accommodation.
"The most important thing is that we require a sum of money," replied one of the salons when quizzed about finding a spot for a Vietnamese jobseeker.
The migration board have said they will follow up on the findings but due to the current laws are unable to impose sanctions on the nail salons.
The Local/pr
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The findings were revealed on the Kaliber programme on Swedish Radio (SR) P1 who posed as Vietnamese people eager to find work in Sweden. They rang eight nail salons across the country enquiring about what was needed in order to find work plus what wages they could expect.
Out of those eight salons, four said they would be interested but would require vast sums of money in order to provide the fake work permit. Prices ranged from 70,000 to 140,000 kronor with a salary of 6,500 kronor ($1000) per month.
Only the Swedish migration board (migrationsverket) can issue work permits to jobseekers. The findings by SR P1 came as a shock to Fredrik Martinsson, a lawyer with the migration board.
"Yes, it's very serious because in my view as it puts out an idea that you can abuse the legislation," he told SR P1.
The investigation found that Swedish migration board have issued a total of 80 work permits in the last three years for people who have come to Sweden to work in a nail salon.
If you don't work full-time then there is a requirement by the migration board that the jobseekers earns a minimum of 13,000 kronor a month. The four nail salons exposed by SR P1 were offering 6,500 per month plus free accommodation.
"The most important thing is that we require a sum of money," replied one of the salons when quizzed about finding a spot for a Vietnamese jobseeker.
The migration board have said they will follow up on the findings but due to the current laws are unable to impose sanctions on the nail salons.
The Local/pr
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