Getting a permit when wife and I are both outside of Finland

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kevinmcintire
Posts: 5
Joined: Fri Jan 09, 2004 10:03 pm

Getting a permit when wife and I are both outside of Finland

Post by kevinmcintire » Fri Jan 09, 2004 11:51 pm

Hello,

My Finnish wife and I (an American) are planning on moving to Finland in the coming months and have started looking at the application that we will need to fill out. I’m hoping that someone can provide us with some advice on the questions related to addresses and income. Specifically:

1) Given that we currently live in the US, should questions related to address, rent, and monthly income be based on our current situation?

2) Similarly, do we have to have an apartment and/or employment in Finland before we can apply?

3) Will it damage our chances of getting a residence permit if we don’t have jobs waiting for us in Finland? If so, is there anything we can do to help our cause?

Thank you very much for your help.

T: Kevin



Getting a permit when wife and I are both outside of Finland

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Slothrop
Posts: 1300
Joined: Thu May 22, 2003 3:22 am

Post by Slothrop » Sat Jan 10, 2004 12:32 am

Just so as you don't think you have been cruelly ignored, Hank usually deals with these sorts of enquiries. He's pretty good and has the relevant stuff at his fingertips, and will doubtless be along in a while. Check back in now and then. OK?
"Passion is inversely proportional to the amount of real information available" (Benford's Law of Controversy)

Ace

Post by Ace » Sat Jan 10, 2004 9:19 am

I once had this conversation with Hank:
Ace wrote:Its a problem this because us EU members often don't know the system for non EU applicants. It would be helpful for me at least if someone created a thread documenting whats required for non EU applicants to gain residence permits, visa's etc to enter Finland. Then maybe we could help few more people.
Hank W. wrote:One thing is to read first the pdf's on the UVI website.
http://www.uvi.fi

The labour opinion required for a work permit stuff is on the MOL website
http://www.mol.fi/tyolupa/eng/

I think our FAQ would only point to these sites as we're not experts.

There is night/day difference between EU/non-EU as well as nordic/EU.
Maybe those links will help until Hank gets online to answer your query. (we will have big problems if Hank ever disappears :!: )

PeterF
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Joined: Sun Nov 10, 2002 10:00 pm

Post by PeterF » Sat Jan 10, 2004 10:44 am

Saturday mornings are not Hanks best time of the week..they follow Friday Nights in the pub! :roll:
But he should surface by lunch time ..about an hour or so..I dont think he has gone to his cottage this week end...too much snow and ice.

One point if your Finnish wife has any contacts/relations who live in Finland it could be a start for her to ask if you can use their address as a "quasi residence" because it makes life a lot easier when you start filling in forms here i.e. to open a bank account, if you have a Finnish Place of residence. "No Finnish address" always puts up barriers.
If you are going to transfer funds here you need a bank account here, in order to get a bank account you need an addresss, but to rent or buy a flat you need a bank account..catch 22.
As soon as you find your own place you just enter the change of address to the bank and other relevent bodies.

Caroline
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Post by Caroline » Sat Jan 10, 2004 2:37 pm

You don't have to have a job lined up here (but you should include info on your current job in the USA) and it will not affect your ease in getting approval if you don't have a job in Finland yet, but you do need to have an address in Finland. Like others have said, use your inlaws' as the address for the purpose of the residency permit application and then change it after you find your own place.

Getting residency based on marriage to a Finnish citizen is pretty easy.
Former expat in Finland, now living in New Hampshire USA.

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Hank W.
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Post by Hank W. » Sun Jan 11, 2004 5:23 pm

*groan* and I'm supposed to be a deux-ex-machina now...

OK, the links given above, especially the "uvi website" are full of good information.

A few questions on the checklist:

a) OK, you're married - like legally - like does the Finnish Embassy / Finnish Government know of this? If you never registered with the embassy this is one more paper to fill out. (less stupid questions if it pops up on the computer as ancient history.) And no, they won't believe what you say, it has to be documented properly.

b) OK, so you're married and in the USA. So nobody in their right mind is expecting you to be having everything in Finland the first instant. I mean applying from abroad (where you live in) is what you are *supposed to do*. The only things they are interested in is that the marriage is a de facto bona fide on and not a "paper marriage", and the other one is that you are able to support yourselves while/after settling here. Using the in-laws address is basically OK. The thing is though you cannot register there if you come here on a tourist visa. (which is basically not a good idea)

c) so apparently you have ordered the paperwork from the embassy? OK, should be easy to fill out, especially they don't want to know tribal affiliations and such. They should have included in a sheet or two that explain how to fill in the form, and a brochure. basically the brochure you need to read is
http://www.uvi.fi/pdf/olelupaperheside_eng.pdf

d) OK, so basically you could just "fly over" on the 90 day visa to "settle things out". Not such a good idea, as the local police is clogged usually and then sitting out here w/o having work is quite frustrating. Well, you'll be sitting around w/o work anyhow (being optimistic here) for a while even with a A5 residence, so read through the 'Jobs' section and the 'finding work' bit. Also, if they are really being meanyheads they'll send you back to USA to apply.

e) Did I mention not to bring any electrical appliances unless you bring the approriate transformers, oh, and if you are planning to bring a car (like car, not a behemoth, gas costs here $4 a gallon and ain't going down) you need to have owned it 6 monts so some tuff needs to be thought & rethought a few times over.

f) medical insurance. Get one that is valid for a year or preferrably three. You can't get a private one here from here and you're not covered until you get a job. OK, public healtcare, but...

OK, as you can see from the board many people have come here and done the thing you're planning to do. Feel free to ask. There's a few "I wish I'd known that" things people say. And remember what they say about assuming... :mrgreen:
Cheers, Hank W.
sitting here like a lemon looking for a gin.

kevinmcintire
Posts: 5
Joined: Fri Jan 09, 2004 10:03 pm

Post by kevinmcintire » Tue Jan 13, 2004 11:16 pm

Wow! What a great response. Thanks to all of you for sharing your insight. Once I have made it to Finland, I look forward to attending some of the . events and meeting you.

T:Kevin

ronrubies
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Location: Tuusula

Post by ronrubies » Wed Jan 14, 2004 2:30 am

Kevin,

I had similar questions and asked them directly to someone at the L.A. consulate. They were very helpful, pleasant to work with...and hopefully gave me the right guidance.

Good luck,
Ron


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