I may marry a beautiful Finnish girl.

by **Oipoikka** » Thu Dec 23, 2010 12:51 am

I'm currently residing in the US. Have duel European citizenship and wish to leave the United States and live (hopefully) the rest of my life in Europe. If I were to marry a Finnish girl would that immediately grant me citizenship status or would I need to continue to pursue a work visa and have certain assets ($10,000 in the bank etc) before I can establish citizenship?

PS Not marrying a Finnish girl because I only wish to obtain Finnish citizenship. I love her very much and she is my best friend. It's only a bonus if I could live in beautiful Finland. Ihana Suomea.

**Sponsor:**

by **Rip** » Thu Dec 23, 2010 1:20 am

Oipoikka wrote:Have duel European citizenship

EU nation or some other European country?

If I were to marry a Finnish girl would that immediately grant me citizenship status

No

or would I need to continue to pursue a work visa and have certain assets ($10,000 in the bank etc) before I can establish citizenship?

Marriage would help you to get resident here without getting a job. If you're EU citizen you do not need a residence permit (a 'visa' here is for short term stay) to start working but registration as resident requires you have sufficient income (such as job)- except for family members of citizens.

For citizenship you need to learn the language and live a certain number of years here.

by **rob34** » Thu Dec 23, 2010 3:55 am

Oipoikka wrote:I'm currently residing in the US. Have duel European citizenship and wish to leave the United States and live (hopefully) the rest of my life in Europe. If I were to marry a Finnish girl would that immediately grant me citizenship status or would I need to continue to pursue a work visa and have certain assets ($10,000 in the bank etc) before I can establish citizenship?

PS Not marrying a Finnish girl because I only wish to obtain Finnish citizenship. I love her very much and she is my best friend. It's only a bonus if I could live in beautiful Finland. Ihana Suomea.

I think it's about 4 years of uninterrupted living with the Finnish spouse before you can apply for citizenship (6 years without), and you must also pass a rudimentary Finnish (or Swedish) language test. If you already have Euro citizenship, then there's not much extra benefit that you can expect from this (unless of course you are under 30 and want to experience sotilaiden elämää, jospa voisin kokeilla...).

Note: Finland is pretty notorious for bureaucracy, so if your living arrangements with the Blonde POA are in any way confusing to the Finnish authority, then your application will be delayed, at which point the non-marital route becomes pretty much in synch.

by **rinso** » Thu Dec 23, 2010 9:56 am

and live (hopefully) the rest of my life in Europe

Finland is not very friendly for foreigners. It takes time to learn the language and to integrate in the society.
As a foreigner without good Finnish skills and without a Finnish (uni)degree, you are handicapped in finding a job.
Love makes blind, but sitting at home all day gives you a new perspective on life. :twisted:

by **Oombongo** » Fri Dec 24, 2010 1:16 am

Wish you best of luck, and really you will need it with job but specially with your "big love"

If you are without job for 4 months then she will get tired of you, and by the time you will be available in single life then she'll have a potential sweetheart ready. Sorry but this is how it works in this backyard