Moving to Finland to get married~

[Miusa]

I have lurked this forum for four years. Hah!

So, finally, my fiance and I are getting hitched. I'll be moving over there to Helsinki from America, you know...all that jazz. I've been looking everywhere trying to see how much it costs to get a simple marriage at the maistraatii, would someone be so kind as to tell me their experiences/any fees they had to pay? I've been over the website, but I can't find anywhere that it tells me what we'd have to pay, if we have to pay. (It seems strange to me to think we wouldn't have to pay anything....) We don't want a frilly wedding, just a simple legal one so we can go home quickly and copulate as husband and wife. :>

I'm pretty confident the rest of the stuff I have a good understanding on, and I have my appointment with the US consulate on the 13th to get my no-impediment thingamajigger, and I believe I have to wait 21 days while in Helsinki before we can get married?

Anyways, thanks ahead for any answers, tips, advice, so on and so forth! I look forward to my move to Finland on the 8th.

[Rip]

It is free of charge (if done at the Magistrate office during normal office hours), which I must say assuming your husband-to-be is a Finn (right?) he should have been able to find out quite easily from the magistrate web pages.

I do not know about the 21 days (could be), but make him to find out, and do it preferably on Monday. As your plan seems to be come here, get married and apply for residence permit (in that order) you would want to be able to apply for the permit as soon as possible after your arrival.

[Miusa]

Yep, he's a native finn! He mentioned he thought it was without a fee since he couldn't see a price anywhere. That's...incredibly odd to me, but awesome at the same time! I just had to ask, since I come from a capitalist country where you must pay for everything, so anything legal for free seems so otherworldly to me, haha.

And yep yep, that's definitely my plan. I've seen some threads on here with people saying they had to wait up to 8 months for their RP, and some saying they get it within a few weeks on the basis of family-ties/marriage stuffs. I'm prepared for a long wait, but that would be pretty great if it only took a few weeks, haha.

Thanks for the answer :>

[rinso]

I just had to ask, since I come from a capitalist country where you must pay for everything, so anything legal for free seems so otherworldly to me, haha.

We pay taxes and sometimes we get something in return.

[Kutittaa]

I have lurked this forum for four years. Hah!

Oh another one of you guys... 4 years is a pretty big boast. You sure you don't mean 4 days + use of the search feature ? I'm half joking.

So, finally, my fiancé and I are getting hitched. I'll be moving over there to Helsinki from America, you know...all that jazz. I've been looking everywhere trying to see how much it costs to get a simple marriage at the maistraatii, would someone be so kind as to tell me their experiences/any fees they had to pay? I've been over the website, but I can't find anywhere that it tells me what we'd have to pay, if we have to pay. (It seems strange to me to think we wouldn't have to pay anything....) We don't want a frilly wedding, just a simple legal one so we can go home quickly and copulate as husband and wife. :>

It doesn't cost anything, as stated. Though it is highly 'unflattering' and you may want to get married a second time in the future if you feel the need. I've seen some pictures of maistraatii weddings. They're very small and cute and I think for the price (you get what you paid for) they look quite cosy and such. Though it's needless to say that most women were dreaming of something a little more 'flamboyant'.

I'm pretty confident the rest of the stuff I have a good understanding on, and I have my appointment with the US consulate on the 13th to get my no-impediment thingamajigger, and I believe I have to wait 21 days while in Helsinki before we can get married?

Never heard of this rule. Though maybe it exists. Sure you're not just making that up in your own head or did you literally see it written down somewhere? You could just be 'expecting' it to be that way. The line for maistraatii weddings in Helsinki could be pretty long. Expect at least a 1 week waiting list. Though that could be a severe understatement. Especially seeing as only certain times of day are free and others are not.

I look forward to my move to Finland on the 8th.

Left this question a bit late didn't you?

I just had to ask, since I come from a capitalist country where you must pay for everything, so anything legal for free seems so otherworldly to me, haha.

We pay taxes and sometimes we get something in return.

Yes but this unfortunately doesn't benefit the overwhelming majority now does it?

[Rip]

Yes but this unfortunately doesn't benefit the overwhelming majority now does it?

Well, you don't pay any official charge for getting the Finnish records show you're legally married irrespective of if the marriage took place in magistrate office, church or abroad. In total that is not a minority.

[Kutittaa]

Yes but this unfortunately doesn't benefit the overwhelming majority now does it?

Well, you don't pay any official charge for getting the Finnish records show you're legally married irrespective of if the marriage took place in magistrate office, church or abroad. In total that is not a minority.

True. Actually now that I think of it, that's one of the most expensive 'common' civil documents that one would need in Australia... I forgot about that seeing as it came with my marriage.

[Upphew]

I'm pretty confident the rest of the stuff I have a good understanding on, and I have my appointment with the US consulate on the 13th to get my no-impediment thingamajigger, and I believe I have to wait 21 days while in Helsinki before we can get married?

Never heard of this rule. Though maybe it exists. Sure you're not just making that up in your own head or did you literally see it written down somewhere? You could just be 'expecting' it to be that way. The line for maistraatii weddings in Helsinki could be pretty long. Expect at least a 1 week waiting list. Though that could be a severe understatement. Especially seeing as only certain times of day are free and others are not.

Investigations of impediments to marriage? Maistraatti states: "The certificate of the investigation of the impediments to marriage are returned no earlier than seven days from the date upon which the request was submitted." which might mean 21 days in Helsinki?

[Rip]

Investigations of impediments to marriage? Maistraatti states: "The certificate of the investigation of the impediments to marriage are returned no earlier than seven days from the date upon which the request was submitted." which might mean 21 days in Helsinki?

OP (his husband-to-be) should check this directly and also make sure the paperwork can't be acquired in advance. She is officially only a tourist here at that time, so they can only look for his information anyway.

I think it took bit less than a week when i needed my documents for marriage outside Finland.

[Pursuivant]

The document can be researched and printed usually within a few hours. The 7 days is a "cooling off period" so as to avoid Las Vegas -style "going out on a binge as a bachelor and waking up next to your missus" cases.
They do prefer to have the documents of both parties in hand at the same time, but basically its a computer run for Finnish residents.

[Miusa]

Tut tut, my four years boast is indeed correct! I've lurked around since getting into a serious relationship with my fiance, since I knew that if we ever were to marry, I'd be fine to leave my country to be with him.

About the impediments thing - I do have an appoinment already on the 13th of december to get mine. I looked into getting here in the USA, but we don't officially have anything like that here. (Our embassy website even says to just get it in finland haha.) The closest thing we have is a "record of no marriage" which basically looks you up in the county you get it in and states that you've never been married (which I have once, though they said they could still give one to me since it wasn't in this county I was married/divorced.) I don't believe it is of the same equivalence, but I'll get it anyways, since it's very cheap. (14.00$ haha) But yeah, I did call around to quite a few legal centers here to ask about that paper, and either they've never heard of it, or said to get it at the US embassy in finland.

Not actually sure the 21 days thing was in my head - I think when I was reading some people's experiences or posts, it was mentioned there, but we'll see. It's no big deal if I have to wait a couple weeks more than planned. As long as it happens, that's all I care about, lol.


But anyways, we weren't aiming to marry within my first week of arrival there or anything. I think January is an ideal time to aim, and honestly, I'm not the kind of girl who wants a frilly wedding. xD It seems kind of silly to waste money on frills and cakes when you're just starting a life out with someone and you need money for that, haha.

[Kutittaa]

Fair enough but you might change your mind about the wedding in the future. Fulfilling weddings are not that expensive. Either way that's nice

[kjscot2]

They'll probably also want to see a copy of your certificate of divorce in addition to the impediment to marriage certificate from the US embassy. As you'll learn, Finnish authorities like papers - you can never have too many. If everything looks ok, the soonest they'll schedule an appointment for is one week after your submit date if they have availability.

You also might want to bring along documents/other evidence confirming your relationship for the immigration police. Records of trips together, rent agreements, pretty much anything that has both your names on it. They've been known to refuse a resident permit if they suspect the marriage is fake. If that happens, be prepared for a long wait without your passport (make sure you get a certified copy when you submit yours to the police, although this still won't be accepted most places), access to public health clinics, or getting a job.

[Miusa]

Well, I've lived there a total of a year over four three-month long trips over a period of four years being together. The most I have are movie ticket stubs I've kept from a few of our outings, and maybe some old plane tickets or receipts from going there. Lots of pictures of us together, though all are digital, lol. Oh, and I do have the actual document of the paper saying I'm divorced, signed by a judge here. :> I definitely planned to bring that.

I've planned ahead though, I've saved up some money, and I'm a freelance character designer for games and such, so I can still make a bit of money without having a "real" job while I'm there. (I wouldn't feel right about moving there with him if I couldn't help support us in some way.) So, I -should- be good financially for a while, though it'll be a tight squeeze unless I get some larger projects in.

@kutitta

I've thought about that, but I think we'll just have a celebration or something after. I don't really have any friends there yet, just a couple of people I've met and his family, and we're both not extremely social people, so.... We'll think of something nice to do, though! :>

Basically, I've prepared for bumps in the road, but I'm hoping for smooth-sailing. Thanks for the help <3 I will give any updates when I get to finland and start the process. (I know reading a lot of threads on here really helped me to understand how things work a lot better.) Now, I must get back to packing my entire belongings into one suitcase, a small duffelbag, and a backpack.

[Kutittaa]

Well I'd say that you're in with a lot more of a shot at making it here than most of the people who wander into the forums. A wedding in my opinion is just a wedding. It's more of a girl's thing than a guys thing. The best thing about it is that you can both mutually decide in the future to renew your vowels.