Help Me marry my finnish princess!!!!

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chacona
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Help Me marry my finnish princess!!!!

Post by chacona » Thu Jul 01, 2004 9:28 pm

I am an American who just got back yesterday from ten days in finland with my wonderful girlfriend and have decided to move there/marry her in september. But I do have a few questions. First, how much does it cost to obtain a marriage license there and what do I have to bring with me upon reciving it? Also, I will need to work there for a few months before we move to the states in January and I want to know if there are any fees or a long paperwork process involved in obtaining a work/residence permit to be there, after we are officially married of course. My girl says that if we are married, I don't need a work visa and can immediatly apply for a social security number...Help me please, whoever is out there, I need to be with my girl ASAP and can not wait to get through all this red tape to do so. I love her so much and need help!!!!



Help Me marry my finnish princess!!!!

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SediaAmore
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Post by SediaAmore » Fri Jul 02, 2004 4:11 am

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Last edited by SediaAmore on Sun Oct 31, 2004 9:31 pm, edited 1 time in total.

PeterF
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Post by PeterF » Fri Jul 02, 2004 9:11 am

If you do a google search for "Finnish Princess"..this is what you get. :wink:
Oggie's Princess.
http://www.haukkuapaja.com/bcdatabase/f ... pepita.htm

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pierrot
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Re: Help Me marry my finnish princess!!!!

Post by pierrot » Fri Jul 02, 2004 10:16 am

chacona wrote:I am an American who just got back yesterday from ten days in finland with my wonderful girlfriend and have decided to move there/marry her in september. But I do have a few questions. First, how much does it cost to obtain a marriage license there and what do I have to bring with me upon reciving it? Also, I will need to work there for a few months before we move to the states in January and I want to know if there are any fees or a long paperwork process involved in obtaining a work/residence permit to be there, after we are officially married of course. My girl says that if we are married, I don't need a work visa and can immediatly apply for a social security number...Help me please, whoever is out there, I need to be with my girl ASAP and can not wait to get through all this red tape to do so. I love her so much and need help!!!!
Out of curiosity: how is your finnish? fluent?
Because if you dont speak finnish and you want to come in september and stay until january, i doubt you are going to find a decent job without any finnish knowledge unless you work in Programming/IT.
My 2 last questions: does she know about you coming and your plan and how old are you? (yeah, im curious :oops: ) :ochesey:
Here in Finland, I have done everything I can to blend-in with the Finns, I've changed my hair color, wore differnet clothes, got different

PeterF
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Re: Help Me marry my finnish princess!!!!

Post by PeterF » Fri Jul 02, 2004 10:21 am

pierrot wrote:My 2 last questions: does she know about you coming and your plan and how old are you? (yeah, im curious :oops: ) :ochesey:
pierrot.. you are so suspicious of the romantic . :roll: ..or is it just savoir faire!? :wink:

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Kemars
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Re: Help Me marry my finnish princess!!!!

Post by Kemars » Fri Jul 02, 2004 12:14 pm

chacona wrote:I am an American who just got back yesterday from ten days in finland with my wonderful girlfriend and have decided to move there/marry her in september. But I do have a few questions. First, how much does it cost to obtain a marriage license there and what do I have to bring with me upon reciving it? Also, I will need to work there for a few months before we move to the states in January and I want to know if there are any fees or a long paperwork process involved in obtaining a work/residence permit to be there, after we are officially married of course. My girl says that if we are married, I don't need a work visa and can immediatly apply for a social security number...Help me please, whoever is out there, I need to be with my girl ASAP and can not wait to get through all this red tape to do so. I love her so much and need help!!!!
a1) Plan ahead as Finland is renouned for RED TAPE! ;) You will see when you get here..

1) get a Letter of IMPEDIMENT stating that you have either never been married or that your previous marriage(s) are legally over with. You will have to show this to the Magistrate Office here in Finland before you are legally married.

:arrow: If you plan on moving back to the United States, then you need to do the following here in Finland (make an appointment to the US Embassy in Helsinki) :

:arrow: after the marriage you will need to go to the US Embassy in Helsinki and file an immigrant visa petition for your Finn wife and they will hand you the info packet what she needs to do next and what documents she needs to obtain for her immigrant visa. The forms you need to bring for the first meeting are: I-130, G-325 (x2 - for both of you), I-864, and original marriage certificate, (letter of impedmant only if previously married to prove its no longer legal), one color passport size photograph of yourself and the same for your Finn wife, your passports, and 185 USD / 158 Euros cash. Along with the I-864, you need to provide your three most recent years US Tax Forms (1040 and w-2), proof of current employment. The forms mentioned above can be obtained electronically (PDF) at http://www.uscis.gov

:arrow: Make sure your wife to be belongs to the Church (she pays church tax basically) or it will cost you some money to get married in a church. Also it would be in your best interest to prove what religion your (if catholic your baptisim certificate) as they usually will ask this type of proof so as not having to "pay" a fee for the marriage. ;)

2) Work wise here if you come from the states are going to be slim to none. you can stay (without working) here in Finland for 3 months (90 days) on a tourist visa. getting a work / residence visa here in finland basically means that you:
:arrow: A) have a job waiting for you when you land in Finland before you leave the US.
or
:arrow: B) you have an interview with Nokia and they give you a job, in which case they will then help you get the visa's but you may end up having to go back to the USA (or a territory of the United States if its closer) so that the Visa sticker is placed physically in your passport.

Basically, to make things as easy as possible, get a job first in FInland before coming. or just come on tourist visa's ever 3 months, then go back to the US for one month, then back again to Finland for 3 months.

Hope the info is helpful in your decision making..
How much wood would a wood chuck chuck if a wood chuck could chuck wood?

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eric71
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Post by eric71 » Fri Jul 02, 2004 8:08 pm

Once you are married, you will have to return to the US to apply for and receive your rsidence permit. It would be quicker to apply for residency based on marriage than to look for a job and then apply for a work permit. Nobody is going to hire you for a few months only if they have to get you a work permit.

I recently received my residency permit (applied for through the LA consulate) and from the day they received my application to the time I received my permit was exactly 3 weeks. So if you figure a month, you will be into October before you receive your permit and can return to Finland. It's unlikely, unless you find something in the month you are waiting for your permit, that you'll be able to get a job just before the holidays in Finland. It may be better to skip applying for residency in Finland and just come as a tourist while your wife applies for US residency. When we were married in Finland (about ten years ago) it took about three months before my wife was able to come to America.

If you have any specific questions, PM me. It's been a while, and rules may have changed, but I should be able to find answers.

Eric

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SediaAmore
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Post by SediaAmore » Sat Jul 03, 2004 7:38 pm

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Hank W.
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Post by Hank W. » Sat Jul 03, 2004 10:31 pm

But waiting in the USA is much cheaper than in Finland...
Cheers, Hank W.
sitting here like a lemon looking for a gin.

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Kemars
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Post by Kemars » Sun Jul 04, 2004 11:20 am

more info on getting married here in finland..

http://www.maistraatti.fi/en/index.html

Enjoy the link!
How much wood would a wood chuck chuck if a wood chuck could chuck wood?

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Nathan Lillie
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Re: Help Me marry my finnish princess!!!!

Post by Nathan Lillie » Mon Jul 05, 2004 10:29 pm

2) Work wise here if you come from the states are going to be slim to none. you can stay (without working) here in Finland for 3 months (90 days) on a tourist visa. getting a work / residence visa here in finland basically means that you:
:arrow: A) have a job waiting for you when you land in Finland before you leave the US.
or
:arrow: B) you have an interview with Nokia and they give you a job, in which case they will then help you get the visa's but you may end up having to go back to the USA (or a territory of the United States if its closer) so that the Visa sticker is placed physically in your passport.
Actually, you don't need to get the job to get the visa. Once you marry, you can get the A5 visa (which allows you to work, and entitles you to residence based benefits) based on that.

Once you have the A5, the job search process will be simplified, because employers don't have to work about work permits. Of course, getting a job won't be easy, just that the reason you get turned down won't be the permit. You'll also be entitled to residence based social benefits, like health insurance, but it takes a long time to process all the paper work.

It is not necessarily as bad here as everyone makes it sounds - though it might be. Your prospects in Finland depend totally on your skill set, whether you really want to work, or can sit at home and keep house for your working wife, or perhaps want to go to university here or do something else.

I got married here last summer. Finland is a good place for a summer wedding. Make sure to take every opportunity to bring your entire duty free alcohol allowance into the country for your wedding party, though. A little advanced planning (and restraint in not drinking it before the wedding) can save alot of money there.
If you want to catch beasts you don't see every day,
You have to go places quite out-of-the-way.
You have to places no other can get to.
You have to get cold and you have to get wet, too.

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