Got my residence permit application...

[khu]

...and now for some questions!

My background here is that I'm a US citizen who has a Finnish girlfriend, and have been visiting her on tourist visas (racking up 9 months on 3 seperate stays in Finland since summer 2002) for the past two years. I do freelance work writing video game music, with American companies, and always work remotely on my computer.

I want to now have the flexibility of staying beyond 3 months, thus the residence permit application.

My questions:

1) Housing: I stay with my girlfriend who is in an apatment that she pays for mostly with her student subsidy, therefore I pay no direct rent. 'Written proof of your housing arrangements' is required for the application. Would a handwritten letter from her stating that I am to stay with her (and detailing the rent and apartment size) be appropriate and sufficient? Or am I to procure something even more 'official', such as some kind of housing agreement in her name?

2) Finance: I have around 10,000 USD in savings. As my monthly expenditure in Finland comes out to less than 300 euros a month, this should be quite sufficient for up to a year. Would this be enough money to convince the immigration people that I'm not a bum?

2a) Income: I will be working for an American companies later this year, even if I am in Finland. Is this income something I can report to the immigration office to bolster my claim that I am financially self-sufficient without them raising red flags that I dont have a work permit? Does the Finnish government have any jurisdiction over or do they even care about income from non Finnish sources?

Thanks very much for any help you guys can provide on these issues. Similar personal experience would sure help me feel easier about this whole thing.

- KH

[Hank W.]

One catch-22 from the start:

For "living" somewhere you need to be registered officially living there. The minute you officially register living there, your gf's subsidies will drop as theres two of you. But without a residence permit officially registering there is a wee bit... interesting.

[khu]

Well, this sure scared me.

But now the girl at the embassy replied to my email and said that a letter from my girlfriend would be 'enough proof', provided I could document (as I believe I can) that I have visited her 3 times (and she me, once) in the past 2 years, totalling something like 14 or 15 months together. I'm not naive enough to believe her unreservedly, but it might be worth the gamble?

[Hank W.]

If they tell you that, then its more than valid.

I was getting a bit ahead of things; I was thinking of another set of paperwork done while landed where you get into these kinds of runaround loops.

[khu]

I look forward to the Finnish bureaucracy! Thanks for the heads-up as well!