Have boyfriend, will..um..maaaybe..travel...

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mandalay
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Have boyfriend, will..um..maaaybe..travel...

Post by mandalay » Tue May 18, 2004 8:25 am

I plan to move to Finland from Australia with my boyfriend. Neither of us is Finnish. He has been offered a job with a small company there and they are taking care of his work permit and residency permit.

We have been told that if you are not married, you can still move with your partner on the basis of 2 years of co-habitation. Since we have only been living together for about 18 months, I am wondering if I will be able to move with him.

Does anyone know if I can go to Finland on a visitor's visa, live with him for a further 6 months (leaving Finland after my 3 months' visitor visa has expired and then coming back in on a new visitor visa for a further 3 months), and then apply? Or is living together in Finland not counted as part of the 2 year co-habitation rule? Is it possible to change visa status while already in Finland? Or would I need to return to Australia in order to do this?

The added problem is that even though we have been living together for 18 months, we don't have any documents (rent receipts/utilities bills etc.) in both our names, as even though we both paid rent and bills, all this is in his name (I moved into his apartment).

Any ideas/advice would be greatly appreciated. Many, many thanks.



Have boyfriend, will..um..maaaybe..travel...

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Hank W.
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Post by Hank W. » Tue May 18, 2004 11:17 am

Of course, in Finland there would be an official draft from the county magistrate stating who lives officially where with whom that is "proof". They'll ask for an "offical document" and you have to convince them you are living in an anarchist state if you don't have one. I don't think they'd count utilities bill as a proof - nice to have, but really very few if any people in Finland have both names in their bills. Can you go to some sort of justice of peace and write up an affidavit?

BTW. In Finland if you don't register living somewhere you don't live there what comes to any official business.
Cheers, Hank W.
sitting here like a lemon looking for a gin.

Kimi
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Post by Kimi » Tue May 18, 2004 4:04 pm

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

You might try the English version of the Population Register website. I don't know if that would help or not, but I know they have some good information there.

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Hank W.
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Post by Hank W. » Tue May 18, 2004 4:23 pm

Well, no, they need Australian version of the "Keeper of Records" or whatever, but assuming the UKoGBaNI tradition of abhorrence of stuff like a national identity card I doubt if there is any such instance in the land of OZ.
Cheers, Hank W.
sitting here like a lemon looking for a gin.

mandalay
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Muchos Gracias!

Post by mandalay » Thu May 20, 2004 12:27 pm

Thanks Kimi - I'll take a look at the link you posted. Very much appreciated.

And Hank - is there anything you *don't* know?!

I'm still not sure if I can move to Finland, but if not, the surf is pretty good here, so it's not all bad! :?

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Phil
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Post by Phil » Thu May 20, 2004 1:19 pm

Mandalay, how long has your boyfriend been in Australia? If it's been longer than 2 years, you could very easily "stretch the truth" about how long you've lived together. I know of a couple who has done this and it worked out just fine.

Or, you could do what Anja and I did which was to head down to the courthouse and get married and not tell anyone about it. That guarantees your residence permit. :o

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bretti_kivi
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Post by bretti_kivi » Thu May 20, 2004 3:41 pm

just beware the reaction from your mother or mother-in-law when they realise they've missed their offspring's wedding....we did this quietly too... my mother was miffed for months afterwards....

Bret
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mandalay
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Post by mandalay » Fri Jun 04, 2004 1:54 pm

thanks Phil and Brett, but i'm not really into the whole marriage thang...at least, not yet! no offense to any married folk intended.

I've since found out that because I am under 30, I am able to stay for one year in Finland under the reciprocal rights visa programme. So problem solved. yay!

Many thanks again to all who responded, and I hope to meet some of you in Finland one day soon...


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