Apply for First Residence Permit before/after entering?

[waikikiguy]

I'm married to a Finn, we've been living in the US together since 2015; when we got her greencard (she just got the permanent version) - she entered the US and then we filed for it... For Finland can/should we do the same (for me) or should we file in advance (or must we)? Two factors from my end are that we are in the middle of nowhere Northern Michigan and timing, waiting half a year doesn't seem feasible. Kiitos! -john

[bgrove]

While Maahanmuuttovirasto encourages people to apply for residency permits from their home country, you can apply after entering Finland. If you apply in the US, you can't move to Finland until your residency permit is approved. The permit must be delivered to you in the US. If you apply in Finland, you are allowed to wait in Finland for the RP decision, but you cannot work or receive most benefits until the RP is approved.

You should be able to apply electronically through EnterFinland.fi. In the US, fingerprinting would be done through vfs global which would require a trip to Chicago.