Finn w/ American Husband

bntp02 · Post by **bntp02** » Tue May 02, 2006 7:57 pm

Looking for someone with same situation for advice, and ofcourse general advice is also welcome.
My daughter and I are registered in Finland. It seems anywhere I look on the web, they recommend showing up and then starting the process of residency permits. AHH!
Does it matter, since we are married and I am citizen? I in no way would feel comfortable moving without something secure to fall back on. I tried calling the Consulate in New York, and they just referred me to the website, and mentioned my hubby needs a permit. I speak Finnish, but there is no way I could converse about business matters such as this, since I was raised in the US. Need some serious direction.
Thank you for reading my post.
Mrs. P

**Sponsor:**

Jussi · Post by **Jussi** » Tue May 02, 2006 8:24 pm

hei, I am an aussie married to a Finn, and you can apply for residency either here(finland) or there, but it is cheaper to do it here. so yes showing up and doing it here is no probs, since they pretty much have to give you the permit - unless theres something serious like he's a terrorist or a crim -which from the sounds of you i doubt. so you should be fine.

bntp02 · Post by **bntp02** » Tue May 02, 2006 9:07 pm

Well no my husband is no criminal. His only crime would be not being very helpful around the house. But then again I'm a clean freak, so there really isn't much issue there.
So I could basically sell all our belongings, and move this summer? Hmmm, interesting. I unfortunately have some debt as well as student loans that would have to be taken with. Although I have been under advisement to up and leave it all behind (but I woudl not feel morally right doing so).
Then there is an issue of a car. I guess we could live without one for a while, considering the great public transportation.
How much savings is a good nest egg to move with?
Thanks for the input!!!

kmboll · Post by **kmboll** » Tue May 02, 2006 9:54 pm

Don't worry about moving here first. I came with my girlfriend (who I had been living with for over 2 years to meet the common-law marriage requirement) and I just got my residency permit. It only took a little less than 3 weeks. Now finding a job..........we'll see how long that takes.

It's adventageous to apply in a city other than Helsinki. They don't get as many applications so things move faster.

bntp02 · Post by **bntp02** » Tue May 02, 2006 10:02 pm

Thanks for the vote of confidence!!! I appriciate that.

We would most likely live near Riihimaki, since my folks have a home there. Yeah, finding work should be a challenge. I think I would work, and he would be the stay at home father. LOL, that should be very interesting.

zoltar · Post by **zoltar** » Fri May 05, 2006 12:50 pm

Unless your husband is in IT or Telecomm, plan on about 2 years of unemployment for your husband and even then it can take a long, long while. When he does find a job, the average salary is about 37,000 eur which, after taxes, is about 2,000 euro per month.

Just prepare.

Hank W. · Post by **Hank W.** » Fri May 05, 2006 12:54 pm

So whats wrong with that then? Unless you plan to live in a bloody mansion that its

zoltar · Post by **zoltar** » Fri May 05, 2006 2:28 pm

Well, considering how expensive things are around Helsinki, 2k eur per month just doesn't go that far, especially if you rent inside of KehäI.

Hank W. · Post by **Hank W.** » Fri May 05, 2006 6:37 pm

Unless you "live like a Finn" in a closet and eat Lidl bread and don't whine you don't have a horse...

superiorinferior · Post by **superiorinferior** » Mon May 08, 2006 5:44 am

Hank W. wrote:Unless you "live like a Finn" in a closet and eat Lidl bread and don't whine you don't have a horse...

Let's keep in mind that "Finns" usually have family that reside within the country borders -- and young Finns usually inherit apartments, furniture, cars and other things that tend to cost money.

Foreigners, unless blessed with a corporate package to buy/import all such amenities, do not have this head start to "normal life."

It's not all about Sisu. It's about äiti and isä, more often than not.

sinikala · Post by **sinikala** » Mon May 08, 2006 8:54 am

SI makes a good point, it's not just the lower base salary and higher tax it's an absence or even reversal of the support structure provided by family that can also cost the ex-pat... instead of benefitting from your family in terms of old furniture, old cars, apartments.... there is the cost of travel to the home country to maintain family contacts, flying back for weddings, anniversaries or heaven forbid funerals means that keeping up family relationship can be damned expensive.

For locals these are simply a tank of petrol but for ex-pats it involves plane tickets, hotel bills etc. etc. I know for us a trip back home burns a minimum of two months worth of disposable income.

Hank W. · Post by **Hank W.** » Tue May 09, 2006 10:18 am

Only thing I got as inheritance was old bills. And the relatives can be by themselves... *I* am not the support structure. I spent a fortune forwarding some flowers for my sister for her 50th birthday, and the bloody Interflora didn't even deliver

Oombongo · Post by **Oombongo** » Tue May 09, 2006 11:08 am

If your husband is from IT field and knows technologies like J2EE, Symbian and VC++ then he won't be unemployed for long.

bntp02 · Post by **bntp02** » Wed May 10, 2006 5:34 pm

No he is not in the IT field, nor does he have any desire to be. He is currently a general manager for a satellite company. But he already said, he would gladly work as a laborer if that was the only option. His exact workds were "I would rather pick garbage than be in the IT field".

Hank W. · Post by **Hank W.** » Wed May 10, 2006 6:08 pm

bntp02 wrote: "I would rather pick garbage than be in the IT field".

After today's crap at the office, I'd agree... (considering I was telecommuting

)

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