*closed* answers received :)

[Rip]

he contract i ve signed with the unemployment office says i ve got time time till march 2012...

my question is : TIME FOR WHAT? FINDING A JOB? STRATING A FINNISH COURSE?

Surely the paper must have contained some more information, even if it were bit cryptic...? If you don't understand, quote directly the original text.


If you are on "toimeentulotuki" then basically your net benefits don't depend on what you get from KELA/unemployment office. If you get less from them they pay you more from the city social services (though you have to apply first for or KELA and other money that you can get). There is a chance that the payments would be reduced if you're considered "uncooperative" though. If you missed a test that you were supposed to attend then I suggest you ask what you're supposed to do regarding the issue.

[EP]

You had your own company and now you get unemployment benefits? I am surprised, that is not usually the case.

[Rip]

06.10.2010 - 31-12.2010 25,63 per day
1.1.2011 - 15.03.2012 25.74 per day

That does not really clarify you much. Maybe it IS the end date of your "integration program". (is 15th of March some anniversary" of your arrival(?))

i ve asked them another appointment but they told me they are completely full...the operator told me "PERHAPS we ll call you for another invitation to the tests"
PERHAPS(?!?)...

At least you tried... I have had not very high opinion of these programs, and occasionally when somebody here tells about personal experience I have seen no need to reverse that opinion...

so i am panicking cos, ok, there is 1year left, but also i know that chances to get a job without knowing the language are very low...and i cant pay for a course by myself(i ve lost ALL my money onto my activity that i ve been running here in finland)

Have you asked if they would be ready to pay your course fee if you find a place in some language course yourself (like in Helsingin aikuisopisto or Kesäyliopisto?) I think it might be possible.

so what do u reckon? IF they wont call me for any invitations will i lose all the benefits im having now?

If you do what they tell you to do, your benefits should keep on running (I don't know what is your residence permit status, but you do not seem to be worried about that). The city money is income support of the last resort, so if the KELA payments would be reduced, the city money increase by same amount, but based on what you have written I do not see that KELA payments would be changing either. But do try to get those language studies started...

[EP]

why are u surprised?

Because in the same situation my sister was denied all financial support. Except TOIMEENTULOTUKI for two months.

[Evertony]

So let me get this straight.. you had a business (and by your income you must have paid zero taxes), then your business failed, and now the Finnish authorities are going to pay you (by my calculations) 1300e a month, for the next year, without question!

I've got 3 words. WHAT THE @#$%.

Why have I been scraping by not even earning anywhere near as much as that and dipping into the 'going off today' basket in supermarkets for food for the last few months when I could just throw it all in and sit on 1300e a month and go to a college class every few days and spend the rest of my days ice fishing and eating bear steaks.

@#$% hell.

I don't know what I'm angry at most, the Finnish authorities or my own self pride.

[Rip]

ANSWER : i ve asked them if they can pay me my course if i will find it by myself and they said "only in a few exceptions"

Could you try to clarify that (make them to clarify it) - the "few exceptions"? Also, you might try if the city social services would be ready to pay the course fee as a supplementary item.

As such, I don't know what are your expenses, but my first reaction seeing the money you get is not that it should be completely impossible to put a bit aside to pay for some cheaper course fees.

While waiting for a course, the libraries have material for self study - I am not saying it is the optimal solution, but better than nothing.

If you do not get kicked out of the country (for EU citizen I guess that is pretty hard to do once "in the system"), then the payments will continue at about current level indefinitely.

[moske[FIN]]

So let me get this straight.. you had a business (and by your income you must have paid zero taxes), then your business failed, and now the Finnish authorities are going to pay you (by my calculations) 1300e a month, for the next year, without question!

I've got 3 words. WHAT THE @#$%.

Why have I been scraping by not even earning anywhere near as much as that and dipping into the 'going off today' basket in supermarkets for food for the last few months when I could just throw it all in and sit on 1300e a month and go to a college class every few days and spend the rest of my days ice fishing and eating bear steaks.

@#$% hell.

I don't know what I'm angry at most, the Finnish authorities or my own self pride.

its called "Multiculturalism" and, in this case, the price for that is 1300/month. its not that expensive(even if its paid from the finnish pockets) if you think that in some cases the price for this beloved multiculturalism is rapes and killings committed against finnish people. blame it on politicians, authorities and after that on you. dont blame on your self pride, you are a finn who had the courage to point the reality.

[EP]

now the Finnish authorities are going to pay you (by my calculations) 1300e a month

Yes, well, that got me wondering, too. That is why I wrote that I am surprised. Because my sister was denied all financial help. But she is a Finn, and has payed her taxes only for 30+ years...

And basic pension is only 586,46 euros per month, and that is for the people who have at least contributed something during their working lives. So no wonder Perussuomalaiset is gaining votes...

[Rip]

And basic pension is only 586,46 euros per month, and that is for the people who have at least contributed something during their working lives.

Actually no, at least if "contributing" means having had a paid job. I very much remember my mothers fury, when having paid the "kansaneläkemaksu" for decades she like anybody else who actually been paying it didn't get any when she retired - for while it was actually taken of the salary twice (her regular pension was first reduced so that together with basic pension it was not more than the regular pension would have been to begin with- and then little later they took the kansaneläke off without increasing the regular pension to its original amount.

[Upphew]

thanks anyway for your answers deffo better than the ones i ve got when i talked to the operators frm kela

Just remember that better answer isn't always the right answer. It is the aunties at kela that sit on the moneychest.

[rinso]

now the Finnish authorities are going to pay you (by my calculations) 1300e a month

its called "Multiculturalism" and, in this case, the price for that is 1300/month.

And people still wonder why the True Finns get more and more support.

[CH]

its called "Multiculturalism" and, in this case, the price for that is 1300/month.

It has absolutely nothing to do with "multiculturalism". We don't have "first class citizens" and "second class citizens", if you qualify for the benefits then you qualify for the benefits, no matter what your skin color is or how many tentacles you have. And that how it should be, the end. It's totally then another matter who, how long, how much, and from where one should get benefits, but that has, agan, nothing to do with "multiculturalism". Should someone with only a residence permit get benefits... well, that's something that can be debated, but again, what has that to do with "multiculturalism"?

[Rip]

what has that to do with "multiculturalism"?

"Multiculturalists" seem to think immigration is a something of value as such (not something which should be evaluated by the merits of individual case considering costs and benefits. Also, it is in ideology where you do not want to immigrants to assimilate, because they would then stop being "multicultural". Both of course lead to immigrants which can not support themselves, and therefore immigrants needing social benefits, which the multiculturalists typically would wish to be generous an d not tied for example to work history.

the OP being EU is probably not exotic enough that he would be counted by them as "a real immigrant" and at least seems to be trying to do something so that he wouldn't be on welfare permanently, so he is not the poster boy of multiculturalism in my eyes though.

[Camilee]

As a EU inmigrant living in Finland, first I can say that I can understand your fustration and desperation, and it´s bad that your bussiness went that bad, but on the other hand, you should feel lucky as well, because you are getting more money that I´m actually getting for working almost 44h/week.

When I read stuff like this, or heard about foreigners in Finland who got a lot of benefit, I got the conclusion that you should be really persistent of lucky or go to any KELA office in Helsinki to ask about it. In my experience, living almost 5 years in Finland, I was unemployed for 5 months. I didn´t think about getting any money from KELA, but one my ex bosses insisted so I tried. I actually got less than 350e for 4 months, and 6 months later.

After this experience, I never asked any money anymore. I had a one month gap during my contracts, and I decided to survive with my savings. It was very hard, but I managed. I´ve been educated for not asking about any money that doesn´t come for a job, and so I did (except when my ex boss insisted, because she said I had the right to get it...)

I noticed that trying to arrange paper stuff in KELA is difficult in the way that in every office they say you something different, and I always ended up fustrated and confused, and it always annoys me the fact that many inmigrants can just live without working, they can study for free and getting money and they don´t know how lucky they are and they are always complaining. In my home country, I had to work part time to get money for my university degree. This attitude that some inmigrants have it´s giving a bad image of inmigrants in general, and it´s really unfair.

[Rip]

living almost 5 years in Finland, I was unemployed for 5 months. I didn´t think about getting any money from KELA, but one my ex bosses insisted so I tried. I actually got less than 350e for 4 months, and 6 months later.

Somebody else with first person experience - how could this be (if the five years was at least mostly time spent employed)? OK, if you quit yourself then that would disqualify you for unemployment benefits for a good while, but otherwise, even the basic unemployment benefit (what you get if you have not paid the optional unemployment fund fee(*)) is, and AFAIK has been for long time, much more than that. Or do you mean 350€/month for three months?

You may have been additionally eligible for the housing benefit; I do not know if you checked. As you apparently had some money to live on you could probably not have got the Income support (toimeentulotuki) of from the city social services.

I´ve been educated for not asking about any money that doesn´t come for a job

I would not blame your parents for teaching you that, but fact is that some of the money taken out of your every pay-check (and additionally paid by your employers on top of your gross salary in a way that you don't even see) is specifically paid to give you some income if there is time when you can't work.

(*) something I would recommend for anybody less than 100% sure of their continuous unemployment. One of the few insurance schemes where the expected payout is larger than your contributions (because of the funding is structured).