UK citizen to Finland

[RyanGannon93]

Hello everyone, no doubt you probably get these posts about 60 times a day but I'll go ahead anyway, sorry in advance if this is in the wrong forum!

Anyway I am a 19 year old EU citizen who's hit a dead end, finished education and passed everything but pretty much skated by through education, didn't really apply myself so didn't get the best I could out of it, went straight into full-time manual work earning about £1200 a month without over-time which amounts to about 1475 euros I believe. The company I work for have plants all over Europe, and happen to have one right outside Tampere, If I was able to get a transfer there, would it be at all possible for me to live on 1475 euros a month if I was to recieve the same wage I am now? Obviously I wouldn't be doing this straight away, I would save for at least a year-2 years perhaps, and start taking languages classes at night or something, and if I wasn't able to get a job over there with the factory I am at now, I hear the job climate is basically the same if not worse than that of the UK right now? Also if that fell through, how would I go about getting into education again in Finland?

Also I understand as an EU citizen I merely need to apply for a work permit, and when that runs out register my residency to the police?

But yeah my main question is the money and if at all I would be able to live on it. Thanks guys.

[Rosamunda]

I think you could live on that without too much difficulty, it depends on what kind of living accommodation you expect, what kind of a social life you want etc. But plenty of people your age live on less (eg by combining studying with parttime work and by living within their means).

When you say you "passed everything" does that mean you got A levels? In which case you could try to get into a UAS to do a Bachelors degree. In general they are quite hands on ie vocational, some are taught in English and most are compatible with a parttime job (some are even compatible with fulltime work if you are prepared to study during evenings and weekends). https://www.admissions.fi/vierashaku/prod_index.html

I would say that if you have some savings to back you up and you have a job waiting for you then it's well worth giving it a go. Residency is no issue if you have EU citizenship and a job. You don't need a work permit, just a contract from your employer. You can stay here for three months as a tourist but I think most people would recommend you get a job sorted out before you come here.

[Upphew]

Anyway I am a 19 year old EU citizen who's hit a dead end, finished education and passed everything but pretty much skated by through education, didn't really apply myself so didn't get the best I could out of it, went straight into full-time manual work earning about £1200 a month without over-time which amounts to about 1475 euros I believe. The company I work for have plants all over Europe, and happen to have one right outside Tampere, If I was able to get a transfer there, would it be at all possible for me to live on 1475 euros a month if I was to recieve the same wage I am now? Obviously I wouldn't be doing this straight away, I would save for at least a year-2 years perhaps, and start taking languages classes at night or something, and if I wasn't able to get a job over there with the factory I am at now, I hear the job climate is basically the same if not worse than that of the UK right now? Also if that fell through, how would I go about getting into education again in Finland?

Also I understand as an EU citizen I merely need to apply for a work permit, and when that runs out register my residency to the police?

But yeah my main question is the money and if at all I would be able to live on it. Thanks guys.

Some points:
-I don't know what you would be doing, but we don't have minimum wages here
-we do have collective agreements
-1475 would be probably lower than collective agreements grant = illegal
-education in Finland is mostly in Finnish, www.admissions.fi for possibilities in English
- www.police.fi for info about registering yourself here
-getting transfer for a grunt job is... unlikely?
-working in fully Finnish environment would do good for your Finnish skills, unless your lack of skills (in language or otherwise) make the co-workers lose their marbles

And answer to your main question: yes.

[Adrian42]

-1475 would be probably lower than collective agreements grant = illegal

It is not clear from his post whether that would be 1475 in the contract or 1475 net.

1475 net would be quite OK, 1475 in the contract would be relatively low.

1495 is the lowest salary in the collective agreement for my sector (IT Service Sector), so it is possible that in his sector the lowest salary is 1475 (or even lower).

[RyanGannon93]

I think you could live on that without too much difficulty, it depends on what kind of living accommodation you expect, what kind of a social life you want etc. But plenty of people your age live on less (eg by combining studying with parttime work and by living within their means).

When you say you "passed everything" does that mean you got A levels? In which case you could try to get into a UAS to do a Bachelors degree. In general they are quite hands on ie vocational, some are taught in English and most are compatible with a parttime job (some are even compatible with fulltime work if you are prepared to study during evenings and weekends). https://www.admissions.fi/vierashaku/prod_index.html

I would say that if you have some savings to back you up and you have a job waiting for you then it's well worth giving it a go. Residency is no issue if you have EU citizenship and a job. You don't need a work permit, just a contract from your employer. You can stay here for three months as a tourist but I think most people would recommend you get a job sorted out before you come here.

Yeah i've got A levels but they aren't exactly the best sort of scraped them, which i regret now with not applying myself etc. Yeah I wasn't planning on moving straight away I'd be looking to do some serious saving for at least a year, and that's the main thing if I could get a transfer It'd make things so much easier having a job right from the off. Thanks for the reply!

[Pursuivant]

The best option is, if you could get a transfer - or rather "employed as a local" - as then you'd get your residence & stuff sorted. You'd be on the healthcare, "in the system" etc. Then if you fancied further education, and got admitted to an UAS, well, nothing would stop you (except maybe lack of cash). And yes, in that case you would be eligible for a student handout, but you need 2 years to get a credit record to get a student loan. Also, student handout is not much to count on.

[Flossy1978]

I think you'd earn more than that here. The cost of living is higher here too. I remember my sister lives in England, not in London and her salary is rather low for her job. But the cost of living, housing, food etc was also cheaper where she lives.