Marry while on invitation visa

[inlove]

Hi all,

I have got the following dispute that I want to resolve and get enlightened as much I can. Me and my finnish boyfriend are planning to get married in Finland and he reckons that we can marry there while I am on an invitation visa. He is assured by his friend, who had married his current wife years ago, that I won't have any kinds of legal problems and face deportation or something more extreme such as get banned from the Schengen area. The reason why his friend advised to marry like that is because he said a standard fiancee or a spouse visa takes up months or even years to process the documents and that this one is a much easier option compared to the above. I told my boyfriend that marrying on an invitation visa sounds a bit fishy and I don't want to risk like that, better to do everything legally. Please, if anyone knows anything about this issue or has been in a similar situation, please let me know because I don't want to make the kind of illegal mistakes that I will regret later. Thanks in advance, guys!

[Adrian42]

http://www.migri.fi/services/faq/reside ... its/family

8. I am in a personal relationship with a foreigner who is not an EU citizen or equivalent. May my partner enter Finland with a visa and apply for a residence permit after we marry?

Your partner may enter Finland with a visa, if the conditions for granting one are met, or without a visa, if your partner is exempt from the visa requirement. A Finnish embassy abroad decides whether a visa is granted.
When you have married, your spouse may apply for a residence permit on the basis of marriage or a registered relationship.

[Tarja2905]

It's not illegal to get married with a tourist visa. It is allowed. I did it and I have seen so many others do it. Unfortunately I did not apply for RP in Finland (takes about 1 month if all are ok), now I have to apply from my home country which may take months, even years

[TwoThree]

^ I wouldn't use the term "unfortunately" here. It would take just as long (if not longer) to apply for a RP in Finland, and you would be considered a tourist during the processing period, so you couldn't work or study, no public health coverage, not even the right to get a bus card.

I applied from my home country and got my RP after a little over three months.

[Upphew]

not even the right to get a bus card.

At discounted price. For full price, sure.

[Tarja2905]

For me it's unfortunate: he is working outside Finland so things sound more complicated if I start my application now Before we both stayed in Finland, which was more convenient but we didn't do it, well, for personal reasons.

[Flossy1978]

It is really better to apply outside of the country. At least in Australia you get it processed so much faster. Mine took only a few weeks years ago. I think it was just two weeks.

Here it would have taken months, maybe even a year and I would have been sitting on my butt doing squat without even health coverage or anything. Well, you can go to Finnish lessons, through the private system. Can be costly, can be cheap.... Just depends.

[inlove]

Thanks for all your replies which made me see a clearer picture about the immigration system in Finland.

Now it is obvious that during the process of obtaining the RP I am not entitled to free Finnish-language classes. Does the finnish government sponsor the classes after you get your RP and how much do they usually cost?

[Pursuivant]

Well, its rather you must go sit in class (even if its total cac) assigned to you after you get a RP, if you are on an "integration plan" and get the handout. You can also in addition go to take classes - the "open university" has very hard-pressing courses as do various folk high schools - they cost say 30 to 300 depending on the extent, if they're day/evening courses etc. They are somewhat subsidised, but some of them are earmarked for "residents" only, hence the trouble being in the "sit&wait" category.

[Tarja2905]

You may have to wait for even one year for this free class. My friend came there in January this year and she is now still waiting. She is taking another class and pays 50% 'cause she has RP.