EU Citisen looking to bring over his girlfriend!

Jack1 · Post by **Jack1** » Sat Sep 14, 2013 3:43 pm

Im an EU citizen with a permanent residence permit and have been living in Finland for the past five years.

I'm looking to bring over my girlfriend who is not an EU citizen because we would like to build up a life here. I have a steady job and I think I'll be able to support her financially.

When I moved over hete I got married to a finnish citizen and whole the process went very smooth. In this case however there are some major differences such as she not being an EU citizen and me not being a finnish citizen.

So how easy will it be to get her registred here so that she can do the integration course, study etc? Would it be a wise move to marry her before she comes over and if so, does it matter where we get married? Does it matter how long I've been divorced from my ex wife?

I realize these are some pretty basic questions but I've only just started to look into it.

Any advice is much appreciated!

**Sponsor:**

Flossy1978 · Post by **Flossy1978** » Sun Sep 15, 2013 5:57 pm

How can you be an EU citizen, yet not have a Finnish Passport? LOL.

Adrian42 · Post by **Adrian42** » Sun Sep 15, 2013 9:11 pm

Jack1 wrote:Would it be a wise move to marry her before she comes over and if so, does it matter where we get married? Does it matter how long I've been divorced from my ex wife?

If you are married or have been living together for at least 2 years she is part of your family, and there shouldn't be any troubles bringing her here.

Otherwise she is officially not related to you in any way.

Rip · Post by **Rip** » Mon Sep 16, 2013 8:12 am

Jack1 wrote:Would it be a wise move to marry her before she comes over

Yes, as she apparently would not have grounds to stay here without marriage

and if so, does it matter where we get married?

Not really. Get the certificate translated to English (if necessary) and properly legalized if you don't marry here.

Flossy1978 · Post by **Flossy1978** » Tue Sep 17, 2013 6:31 am

Ok it's pretty blonde...

I though he wrote he wasn't from here in the EU at all.....

That's why I asked the dumb question LOL.

justaguy · Post by **justaguy** » Wed Sep 18, 2013 9:18 am

Hang on a minute. We just lost a person who was living here with her Husband (an Australian) and she was German (EU).

They denied his permit as she doesn't have ties to Finland, and thus neither does he (through her).
So I'd say the OP's girlfriend is going to be in one hell of a situation.

Not sure what the difference is that he has PR here or not. Regardless of if he is EU. He has no citizenship to FINLAND. EU freedom of movement states HE can live here.
As for his girlfriend who is neither EU, nor is her boyfriend Finnish. She will have absolutely no ties to Finland.

So, (I don't know diddily squat about regulations of staying in EU countries for non EU citizens whom are in relationships with EU citizens whom do not belong to the country in question) but still I would say you're heading down the same path as that sweet German girl who had to pack it back to Germany and take her husband there because Finland told him he had to go and they wouldn't extend his permit past 1 year.

IIRC, she was German (EU obviously) and also had PR from living and studying here for years (due to combined past studies and past relationship to a Finn).

So from following that and personal knowledge. No ties to Finland = No reason to stay. Regardless of if your partner is EU. It's not 'marry an EU' then pick any country you want to stay as a non-EU and move there with your EU partner.
Though I am often wrong about these !"#¤% grey-within-grey areas of EU laws.

So feel free to beat me with a !"#¤% covered stick if I am wrong.

Pursuivant · Post by **Pursuivant** » Wed Sep 18, 2013 10:14 am

Lets put it this way - if you are an EU citizen and marry a non-EU in the country you reside in, you are not an "EU movement citizen" so the EU rules do not apply. If you live and marry in one EU country and then move to another EU country, then the "EU movement rules" apply. If a Finn marries a non-EU citizen it goes by the rules of "Finn marry a foreigner" and a Finn is not an EU citizen but worse off in some scenarios like bringing in the relatives as you can do that if you do "EU movement". So if an EU or non-EU marries a non-EU, it goes by the rules "foreigner marries a foreigner" - from a different paragraph in the law. So for example you have the income requirements, the non-EU must apply for the RP outside of Finland etc. etc. so no "EU movement rules" there.

betelgeuse · Post by **betelgeuse** » Wed Sep 18, 2013 10:24 am

justaguy wrote: So from following that and personal knowledge. No ties to Finland = No reason to stay. Regardless of if your partner is EU. It's not 'marry an EU' then pick any country you want to stay as a non-EU and move there with your EU partner.
Though I am often wrong about these !"#¤% grey-within-grey areas of EU laws.

So feel free to beat me with a !"#¤% covered stick if I am wrong.

http://www.finlex.fi/en/laki/kaannokset ... 040301.pdf

Section 50a:

(1) A family member of an EU citizen or a comparable person who is living in Finland and has registered his or her residence or the family member’s minor children whose right of residence cannot be registered or approved under Chapter 10 are issued with a continuous residence permit on the basis of family ties. The residence permit is issued upon application filed in Finland or abroad.

justaguy · Post by **justaguy** » Wed Sep 18, 2013 10:38 am

That's all very well and good, but why did the German's boyfriend get denied the RP then when he was married to a German EU citizen with permanent residency in Finland?

Pursuivant · Post by **Pursuivant** » Wed Sep 18, 2013 10:59 am

Income requirement comes to mind.

betelgeuse · Post by **betelgeuse** » Wed Sep 18, 2013 11:03 am

justaguy wrote:That's all very well and good, but why did the German's boyfriend get denied the RP then when he was married to a German EU citizen with permanent residency in Finland?

Husband or boyfriend? If the two are not married then they must have lived together for two years. Check section 154 for the details. Why it happened is recorded in the decision and with second hand information one can only speculate:

the authorities made an error
they did not fill the requirements for being a EU citizens’ family member
they filled the paper work in a way that did not relay the facts correctly
the denial was based on other factors than the family relationship

justaguy · Post by **justaguy** » Wed Sep 18, 2013 11:45 am

She was married to the Australian and there was a huge thread about it around about March or so. It's not that old news here actually, quite surprised no one brought it up.

She said they were going back to Germany because at least there 'he' had family ties to Germany through her whereas in Finland he had none. So unless the law changed in the last like 5 months I'd say the OP might get into the same situation regardless of what anyone else thinks, unless of course that couple was lying. But that person was a frequent regular on the forum and didn't seem like the lying sort.

Ok sure not much premise to believe everything but I'd still take it with a pinch of salt. I just don't think the OP should be given a solid green light.

Pursuivant · Post by **Pursuivant** » Wed Sep 18, 2013 3:32 pm

Not solid green - they just need to read the MIGRI pages thoroughly. And especially the parts they don't like.

Pursuivant · Post by **Pursuivant** » Wed Sep 18, 2013 4:28 pm

Not solid green - they just need to read the MIGRI pages thoroughly. And especially the parts they don't like.

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