American staying in Finland with native for more than 3 mo.

[Flossy1978]

No, I'm not American.

You need to do a lot of research about Fi land, residence permits etc.

A residence permit is not the same thing as a student permit.

You need to put Google to good use and start researching all of this.

[Elephant]

Blackquartz,

I suggest you call the Finland embassy in DC and ask them what they need to process the Resident Permit on "Other Grounds". I found them to be very friendly and knowledgeable people who were eager to help. You could also ask them about the student permit option. I think that is your best option where you don't uproot your life to live as a "girlfriend" in a foreign country with an almost zero chance of being employed, limited rights as far as healthcare etc, savings hemorrhaging daily due to high cost of living here, almost totally dependent on a man (socially & for language skills) who may soon resent the fact that you can't contribute equally to the household. Have you discussed with your boyfriend if he's comfortable supporting you if you cannot get a job or deplete your savings? Such questions need to discussed before you up and move.

As others have suggested, it's to your best interest to read all the available online resources so you properly understand what you're getting into. There are also many blogs online by Americans (and other foreigners) living in Finland that may interest you. If you search on this site, you'll find quite a number of experiences/advice that may be helpful to you.

About college, yes it's free but you still need to have 6700e for living expenses per year in order for the permit to be approved.

I wish you luck! I love living here, love my job (not as much money as a similar job I had in the US or as much potential for growth but better hours and vacation benefits those are tradeoffs when you move to a smaller country) but it took a lot of planning before I moved. We started dating in 2008 and got married in 2014. Mostly long distance dating except for all 2012-2013 when we lived together in the US. There's no need to rush into things. Take your time and do it right.

[blackquartz]

Adnan,
Ok, as to your response of me being a "help vampire", well excuse me, but aren't these forums used for the purpose of gaining information? That's all I'm doing- if it bothers you then don't bother responding to my questions. And, I did actually look at that website you posted, and I still had questions after looking at it. Also, as to reading up on Finland, I've visited there already, and have been researching FInland and the language for over a year now.
Just fyi- don't assume stuff...

"I'll just quote myself

Looking at your questions, I highly recommend that you read up on FInland a lot more before considering making any decision.

At this point, you're just being a help vampire (http://slash7.com/2006/12/22/vampires/)
You're unwilling to put effort to help yourself. Start here:
http://studyinfinland.fi/
http://www.migri.fi/frontpage[/quote]"

[blackquartz]

Elephant- thank you, that's all very helpful advice!

[Beep_Boop]

Oh boy, you've just made an ass out of yourself.

It takes 1 hour of reading migri to find 90% of the information yoy asked about. You've researched Finland for a year and you don't know that the education is free? You've looked at migri student pages and you don't know that a language course cannot be a base for a student RP? You've researched Finland and the language for a year and you still fail to retrieve simple information on it from Google?

One freaking year.. Yup, you're gonna do great in Finland.

P.S. What I did wasn't assumption; it was logical deduction, but I understand that you'd confuse the two.

[blackquartz]

No comment Adnan, as I can see you're the kind of person who's impossible to argue with, but wow, you really get a kick out of insulting people don't you? As I said, I think this forum is supposed to be for helping inform people, even if the information is available on the internet, sometimes it helps to get more direct answers from people who've had experience in certain matters.

[Pursuivant]

Or then you're just stupid.

[rinso]

well excuse me, but aren't these forums used for the purpose of gaining information?

Why do you think we would do things you could easily have done yourself?
And btw this forum is also used to point out stupid questions and show you how cold unloving the Finnish society can be.
Also since you have a Finnish boyfriend, people assume you talk and he helps you with a lot of things like getting information.

sometimes it helps to get more direct answers from people who've had experience in certain matters.

That often concerns details that are different for most people. You have to get your basic facts right first.

[Upphew]

sometimes it helps to get more direct answers from people who've had experience in certain matters.

True. And sometimes anonymous people tell you what you want to hear, not what you need to hear. Things might have changed after their experience. migri.fi will have (most likely) the most correct and up-to-date information.

[dewdrop22]

Hmm even I'm an American . I have applied for a residence permit on the grounds of family ties with my husband who has a residence work permit from his employer .

I think your situation is quite different from mine . I hope you manage to find your way around ..