Work full-time and do Master's thesis

[farfaraway]

Here is my situation:
- I am non-EU with a Bachelor's degree from outside EU and around 5 year working experience in IT field
- I have completed 90 credits (out of 120, 45 credits per year for the last 2 years) in my Master's programme. I am writing my thesis (last 30 credits) of which I expect to finish somewhere around May next year.
- I am lucky enough to get a job offer (in IT area) with the salary of more than 3500EUR per month (gross), so I asked the police and they said that I can apply as a specialist considering my salary and my Bachelor's degree
- My student permit will expire this August, I have an appointment with the Police in July

Here are 2 possible scenarios:
- My work permit is accepted and everyone's happy
- My work permit is rejected. Can I still apply for permit extension on the ground of studying considering that I am doing my thesis? And of course, I will stop working or try to negotiate a part-time position with 25 hours per week.

My point of view is that, writing the thesis full-time 37.5 hours per week is pretty depressing. Working, on the other hand, can bring some useful practical experience for my thesis topic. And I am happy to spend my night, weekends writing my thesis, I have no problem with that kind of tight schedule

Do you know anyone who was/is in the similar situation as mine and gets his/her work permit while still writing the thesis?

[betelgeuse]

- My work permit is rejected. Can I still apply for permit extension on the ground of studying considering that I am doing my thesis? And of course, I will stop working or try to negotiate a part-time position with 25 hours per week.

You can. Thesis gives you credits like normal courses.

[Beep_Boop]

- My work permit is accepted and everyone's happy

I almost always advise people not to take the word of a stranger for these matters, but I think I can tell you, with very high confidence, that this is the significantly more likely scenario.
From your post (which nicely details your situation), I see absolutely no reason for your application to be rejected. At the same time, I see every reason for it to be accepted.
Not too long time ago, I was in a similar situation. So, relax!

Now, in the highly unlikely situation that your application is rejected, you can simply extend your study permit.

[betelgeuse]

with 3500 Euros monthly salary you will be paying roughly 1500 Euros as taxes i.e. funding of almost 5 university students in Finland. Take with confidence that Finland will never want to get rid of people like you, even Timo Soini would want to shake your hand and ask you to stay. even if you desire to move away.

How did you end up with 300 euros sufficing per student? At least for a local it's many times that.

[farfaraway]

You can. Thesis gives you credits like normal courses.

Yes the police has just confirmed that, too

I almost always advise people not to take the word of a stranger for these matters, but I think I can tell you, with very high confidence, that this is the significantly more likely scenario.
From your post (which nicely details your situation), I see absolutely no reason for your application to be rejected. At the same time, I see every reason for it to be accepted.
Not too long time ago, I was in a similar situation. So, relax!

Now, in the highly unlikely situation that your application is rejected, you can simply extend your study permit.

I hope so, I am kind of pessimistic guy

with 3500 Euros monthly salary you will be paying roughly 1500 Euros as taxes i.e. funding of almost 5 university students in Finland. Take with confidence that Finland will never want to get rid of people like you, even Timo Soini would want to shake your hand and ask you to stay. even if you desire to move away.

Wait, what Why do I have to pay double the tax? I check with vero using their online calculator, I only have to pay like 787EUR for a 3500 salary. Do you have any official papers stating that specialists must pay double their tax?

[betelgeuse]

with 3500 Euros monthly salary you will be paying roughly 1500 Euros as taxes i.e. funding of almost 5 university students in Finland. Take with confidence that Finland will never want to get rid of people like you, even Timo Soini would want to shake your hand and ask you to stay. even if you desire to move away.

Wait, what Why do I have to pay double the tax? I check with vero using their online calculator, I only have to pay like 787EUR for a 3500 salary. Do you have any official papers stating that specialists must pay double their tax?

I got 10300/year from the calculator which is 858€/month. This doesn't include pension contributions etc. I doubt roger_roger had any factual basis for the 1500 euros. The true figure is between yours and his.

[farfaraway]

with 3500 Euros monthly salary you will be paying roughly 1500 Euros as taxes i.e. funding of almost 5 university students in Finland. Take with confidence that Finland will never want to get rid of people like you, even Timo Soini would want to shake your hand and ask you to stay. even if you desire to move away.

Wait, what Why do I have to pay double the tax? I check with vero using their online calculator, I only have to pay like 787EUR for a 3500 salary. Do you have any official papers stating that specialists must pay double their tax?

I got 10300/year from the calculator which is 858€/month. This doesn't include pension contributions etc. I doubt roger_roger had any factual basis for the 1500 euros. The true figure is between yours and his.

I will go to vero as soon as I have free time. Yesterday I came to Vero and picked a number (218), but after 1 hour waiting patiently, there were 3xx, 0xx and 5xx, not a single 2xx, weird..., then it's 3PM and they close

[Beep_Boop]

Wait, what Why do I have to pay double the tax? I check with vero using their online calculator, I only have to pay like 787EUR for a 3500 salary. Do you have any official papers stating that specialists must pay double their tax?

You need to add pension and unemployment insurance. It's not included by default in the Vero calculator.
For a 3500/m salary, with possible bonuses and incentives, you're looking at a rounded amount of 2500/m after taxes. So about 1000 in overall taxes.

I just realized that I'm still upset about paying taxes to my previous municipality even after I moved to Helsinki. God damn it!! I want my extra 1% of salary!

[farfaraway]

I will go to vero as soon as I have free time. Yesterday I came to Vero and picked a number (218), but after 1 hour waiting patiently, there were 3xx, 0xx and 5xx, not a single 2xx, weird..., then it's 3PM and they close

waiting is for pensioners and who has time, smart people use Online service or Telephone.

Sometimes, there are things that need to be discussed face-to-face but yes I have time and I don't consider myself smart, so, it is not a big deal

Anyway, this is way off topic, it's my fault to bring this whole tax up. I will update the status of my permit once I have the decision (just in case someone needs it in the future)

[betelgeuse]

Considering the cost of educating a student was also wrong lol, let us just assume it was all exaggeration.

maybe bit exaggeration, but usually university student gets 268 Euros per month after tax i.e around 298 before tax, hence 1500 Euros can support upto 5 University Students.

Oh, the figures have changed slightly recently but somewhat close to what I mentioned http://www.kela.fi/web/en/financial-aid ... tudy-grant

But you didn't talk about how much students are paid, you talked about what they cost for the Finnish government, so add their tuition costs

And on top of study grant Kela pays meals support and housing supplement. The sum of costs per one student is likely to be higher than the tax from the OP.

[nfinland]

I'm also applying RP for a specialist this year. I think yours is very safe, it would be insane if the authorities reject it. My case is more tricky, so I'm really interested in this topic.One of my current concern is as we are doing our Thesis/studies remotely next academic year, should we register as present (full-time studies)? Would that affect the decision?

[farfaraway]

I'm also applying RP for a specialist this year. I think yours is very safe, it would be insane if the authorities reject it. My case is more tricky, so I'm really interested in this topic.One of my current concern is as we are doing our Thesis/studies remotely next academic year, should we register as present (full-time studies)? Would that affect the decision?

From my perspective, it doesn't matter if we register as present or not in case we have work permit. Because all permits entitle you to study. However, just to be safe, I will register as present for the next year

[betelgeuse]

I'm also applying RP for a specialist this year. I think yours is very safe, it would be insane if the authorities reject it. My case is more tricky, so I'm really interested in this topic.One of my current concern is as we are doing our Thesis/studies remotely next academic year, should we register as present (full-time studies)? Would that affect the decision?

You need to be present during the semester when you hand in your thesis (it's one type of a course after all). If you are applying for a specialist RP, your university status is not relevant.

[farfaraway]

It has been 2 months now and I am still waiting, busy time....

Now that my student permit has expired, is it legal that I am still working? I asked the police twice but their answer was the same: "You can still stay in Finland after your permit has expired", I am not sure what they really mean

I talked to my supervisor last week about the situation and he said that he will ask for more info. Am I having any risk losing the job?

[Upphew]

It has been 2 months now and I am still waiting, busy time....

Now that my student permit has expired, is it legal that I am still working? I asked the police twice but their answer was the same: "You can still stay in Finland after your permit has expired", I am not sure what they really mean

I talked to my supervisor last week about the situation and he said that he will ask for more info. Am I having any risk losing the job?

http://www.migri.fi/services/faq/reside ... employment number 4, second paragraph.